--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: Four guys are standing on a street…" description: "\"“Four guys are standing on a street corner… an American, a Russian, a Chinese man, and an Israeli…. A reporter comes up to the group and says to them: ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/senor-dan-130991_thousand-years_four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corne_955147.jpg" --- # Four guys are standing on a street corner… an American, a… ![“Four guys are standing on a street corner… an American, a Russian, a Chinese man, and an Israeli…. A reporter comes up to the group and says to them: “Excuse me…. What’s your opinion on the meat shortage?” The American says: What’s a shortage? The Russian says: What’s meat? The Chinese man says…” quote by Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/senor-dan-130991_thousand-years_four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corne_955147.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/senor-dan-130991_thousand-years_four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corne_955147.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/senor-dan-130991_thousand-years_four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corne_955147.jpg) > ““Four guys are standing on a street corner… an American, a Russian, a Chinese man, and an Israeli…. A reporter comes up to the group and says to them: “Excuse me…. What’s your opinion on the meat shortage?” The American says: What’s a shortage? The Russian says: What’s meat? The Chinese man says: What’s an opinion? The Israeli says: What’s “Excuse me”? —MIKE LEIGH, Two Thousand Years”” [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Different cultures interpret scarcity and politeness differently, highlighting varied priorities and communication styles. **In simple terms:** People see shortages and politeness differently. Key Takeaway Recognize cultural lenses in communication. Themes culture communication perception Mood thoughtful analytical Type observational humorous When to use this quote - international business - diplomacy - media interviews - cross‑cultural training Key Concepts cultural relativism social norms Questions to Reflect On - How do cultural backgrounds shape responses to scarcity? - What assumptions do we make about politeness? A Different Perspective Assumes stereotypes may oversimplify complex identities. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Thousand years](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ## Related quotes > [There is one thing that makes life mighty in its veriest trifles, worthy in its smallest deeds, that delivers it from monotony, that delivers…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexander-maclaren/there-is-one-thing-that-makes-life-mighty-in-its-veriest-trifles/) [Alexander MacLaren](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexander-maclaren/) > [When an American says that he loves his country, he ... means that he loves an inner air, an inner light in which freedom…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-an-american-says-that-he-loves-his-country-he-means-that-he/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [When an American says that he loves his country, he means not only that he loves the New England hills, the prairies glistening in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adlai-e-stevenson/when-an-american-says-that-he-loves-his-country-he-means-not-only/) [Adlai E. Stevenson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adlai-e-stevenson/) > [A European says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with me? An American says: I can't understand this, what's wrong with him? I make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/a-european-says-i-can-t-understand-this-what-s-wrong-with-me-an/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“That seems to point up a significant difference between Europeans and Americans. A European says: "I can't understand this, what's wrong with me?" An…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/terry-pratchett/that-seems-to-point-up-a-significant-difference-between-europeans-and/) [Terry Pratchett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/terry-pratchett/) > [“Isn't it the single most quintessentially American gesture, this declaration of independence? To say you are different from other Americans is to say what…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/christopher-hacker/isn-t-it-the-single-most-quintessentially-american-gesture-this/) Christopher Hacker > [“When the average American says, “I’m starving,” it is a prelude to a midnight raid on a well-stocked refrigerator or a sudden trip to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-custis-james/when-the-average-american-says-i-m-starving-it-is-a-prelude-to-a/) [Carolyn Custis James](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-custis-james/) > [A player says 'on to the next one,' a real man says 'i already got one,' but a boss says 'i don't need one.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-player-says-on-to-the-next-one-a-real-man-says-i-already-got-one/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Gilrs get the last word in every argument. Anything a man says after that is the beginning of a new argument.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/gilrs-get-the-last-word-in-every-argument-anything-a-man-says-after/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Can't shouldn't be in a mans vocabulary, because when a man says can't he ain't a man.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/can-t-shouldn-t-be-in-a-mans-vocabulary-because-when-a-man-says-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher. He would either…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-man-who-was-merely-a-man-and-said-the-sort-of-things-jesus-said/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Never kill a man who says nothing.