Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour

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Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour

3.85 of 5 stars 3.85 · rating details · 2,561 ratings · 331 reviews

In "Watching The English" anthropologist Kate Fox takes a revealing look at the quirks, habits and foibles of the English people. She puts the English national character under her anthropological microscope, and finds a strange and fascinating culture, governed by complex sets of unspoken rules and byzantine codes of behaviour. The rules of weather-speak. The ironic-gnome...more

Paperback, 424 pages

Published April 11th 2005 by Hodder And Stoughton (first published 2004)

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Dec 02, 2008 Guy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: socsci, travel

If only there were a book like this for every country and people! It has been a long time since I have laughed as much while reading a book... and I'm not sure that I have ever read so many excerpts of a book out loud to my wife. If you have ever wondered why the English behave the way they do, then run (do not walk) to buy this book.

Kate Fox is an anthropologist after my own heart (when I went on an expedition, it was through the Alps rather than the Himalayas) -- uninterested in the "macho" o...more

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Oct 31, 2007 Isabella rated it 1 of 5 stars

Oh how I hated this book!

It COULD actually have been hilarious (and we are led to believe that it is....for so say many, many reviews) but the author is just so full of herself, it is simply annoying.

More than once while reading (up to the point where I decided to call it quits, around page 130) I wondered whether the author is English herself. She kept repeating that boasting is very un-English. Yet, she kept bragging about all the other funny (according to *her*) books and articles she wrote i...more

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Jun 04, 2007 Trin rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science, english-lit

A really amusing anthropological look at the English by an Englishwoman. Fox’s sense of humor is what really makes this book; it’s a bit long and repetitive at parts—skewing too much toward being an academic text when what I want (need) it to be is a work of popular science—but Fox’s own innate “Oh, come off it!” reaction always pulls through in the end. Somewhat frightening: how much of Fox’s “grammar of Englishness” I find applicable to myself—social awkwardness, humor, cynicism, belief in fai...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Rosa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Un libro genial para cualquiera con inter��s en la cultura inglesa, y totalmente recomendable para angl��filos sin remedio como yo. Aunque leerlo siendo ingl��s tiene que ser una experiencia distinta, est�� tambi��n pensado para que personas que han vivido un tiempo razonable en tierras inglesas e intentado integrarse como uno m��s disfruten much��simo de la lectura. A m�� me ha servido para descubrir algunas de las posibles causas (hist��ricas, demogr��ficas...) de las caracter��sticas m��s obv...more

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Feb 07, 2009 Kelly rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who have spent time in England and want an explanation for peculiarities of English society

I really loved this book. First of all, it's hilarious--not because she's writing humor, but simply because it turns out that it is surprising and amusing to have basic human behaviors picked apart. Second, she is very accurate and the information could actually be useful in future interactions with English people. I feel that Fox is very skilled as an anthropologist to have been able to identify these traits in any culture, much less in her own culture. But she still keeps the book's style very...more

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Apr 28, 2013 Stephen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Kate Fox's Watching the English takes a more serious tack than Bill Bryson's exploration of Britain, slightly so. The author has a earnest endeavor -- scrutinizing English culture with an anthropologist's eye -- but she offers a spirited analysis. Although her intent is to discern the rules governing English behavior by watching how Britons act, she's no passive observer, instead turning her fellow Brits into lab rats and experimenting on them. She devotes afternoons to jumping queues (cutting i...more

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Apr 20, 2013 Natasha Chowdory rated it 5 of 5 stars

Brilliant. This has been on my to-read pile for a very very long time, since I was an undergraduate about 6 years ago to be exact.

I'm glad I've waited. My knowledge of people and the world is exponentially more varied than it was then but also, I appreciate (more) the style of the prose that Kate Fox has chosen to use. It's a major point for me, in that what is technically an ethnography into 'Englishness' where Fox has immersed herself in as many aspects of English culture she never once makes...more Brilliant. This has been on my to-read pile for a very very long time, since I was an undergraduate about 6 years ago to be exact.

I'm glad I've waited. My knowledge of people and the world is exponentially more varied than it was then but also, I appreciate (more) the style of the prose that Kate Fox has chosen to use. It's a major point for me, in that what is technically an ethnography into 'Englishness' where Fox has immersed herself in as many aspects of English culture she never once makes me feel uneducated of 'below' her in terms of the language she uses and indeed how she uses it. In fact one could point out that the very lack of class in the way she writes in indicative of her higher class status :p (haha point from the novel, English people, myself included are obsessed with status and class).

