If you watch shows such as &ldquoEmily in Paris,&rdquo you can be forgiven for thinking the world is enchanted by Americans who travel abroad. Silly gaffes, like mistaking a public urinal for a monument and taking selfies in front of it, come across as charming quirks on television.

However, as a single American woman who moved to Europe and made a LOT of faux pas of my own, I can assure you that the real world is definitely not amused.

It&rsquos a hard pill to swallow, but sadly, we&rsquove gained a reputation around the world for being, well, &ldquostupid Americans.&rdquo

Is it offensive? Yes. Could we get upset about it? Sure. But with tens of millions of Americans traveling abroad every year, the likelihood is that you&rsquoll encounter us wherever you are in the world.

Therefore, our reputation is completely understandable.

My biggest secret weapon against being called a &ldquostupid American&rdquo is calling myself a &ldquostupid American&rdquo first and laughing about it.／Click Magazine

The reality is, we all do &ldquostupid&rdquo things, especially when we are in foreign places and we don&rsquot know the local customs, cultures or surroundings. No one is immune from this humiliation, not even genius scholars.

Beat them to the punch with humor

My biggest secret weapon against being called a &ldquostupid American&rdquo is calling myself a &ldquostupid American&rdquo first and laughing about it.

Let me explain. As I said above, I accept that everyone does stupid things, and I am no exception. I&rsquove done a LOT of really &ldquostupid&rdquo things when traveling in the past, and I&rsquom sure I will do plenty more &ldquostupid&rdquo things in the future.

That&rsquos OK! I know in my heart that I&rsquom not actually a &ldquostupid&rdquo person.

So, instead of getting offended or upset about it, I just laugh and get others to laugh with me. For example, whenever I don&rsquot understand something, I&rsquom confident enough to say, &ldquoSorry, I know I&rsquom being a stupid American here, but could you help me with this?&rdquo

I find this approach instantly disarms people. Instead of becoming frustrated, it makes them eager to help. Instead of driving a wedge between our cultures, it brings us closer together.

By beating them to the punch and stating the phrase &ldquostupid American&rdquo before they even have a chance to think it, it flips the script and delivers a bit of reverse psychology that makes people think and say, &ldquoNo, you&rsquore not stupid. I&rsquom happy to help you.&rdquo

At the very least they will laugh with you, not at you. Don&rsquot believe me?  Notice how I used this same technique with you at the beginning of this article. Believe me. Implement this tip and no one will ever roll their eyes or doubt your intelligence ever again.