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-kill-a-man-who-says-nothing/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“In these days, a man who says a thing cannot be done, quite apt to be interrupted by some idiot doing it.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/in-these-days-a-man-who-says-a-thing-cannot-be-done-quite-apt-to-be/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Never forget what a man says to you when he is angry.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/never-forget-what-a-man-says-to-you-when-he-is-angry/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [A real man is not a man who says nice things to women. A real man is a man who say nice things and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/a-real-man-is-not-a-man-who-says-nice-things-to-women-a-real-man-is-a/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More by Anonymous > [And a tear rolled down her cheek, as she said goodbye; because she's walking away, and she's never looking back](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/and-a-tear-rolled-down-her-cheek-as-she-said-goodbye-because-she-s/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Life is full of change. That's how we learn and grow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/life-is-full-of-change-that-s-how-we-learn-and-grow/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [You'll seldom experience regret for anything that you've done. It is what you haven't done that will torment you. The message, therefore, is clear.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/you-ll-seldom-experience-regret-for-anything-that-you-ve-done-it-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Scrabble - The game is available in Braille. That’s a nice fact. This makes me feel better about humanity for some reason. I can’t…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/scrabble-the-game-is-available-in-braille-that-s-a-nice-fact-this/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Everyone needs someone to love, and I choose you.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/everyone-needs-someone-to-love-and-i-choose-you/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“THIS tale of my sore-troubled life I write,    To thank the God of nature, who conveyed    My soul to me, and with such care…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/this-tale-of-my-sore-troubled-life-i-write-to-thank-the-god-of-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Put on my J's and dance the whole night away Im naughty by nature like Im hip-hop hooray With my hands in the sky,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/put-on-my-j-s-and-dance-the-whole-night-away-im-naughty-by-nature/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Me.. I have been through a lot, but I still manage to have a smile on my face. Im not worried about the past…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/me-i-have-been-through-a-lot-but-i-still-manage-to-have-a-smile-on-my/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Distance is a test of love. many will fail for those who can't withstand it, but for those who can, theres only one answer…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/distance-is-a-test-of-love-many-will-fail-for-those-who-can-t/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Im sorry I ever tried...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/im-sorry-i-ever-tried/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Being betrayed by the one you love is the worst feeling in the world...](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/being-betrayed-by-the-one-you-love-is-the-worst-feeling-in-the-world/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [Let children support their parents or be imprisoned.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/let-children-support-their-parents-or-be-imprisoned/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The only person I've ever purposely caused pain here is myself...By simply sharing, caring too much.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-only-person-i-ve-ever-purposely-caused-pain-here-is-myself-by/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [“Start a business, not a startup”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/start-a-business-not-a-startup/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The truth is, of course, that the curtness of the Ten Commandments is an evidence, not of the gloom and narrowness of a religion,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/the-truth-is-of-course-that-the-curtness-of-the-ten-commandments-is/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) [Explore all 162,899 Anonymous quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) ## More Thousand years quotes > [Memory revises me. Even now a letter comes from a place I don’t know, from someone with my name and postmarked years ago, while…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-young-lee/memory-revises-me-even-now-a-letter-comes-from-a-place-i-don-t-know/) [Li-Young Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-young-lee/) > [A thousand years may scare form a state. An hour may lay it in ruins.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lord-byron/a-thousand-years-may-scare-form-a-state-an-hour-may-lay-it-in-ruins/) [Lord Byron](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lord-byron/) > [Ring out false pride in place and blood, The civic slander and the spite; Ring in the love of truth and right, Ring in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alfred-the-great/ring-out-false-pride-in-place-and-blood-the-civic-slander-and-the/) [Alfred the Great](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alfred-the-great/) > [“days of the earliest Church? I ask you: Do you want things to go on as usual, or do you want to see God…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-t-kendall/days-of-the-earliest-church-i-ask-you-do-you-want-things-to-go-on-as/) [R. T. Kendall](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-t-kendall/) > [“He still heard his mother's voice--"Davey"--rise like whisper-dust from unseen corners in the house, but it was no longer the only voice he heard.