My favourite chapters would have to be the one queueing. Mainly because I spend and have spent a lot of time in queues and the unspoken rules of the English style of queueing is something I have carried with me wherever I have lived. The fact that each queue is a microcosm of Englishness is spot on. I experience this pretty much every morning when I get on the bus. And Fox is right when she says, that English person even as just one person will queue at a bus stop, stood facing the direction in which the vehicle is likely to be coming.

Our obsession with alcohol was another one I found interesting. Mainly because I know so many people (myself included) that use alcohol as a buffer before embarking on a social event - meeting new people? Have a quick drink to make it easier. Oh! we're at party, lets get some drinks so we have something to hold. And so on.

These are just a few of the gems. I've grown up with most of these, I do (have done) most of these. When people walk into me, I say sorry. I judge people on their accents and sorry to say that yes, some people do sound more common than others and in England you are judged for it. It's not right and it shouldn't happen but it is a fact of life.

I guess I would peg myself as lower-middle or middle-middle? Education puts me at upper middle, but the way I live my life puts me at middle middle but my many eccentricities and lack of care for certain standards and customs would either put me at working class or upper class. See? It's almost too fascinating :p And I feel so cringey that I've written that in a review, so now I'm doing that very English thing of apologising for my (perceived) transgression. (less)

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Feb 24, 2013 Shara added it

My office Secret Santa gave this book to me, and we'll just assume it was well intentioned rather than a polite notice of how badly I've adapted to life in the UK. And while I think it could've been shorter, I did learn quite a bit from it.

1) Bite your tongue when talking about the weather. Agree with the other person and resist the urge to tell stories about American weather. A) It makes them think you're showing off. B) The English want to bond over how bad it is, how we are all cold/damp/hot/...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Lizzy rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've read this book first of all as an anthropologist and a follower of New Ethnography paradigm. But the hidden reason for reading this book was that I really love english people and I wanted an insider opinion of their culture and manners. Fox's attempt to free anthropology form Academia is a successful enterprise of humor and professional behavior and skills, well managed in the midst of collateral damages due to her position of 'native' as well as 'outsider ethnographer'.
I really enjoyed th...more

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Dec 07, 2012 Simon rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

This started well enough, with some amusing and perceptive points about how the English greet each other (or rather, don't) and converse. But it soon falls into the typical trap for this kind of book, and one which Fox herself warns against in her own introduction: generalisations. Time after time she'd assert that English people do X, to which I'd reply in my head "Well, no, I don't".
She's also obsessed with class. She claims that all the English are, but she seems to think about it an awful lo...more

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Nov 20, 2012 Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars

I found this fascinating. Full disclaimer -- though I think I pretty much read the whole thing, I absolutely did not read it in the order that it is written, but rather in chunks over a few days. As someone who grew up raised in Canada by English parents, with regular-ish trips to the UK to visit family, I found this indispensable. It explained and put words to so much that I have observed and felt over my lifetime. It also helped me to understand the madness that is the English class system muc...more

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Sep 01, 2012 Nessa marked it as to-read

In "Watching The English" anthropologist Kate Fox takes a revealing look at the quirks, habits and foibles of the English people. She puts the English national character under her anthropological microscope, and finds a strange and fascinating culture, governed by complex sets of unspoken rules and byzantine codes of behaviour. The rules of weather-speak. The ironic-gnome rule. The reflex apology rule. The paranoid-pantomime rule. Class indicators and class anxiety tests. The money-talk taboo an...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Jill rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sociology-anthropology

I've been meaning to read this book, ever since I first spotted it in the bookstore some four or five years back. I finally got round to it a week ago, figuring that there was no better time to read Watching the English while in London. Reading it - as I do all my books - in snatches while commuting, or while waiting in line, I found myself surreptitiously observing the English around me, stifling a chuckle as Fox's observations on queuing (and the English response to queue jumping) and English...more I've been meaning to read this book, ever since I first spotted it in the bookstore some four or five years back. I finally got round to it a week ago, figuring that there was no better time to read Watching the English while in London. Reading it - as I do all my books - in snatches while commuting, or while waiting in line, I found myself surreptitiously observing the English around me, stifling a chuckle as Fox's observations on queuing (and the English response to queue jumping) and English behaviour on public transport came to life.

This book was a revelation in many ways. Walking around the streets of London, I found myself looking more carefully at the people around me, taking a step back from my own interactions with the English, to try and judge for myself if Fox's observations rang true (her observations on weather talk and grooming talk were especially entertaining). But coming from a former British colony, it was also interesting to read Fox's observations on Home Rules, Dress Codes, Work to Rule, etc and see how some of these rules had been transplanted and operated in another cultural context.

