# Blowing your nose



## dathrilla

Hi,

I've noticed that people in Europe don't mind blowing their noses in CLASS, and i mean blowing it out LOUD repeatedly(even if the teacher is giving an explanation and when the whole class is silent). I find this really annoying and most of all, rude. I wanted to know if people around the world experience the same thing and if they think it's normal or not. Thanks


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## Eloisa Giseburt

I think in Mexico it would be rude. If you have to do it at least try to do it as quite as possible


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## Conchita57

I would only blow my nose if I really had to, and as silently and inconspicuously as possible. The alternative would be an endless and embarrassing sniffing, which would be even more annoying, both for me and the class (it happened to me as a teenager once I didn't have a tissue and I felt awful!). I agree with you that doing it loudly, especially when silence is required, is a bit rude.


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## dathrilla

thanks for the reply. No when i mean "blow", i mean BLOW. It's the way you would blow your nose in the bathroom!


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## cuchuflete

I have not experienced this, either in Europe or in the Americas.  It's rude to both classmates and teachers.  It reminds me of the widespread rudeness of cell phone carriers.

I chose 'carriers' as they have something as pernicious as a disease, and infect the space of those around them.
At least the nose blowers have a biological motivation, if not much self-control or manners.


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## danielfranco

In Mexico, where I was born and raised, we were taught to blow our noses out of sight, never in public, unless it was an emergency (dangling boogers )... And so it was. Until my family climbed to the next upper social class and I started going to a posh private school. There, no one seemed to mind blowing their nose in public, and loudly, too! As a matter of fact, the "kleenex" box was at the front, on the teacher's desk, and some people just walked up to the front of the classroom and honked away, like a foghorn!! Maybe the richer you get, the less social strictures bother you... But maybe this only happened at my school, I don't know...
Laters!
Dan F


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## maxiogee

I'm a BLOWer. If I don't blow it hard it doesn't clear my problem. Blowing it hard means blowing loudly.
I would try not to blow it in such a way as to interrupt someone, and would always say "excuse me, please." before I blow it.
My apologies to anyone who finds it rude that I need to clear my airways occasionally.


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## jokker

I can only speak from my own experience and what I have seen.

The majority of people that I known consider, including myself, it to be impolite and rude to blow nose in public, including in the class. 

Therefore, you can often see someone who catch a cold making small, intermittent sounds while sniffing or wiping their nose at the class.

Only a few will blow their noses in public and most of them think that it's healthier to blow that thing out than to keep it inside your body. I think this is reasonable and makes sense, but I am still unable to do it in public while doing so in private.

Edit 2: Even a sneeze--achoo--will make me feel kind of embarrassing in front of a person or in a group.


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## Chaska Ñawi

Ah.... well .... allow me to provide you with a peek into a wintertime Quaker Meeting.

We worship in silence for an hour, the silence only being broken (in theory) by people who are moved to give ministry.

We have, however, a number of seniors with respiratory problems in Meeting.  Some of them are also somewhat deaf.  Many of them are constantly trying to cough up gunk from their lungs or clear their sinuses.  Sometimes they leave the room whenever they have a coughing fit ... but a lot of coming and going can also be distracting.  Sometimes these fits go on for so long that they'd miss most of Meeting if they stayed out.  Others honk, hork and hack all through Meeting, being sufficiently deaf that they can't hear their music.

Sometimes I'm sufficiently disciplined to stay focussed and centred and other times .... it drives me NUTS!

I don't even notice kids blowing their noses in my classroom...


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## gato2

Well, I think that nobody blows its nose as a hobby. If somebody blows its nose in class or anywhere where you can annoy someone I assume that he/she have to.







I will be happy if you correct my English


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## maxiogee

Well, I think that nobody blows its their nose as a hobby. If somebody blows its their nose in class or anywhere where you can annoy someone I assume that he/she they have need to.


I will be happy if you correct my English  I'm pleased to oblige.


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## gato2

Thank you very much Maxiogee


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## maxiogee

You see, even if I am so uncouth as to blow my nose loudly, I can still be a polite person!


