This study argues that intergroup rudeness (as way of in- and outgroup construction), and its metapragmatic comments are very dissimilarly dealt with in English and German online discussion fora. Proposing cultural predilections, there is a far higher interactivity level and an obvious choice of interpersonal negotiation in the German discussion group; their English counterparts prefer intergroup level negotiation. Both threads offer metapragmatic evidence that the recurrent use of discourtesy tokens does not automatically make discourtesy a recognized norm.