Not everything that Fox writes about - the book was published in 2004 - necessarily still holds true. In her section on pub etiquette for instance, Fox notes that when ordering a drink, it is customary and polite for a customer to ask the publican or bar staff if they will have one for themselves. This is a more discreet way of offering a tip and positions the publican/bar staff as an equal. However, a friend of mine who'd moved to London a couple of years back said her English friends hooted with laughter when told about Fox's advice, noting that nowadays, bar staff would assume you were trying to pick them up if you offered to buy them a drink. Although some of the manifestations of the so-called English rules of behaviour may have changed somewhat - in terms of one's interaction with a publican/bar staff, the kind of vocabulary used, the kind of dress one adopts - the underlying rules that Fox identifies as driving this behaviour are likely to be more stable. In any case, Watching the English is an entertaining read, not only for making one look closer and think harder about why we act the way we do, but also for Fox's oh so English manner of taking the piss out of everything, including herself. (less)

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Jul 14, 2012 Terry rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm struggling to finish this book. It could be a brilliant book but it is just simply boring. The book methodically attempts to analyse the character of the English and observe rules of social interaction etc. It is profoundly middle-class London-centric, unnecessarily wordy, attempting to be partly research and partly humourous. It's all been done before. It misses out great swathes of the population who don't talk about the weather or say "pleased to meet you", namely most people under 40. Th...more

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Feb 04, 2012 Rebecca rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: nonfiction

At its worst, anthropology can be extremely condescending, analyzing other cultures as if they were animals. But at its best, the discipline explains the very meaning of what it is to be human and live in human society. Fox neatly sidesteps the first to embrace the second by turning her trained gaze on her own culture.

And so we get an examination of why one doesn't speak to fellow commuters, the English substitution of home pride for social skills, the liminality of the pub, and pea-eating's rol...more At its worst, anthropology can be extremely condescending, analyzing other cultures as if they were animals. But at its best, the discipline explains the very meaning of what it is to be human and live in human society. Fox neatly sidesteps the first to embrace the second by turning her trained gaze on her own culture.

And so we get an examination of why one doesn't speak to fellow commuters, the English substitution of home pride for social skills, the liminality of the pub, and pea-eating's role as a shibboleth. She narrows down on the English view of the world, an attitude that assumes everything will turn out poorly but one mustn't complain, in which humor and not appearing to take anything too seriously are of paramount importance. And because she herself is English and cannot help herself, she writes the entire thing with a self-depricating wit that is delightful.

Some of her insights have helped me finally figure out some puzzling interactions I've had with British coworkers. Others merely articulate things that I myself do without quite thinking about it. As has been noted by others, New Yorkers and the English (and the Japanese) share the concept of negative politeness--that pretending you're alone on the subway car and not meeting the eyes of fellow pedestrians is not an indication of rudeness or aloofness, but an entirely different set of manners created by people who live on a very crowded island, so that they can handle being surrounded by people all the time without flipping out and killing them all. The Midwesterner who tries to strike up a conversation with strangers on the subway is being actively rude in the environment. (One should not hold that against them, anymore than one should take seriously an inadvertantly crude hand gesture made by a foreigner where it's obvious that no harm was meant, but it's still rude. Hopefully, the New Yorker accosted with inappropriate friendliness and the Brazilian who's just had an American make an OK sign will be tolerant and confine themselves to a private eyeroll.)

There are breakdowns of the class meanings of what time someone eats dinner, what they call a meal in the later part of the day that has tea involved, and what specific departments someone buys things from in Marks & Spencer. Given that American culture has some parallels but fewer strong definitions for class, it's a fascinating comparison.

In the end, she is able to codify English behavior, but not explain it. I wish she had been a bit braver--I think that England's history as having been repeatedly invaded, having several layers of class composed of foreigners, being considered a cultural backwater for quite some time before suddenly finding themselves in command of the world stage only to lose it once more, and the aforementioned fact of being a small, crowded island does much to explain some of the national character traits. Unfortunately, only the last is discussed. Nevertheless, it's a deeply insightful book that sheds a lot of light not only on the English, but also by comparison on some of their cousins. (less)

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Aug 24, 2011 Kirsty rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: language-translation

I feel I have something of a love-hate relationship with this book. It's clever, insightful and funny, and yet I couldn't help feeling frustrated the further into the book I got. At one point, Kate Fox mentions that she's never criticised for being overly negative, only for being deemed to be too complimentary to the English. However, in an obvious attempt to avoid being `too complimentary', it seems she's gone too far in the other direction. I feel she's excessively critical of the English, ref...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Jenny Sparrow rated it 4 of 5 stars

Будучи страстной поклонницей Англии и всего английского, я просто не могла пройти мимо книги Кейт Фокс "Наблюдая за англичанами. Скрытые правила поведения". Долго вылавливала ее в интернете и наконец купила! (кстати, это была первая книга, купленная мною через интернет-магазин). Переплатила наверняка, ну да не жалею ни капли!