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## la reine victoria

gato2 said:
			
		

> Well, I think that nobody blows its nose as a hobby. If somebody blows its nose in class or anywhere where you can annoy someone I assume that he/she have to.
> 
> *I don't think that anybody blows their nose as a hobby (or for fun). If somebody blows their nose in class, or anywhere where they can annoy someone, I assume it's because they have to.*
> 
> 
> I will be happy if you correct my English


 
I have rewritten your sentence for you Gato2. 

Please note that we use the plural 'their' although 'nose' is a singular noun. This avoids the constant reptition of 'his/her nose'. The same rule applies for 'they' (plural) to avoid repeating 'he/she' (singular).  


LRV

Edit:  I see that the very polite, nose-blowing Maxiogee, has beaten me to it.    So I can't blow my trumpet!


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## la reine victoria

Royalty never blows its nose.  It has a daily session of nasal irrigation.  





LRV


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## gato2

I'm very grateful to both of you and I promise you I don't look down on you when I hear you blow your nose deafiningly.


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## Edher

danielfranco said:
			
		

> In Mexico, where I was born and raised, we were taught to blow our noses out of sight, never in public, unless it was an emergency (dangling boogers )... And so it was. Until my family climbed to the next upper social class and I started going to a posh private school. There, no one seemed to mind blowing their nose in public, and loudly, too! As a matter of fact, the "kleenex" box was at the front, on the teacher's desk, and some people just walked up to the front of the classroom and honked away, like a foghorn!! Maybe the richer you get, the less social strictures bother you... But maybe this only happened at my school, I don't know...
> Laters!
> Dan F



Hola Danialfranco,

          I can totally relate to your "nose-blowing" experience. I also went to a private school as a kid in Mexico, not as posh as yours most likely, and just about all the teachers there would incourage us to serenate them with our nasal symphonies. In fact, they would be the ones to set the example by being the loudest ones. I don't think I ever got that comfortable to perform such a task in front of others, unless they were people I knew. She would also have a box of kleenex out on her desk but those were only back up, only useable after running out of square centimeters on our handy-dandy hankerchiefs. As of today, I just prefer to step out, or simply go all the way to the restroom and let it all out. I think the latter is the most considerate way of handeling this situation. 

Edher


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## Conchita57

Chaska Ñawi said:
			
		

> Ah.... well .... allow me to provide you with a peek into a wintertime Quaker Meeting.
> 
> We worship in silence for an hour, the silence only being broken (in theory) by people who are moved to give ministry.
> 
> We have, however, a number of seniors with respiratory problems in Meeting. Some of them are also somewhat deaf. Many of them are constantly trying to cough up gunk from their lungs or clear their sinuses. Sometimes they leave the room whenever they have a coughing fit ... but a lot of coming and going can also be distracting. Sometimes these fits go on for so long that they'd miss most of Meeting if they stayed out. Others honk, hork and hack all through Meeting, being sufficiently deaf that they can't hear their music.
> 
> Sometimes I'm sufficiently disciplined to stay focussed and centred and other times .... it drives me NUTS!
> 
> I don't even notice kids blowing their noses in my classroom...


 
You certainly gave us a very vivid image of those Meetings! I couldn’t help but smile at your onomatopoeic and very illustrative description of all those seemingly unavoidable physiological processes. I wonder if, now that you’ve told us about it, you won’t be all the more aware of those ‘distractions’ in future Meetings!!


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## cubaMania

Blow or don't blow, I don't care.  But please don't set next to me and sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff, sniff.......


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## KateNicole

Maybe I'm a freak of nature, but I think that 99% of the time that I blow my nose, the noise that it makes is very, very quiet. I hadn't really ever thought about it, but I don't ever remeber deliberately _not_ blowing my nose in class for fear of interrumpting or making noise. I think it would be more distracting to get up and leave the room during lecture every time I had to blow my nose.   However, I most certainly never (ever, ever, ever!!) "honked" my nose during class. 

I figure that a runny nose is a bodily function most of cannot control (especially if you have allergies like I do) and while not pretty, I don't really think that blowing your nose is a task so personal that it warrants the need to do it in private at all times.


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## jokker

KateNicole said:
			
		

> Maybe I'm a freak of nature, but I think that 99% of the time that I blow my nose, the noise that it makes is very, very quiet. I hadn't really ever thought about it, but I don't ever remeber deliberately _not_ blowing my nose in class for fear of interrumpting or making noise. I think it would be more distracting to get up and leave the room during lecture every time I had to blow my nose. However, I most certainly never (ever, ever, ever!!) "honked" my nose during class.
> 
> I figure that a runny nose is a bodily function most of cannot control (especially if you have allergies like I do) and while not pretty, I don't really think that blowing your nose is a task so personal that it warrants the need to do it in private at all times.


