Me And Social Interactions.

I really don't understand subtle social interactions. Sometimes I don't realize when I've made other people angry, or what I could have said that would have done that. I've had this problem all my life. As a small child people were very angry with something I said, and I never found out why. This is especially true now that I am online with people in other countries.

Like people from the UK. When they get angry they sometimes go off on their weird rants. Using cockney phrases, words I don't understand, referring to things I never heard before and telling jokes I don't know. I don't think I am the only American who has this problem. I don't know sometimes if they are angry or just laughing. As I said recently online, you have to know a joke and its history to know what people mean and to understand what they are saying. (Like I told him, if an American said "Why did the chicken cross the road?" he wouldn't be joking or referring to chickens or roads. He'd be saying you are being cliche.) I have always thought all my life that UK people are much more civilized than most. Much more sensible in how they deal with problems and situations, and how they react and understand. Until I got on the Straight Dope message board in 2001, my first exposure to the internet and other countries. And I found out some of them are just as obnoxious as Americans, maybe more. But on average I still think what I said is true.

But my father used to tell me a saying when I was child. Sometimes it is better to just remain silent. Which I think is the best approach to all social situations. The less words the better, always.

EDIT: Talking about missing subtle social cues, I wanted to bring up the laughing emoji. I am not sure sometimes why people react to what I say with one, especially when it is a hysterical laugh emoji. It could either mean that they find what I say hystericall funny or they are laughing at me that way. I'll bet I'm not the only person with this problem. Like I said, the best approach then is just not to reply.