Кейт Фокс - потомственный антрополог, взявшая на себя трудную задачу - определить скрытые правила поведения и особенности национального характера англичан, так называемую "г...more Будучи страстной поклонницей Англии и всего английского, я просто не могла пройти мимо книги Кейт Фокс "Наблюдая за англичанами. Скрытые правила поведения". Долго вылавливала ее в интернете и наконец купила! (кстати, это была первая книга, купленная мною через интернет-магазин). Переплатила наверняка, ну да не жалею ни капли!

Кейт Фокс - потомственный антрополог, взявшая на себя трудную задачу - определить скрытые правила поведения и особенности национального характера англичан, так называемую "грамматику английской культуры". На протяжении всех 500 страниц книги она по полочкам, по кусочкам препарирует перед нами загадочную английскую душу, обнажая все прелести и гадости с бесстрастностью ученого. И в то же время делая это так забавно и тонко, как могут только англичане с присущим им чувством юмора и самоиронии. Вы узнаете, как в Англии принято себя вести на работе, в пабе, в ресторане, на светском приеме и в постели. Каковы особенности истинно английского юмора, пития, светской беседы и быта. Как правильно заводить знакомство, какова роль садовых гномиков в жизни англичан, почему погода является национальным фетишем, как правильно есть горох с помощью вилки и почему англичане к домашним питомцам относятся лучше, чем к собственным детям. Блестящая книга, научная, но с юмором, всеобъемлющая, но лёгкая. Книга займет почетное место на моей книжной полке. Горячо рекомендую тем, кто, как и я, очарован Англией и всем английским :)(less)

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Sep 14, 2010 Nicola rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction, recommended, writing, anthropology

I was immediately charmed by Watching the English, wherein anthropologist Kate Fox turns an academic eye to why the English talk about the weather obsessively; use irony so rampantly; and otherwise indulge in other quirks that tend to baffle outsiders. The resulting book is very funny and, for the most part, quite a revelatory look at the unexamined social ‘rules’ that govern the English.

I saw a meme circulating on tumblr recently. It was entitled ‘How to have a lovely day’ and it included advic...more I was immediately charmed by Watching the English, wherein anthropologist Kate Fox turns an academic eye to why the English talk about the weather obsessively; use irony so rampantly; and otherwise indulge in other quirks that tend to baffle outsiders. The resulting book is very funny and, for the most part, quite a revelatory look at the unexamined social ‘rules’ that govern the English.

I saw a meme circulating on tumblr recently. It was entitled ‘How to have a lovely day’ and it included advice like ‘smile at everyone you meet’ and ‘compliment strangers’. I literally recoiled in horror. As I have learned from Kate Fox, it’s because I’m English, you see. To do such things would: (a) be overly earnest (we hate being earnest); (b) break the privacy bubble (we love our privacy); (c) involve being social in an unstructured way (quelle horreur!).

I heartily recommend this book to both English people and, particularly, non-English people. I also think it makes a pretty neat writing companion. For instance, it’s easy to fail to register that, while I have a settee in my lounge, an upper-class person has a sofa in their sitting room. The book is filled with lots of yummy class-distinctions to make you chortle and then realise you’re far more working/middle/upper class than you’d thought.

Although I enjoyed the book, it’s not without its flaws. Presumably as a result of a lifetime spent writing reports and academic papers, Fox chooses to finish each chapter by summing up what “we” have learned over the last few pages. It’s completely redundant, and I began automatically skipping the end of each chapter once I noticed this stylistic oddity. It’s no exaggeration to say you could cut 20% of the volume of this book and scarcely notice the difference.

I also don’t quite know what to make of Fox’s decision to continually quote Jilly Cooper(!) as a source of infinite wisdom about what it is to be English. I get that Fox was trying to make the book lighthearted in tone in order to boost crossover appeal, but it’s really quite silly to quote a low-brow novelist in an anthropology book. Similarly, she quotes Jeremy Paxman an awful lot, too. Another thing I began automatically skipping.