It's true that a runny nose is a very natural thing while one cannot control it, and that to blow that thing stuck in your nose quietly and once and for all is better than to sniff all the time or to leave the room during a lecture or a meeting.

I decided to modify my thoughts. I should be more comfortable and feel free to blow my nose, quietly, in public, or I can turn my body slightly if I were in front of a person while doing so.

However, I guess if I am sneezing in front of someone whom I like will still make me feel a little embarrassing.


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## alpago

it's really rude to blow your nose loudly even in the street.. I think it's disgusting.


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## Mei

KateNicole said:
			
		

> Maybe I'm a freak of nature, but I think that 99% of the time that I blow my nose, the noise that it makes is very, very quiet. I hadn't really ever thought about it, but I don't ever remeber deliberately _not_ blowing my nose in class for fear of interrumpting or making noise. I think it would be more distracting to get up and leave the room during lecture every time I had to blow my nose.   However, I most certainly never (ever, ever, ever!!) "honked" my nose during class.
> 
> I figure that a runny nose is a bodily function most of cannot control (especially if you have allergies like I do) and while not pretty, I don't really think that blowing your nose is a task so personal that it warrants the need to do it in private at all times.



He he you're not a freak of nature... I agree.

Mei


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## andresmanuel

dathrilla said:
			
		

> Hi,
> 
> I've noticed that people in Europe don't mind blowing their noses in CLASS, and i mean blowing it out LOUD repeatedly(even if the teacher is giving an explanation and when the whole class is silent). I find this really annoying and most of all, rude. I wanted to know if people around the world experience the same thing and if they think it's normal or not. Thanks



hi, my name is manuel , Im colombian,answering your question, in my country is normal that you blow your nose in public, however if you do that some people feel like hurting, but i think that it doesnt matter if you have in your hands some toilette paper or nadkip


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## Suane

In my class in Slovakia (Europe, if somebody don't know) everybody if he/she needs to blow their nose, he/she will do it without any hesitating. It is rather funny if someone does it with the very loud sound but it is cosidering normal, not embarassing. 
In my class in USA many students blow their nose in the front of the class, I prefer to do it at my desk in the back of the room (but the last time, I was a bit sick and we had finnals and I had to blow my nose in class  because I couldn't go away all the time I needed to, obviously, and when I blew, some students turned and looked at me a bit as if I started to shout or do something really unappropriate, but I only blew normal way, not very loudly...so...in my class in Slovakia, they wouldn't turn, or look at me, so I don't know what is wrong with it).
In Slovakia it is considered to be gross and rude to sniff all the time (or a lot of you know what) and in my class, if somebody does it, the other ones will tell him to blow his/her nose (of course right in class). But in USA, many people sniff all the time, and I find it very annoying and disgusting.

I think that blowing the nose is very normal and natural, and it is normal to do it also in public (especially during the winter when everybody has to). As somebody else said the nose can't be controlled in these things, especially when you are sick, what else can you do? If you sniff all the time, it is not only annoying, but the "fluid" (or snot? I don't know the appropriate name) will either stick in your nasal sinus and maybe can help inflammation or you will "eat" it by sniffing it, or I met some people spitting the thing in the trash can. I think that this is much more worse.
If you don't blow your nose, how can the bad stuff get out of you? And if you wait until you are at home to do so or wait for the break in the school (because it is obvious that you can't go to the bathroom everytime you should blow your nose, you will miss a lot of things), you have to sniff, so keep the thing in you.

So I hope that the people that always sniff because they are affraid to blow the nose in the public, will change that- because it is unhealthy and disgusting.

I'm just curious, do you think that blowing the nose in public is considered to be more normal in the countries with colder weather, so does this thing have something to do with the climate? Because we in Slovakia use to have quite freezing winter.


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## urizon9

I had a teacher who in every five minutes reached for her hankie placed in her sleeve and blew her nose sounding like an elephant.It was probably ment to underline her authority,so please don`t blame only the pupils of the rude behavior!


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