Watching the English...
The sun set today at 3:54pm. Last Thursday, I accidentally left work at 4:30 because it was so dark I was ABSOLUTELY SURE it was time to go home. How can it be pitch black dark at 4:15?!? I got all the way downstairs and out of the building before I realized what I'd done and went upstairs with my tail between my legs while everyone laughed at me...In an effort to understand the bizarre people on this little island I live on, I purchased a book on the anthropology of the English. It's called Watching The English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour. There are some great snippets in here, which I will try to include in my blog from time to time, in case you too are interested in why on earth the English do what they do!
Conversation Code
'Any discussion of English conversation, like any English conversation, must begin with The Weather...our conversations are not really about the weather at all: English weather-speak is actually a form of code, evolved to help us overcome our natural reserve and actually talk to each other...A typical English conversation may well start with weather-speak greeting, progress to a bit more weather-speak ice breaking, and the 'default' to weather-speak at regular intervals...
There is also an unofficial hierarchy to which everyone subscribes. If it is both wet and cold, or if you are just feeling grumpy, you can indulge in what Jeremy Paxman calls our 'phenomenal capacity for quiet moaning.'..these moaning rituals about the weather have an important social purpose, in that they involve displays of shared and opinions (as well as wit and humour) and generate a sense of solidarity against a common enemy...
We treat the English weather like a member of our family: one can complain about the behaviour of one's own children and parents, but any hint of centure from an outsider is unacceptable, and very bad manners...The worst possible weather-speak offense is one mainly committed by foreigners, particularly Americans, and that is to belittle the English weather...'
posted by Eleanor @ 9:40 pm
1 Comments:
I found this bit about English conversational code fascinating. My current roommate is a transplanted Englishman. In addition to the ordinary negotiations about differences and heretofore unquestioned habits that friends typically undergo when sharing a domestic space, subtle cultural differences can be surprisingly significant too. Maybe I ought to buy that book . . . .
Post a Comment
<< Home