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerry-spinelli/he-still-heard-his-mother-s-voice-davey-rise-like-whisper-dust-from/) [Jerry Spinelli](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerry-spinelli/) > [“Whenever I think about ancient cultures nostalgia seizes me. Perhaps this is nothing but envy of the sweet slowness of the history of that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/milan-kundera/whenever-i-think-about-ancient-cultures-nostalgia-seizes-me-perhaps/) [Milan Kundera](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/milan-kundera/) > [“Man is not a 'fixed and limited animal whose nature is absolutely constant'. He changed drastically when he developed 'divided consciousness' to cope with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/colin-wilson/man-is-not-a-fixed-and-limited-animal-whose-nature-is-absolutely/) [Colin Wilson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/colin-wilson/) > [“Let us consider humanity a biogram (the basic DNA blueprint of the human organism and its potentials) united with a logogram (this set of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-shea/let-us-consider-humanity-a-biogram-the-basic-dna-blueprint-of-the/) [Robert Shea](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-shea/) > [“Finally, someone had seen him. And what had he done? Let her get away. Undermined by his disgusting human anatomy. It had just been…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karen-marie-moning/finally-someone-had-seen-him-and-what-had-he-done-let-her-get-away/) [Karen Marie Moning](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karen-marie-moning/) > [“The sorrow bird: We've gone too far. I'm afraid we can't go back. Hoopoe: Back?... There's a circle, bird. Why, just think of the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/peter-s-s/the-sorrow-bird-we-ve-gone-too-far-i-m-afraid-we-can-t-go-back-hoopoe/) [Peter Sís](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/peter-s-s/) > [“Change the fabric of their culture? It hasn’t happened yet, not in two thousand years. And it won’t happen now.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/james-webb/change-the-fabric-of-their-culture-it-hasn-t-happened-yet-not-in-two/) [James Webb](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/james-webb/) > [“Revelation Chapter 18 details the many goods which are sold through the Daughter of Babylon’s ports. The lengthy list appears in Revelation 18:11-13. Take…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-price/revelation-chapter-18-details-the-many-goods-which-are-sold-through/) [John Price](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-price/) > [The germs of existence contained in this spot of earth, with ample food, and ample room to expand in, would fill millions of worlds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/thomas-malthus/the-germs-of-existence-contained-in-this-spot-of-earth-with-ample/) [Thomas Malthus](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/thomas-malthus/) > [To be original is to discover the commonplace of a thousand years--to face at first the sneer that no one would have thought of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gerald-stanley-lee/to-be-original-is-to-discover-the-commonplace-of-a-thousand-years-to/) [Gerald Stanley Lee](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/gerald-stanley-lee/) > [“You are a military man and should know better. If there is one science into which man has probed continuously and successfully, it is…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/isaac-asimov/you-are-a-military-man-and-should-know-better-if-there-is-one-science/) [Isaac Asimov](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/isaac-asimov/) [Browse all 1,602 Thousand years quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/thousand-years/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“Four guys are standing on a street corner… an American, a Russian, a Chinese man, and an Israeli…. A reporter comes up to the group and says to them: “Excuse me…. What’s your opinion on the meat shortage?” The American says: What’s a shortage? The Russian says: What’s meat? The Chinese man says: What’s an opinion? The Israeli says: What’s “Excuse me”? —MIKE LEIGH, Two Thousand Years”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Anonymous" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corner-an-american-a-russian-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Thousand years" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corner-an-american-a-russian-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/senor-dan-130991_thousand-years_four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corne_955147.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/senor-dan-130991_thousand-years_four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corne_955147.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/8f4/senor-dan-130991_thousand-years_four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corne_955147.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“Four guys are standing on a street corner… an American, a Russian, a Chinese man, and an Israeli…. A…” — Anonymous", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Anonymous", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“Four guys are standing on a...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corner-an-american-a-russian-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/four-guys-are-standing-on-a-street-corner-an-american-a-russian-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```