[mantas]

> For your argument to hold, the Dutch (or Danish or Germans) should be perceived as more polite when speaking English, yet they aren't.

That'd be true if they were just missing polite words in their languages. Yet the difference is in wording, not in politeness of wording.

I'm no Dutch, but in my native tongue "what do you want?" is perfectly fine and polite question. Where're less polite variations too. "What would you like to order" is not unheard of. But "what can I get you?" would sound totally out of place.

Meanwhile we have 2 different words for "you" - polite and not. Which is lost in translations.