A judicious editor could have bumped this up to a four-star read. As it is, it’s a bit too lumpy for me to heap unqualified praise upon. Still an enjoyable read that I got a lot out of, though.(less)

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Oct 13, 2012 Passive Apathetic added it

At some point I dropped quoting since there were too many passages to quote. Simply hilarious.

"Size, we sniffily point out, isn’t everything, and the English weather requires an appreciation of subtle changes and understated nuances, rather than a vulgar obsession with mere volume and magnitude.

Indeed, the weather may be one of the few things about which the English are still unselfconsciously and unashamedly patriotic. During my participant-observation research on Englishness, which naturally i...more

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Jul 23, 2011 Malcolm rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

There are several reasons that I like this book so much. First, it is a fine piece anthropology where Kate Fox turns her eye to home. There are some fine methodological reflections, and the introduction is a masterpiece of ethnographic method (including a discussion of purposely bumping into people to see how many of them say sorry: now there's a quintessential English trait). Second, she sets out to explain Englishness – to lay out what she calls the rule of Englishness – and in doing so expose...more

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May 28, 2011 Suthawan rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

มุมมองของนักมานุษยวิทยาอังกฤษ อ่านแล้วก็ได้อารมณ์อังกรี๊ด อังกฤษ สมชื่อหนังสือ โดยเฉพาะวิธีการเปรียบเปรย กระทบกระเทียบ ตลกร้ายและแสบหน่อย ๆ ซึ่งผู้เขียนน่าจะเขียนได้ร้ายกาจและแสบกว่านี้ แต่คงเพราะเป็นหนังสือที่ถูกนำเสนอผ่านการเก็บข้อมูลและงานวิจัยทางมานุษยวิทยาซึ่งต้องคงไว้ซึ่งมุมมองที่ปราศจากอคติ บางครั้งก็รู้สึกถึงความพยายามของมนุษย์ที่สร้างสิ่งไร้สาระให้เป็นสาระขึ้นมา สิ่งที่น่าสนใจที่สุดของหนังสือ น่าจะเป็นการนำเสนอภาพสังคมและวัฒนธรรมผ่านมุมมอง การสังเกต และการวิเคราะห์พฤติกรรมของผู้คนในแบบม...more มุมมองของนักมานุษยวิทยาอังกฤษ อ่านแล้วก็ได้อารมณ์อังกรี๊ด อังกฤษ สมชื่อหนังสือ โดยเฉพาะวิธีการเปรียบเปรย กระทบกระเทียบ ตลกร้ายและแสบหน่อย ๆ ซึ่งผู้เขียนน่าจะเขียนได้ร้ายกาจและแสบกว่านี้ แต่คงเพราะเป็นหนังสือที่ถูกนำเสนอผ่านการเก็บข้อมูลและงานวิจัยทางมานุษยวิทยาซึ่งต้องคงไว้ซึ่งมุมมองที่ปราศจากอคติ บางครั้งก็รู้สึกถึงความพยายามของมนุษย์ที่สร้างสิ่งไร้สาระให้เป็นสาระขึ้นมา สิ่งที่น่าสนใจที่สุดของหนังสือ น่าจะเป็นการนำเสนอภาพสังคมและวัฒนธรรมผ่านมุมมอง การสังเกต และการวิเคราะห์พฤติกรรมของผู้คนในแบบมานุษยวิทยา ซึ่งมีมิติที่หลากหลายและนำเสนอให้เห็นความเชื่อมโยงระหว่างส่วนต่าง ๆ ของชีวิต โดยเฉพาะความหมายที่ซ่อนอยู่เบื้องหลังพฤติกรรมต่าง ๆ ซึ่งผู้คนในสังคมวัฒนธรรมนั้นเองก็ไม่ได้รู้สึกถึงมัน ทำให้นึกถึงคำที่ว่า "มนุษย์คือสัตว์สังคม" ในความเป็น "สัตว์" การแสดงออกทางพฤติกรรมและความคิดย่อมดำเนินไปตามสัญชาตญาณที่ผ่านกระบวนการเรียนรู้จากการเป็นสมาชิกของสังคมวัฒนธรรมนั้น ๆ ซึ่งส่งผลให้มนุษย์นั้นแตกต่างกัน แต่เราเชื่อมั่นว่า "มนุษย์" ต่างจาก"สัตว์" แล้วเราต่างจาก "สัตว์" ตรงไหน? (ซึ่งที่เห็นชัด ๆ คือ เขียนต่างกัน)ความแตกต่างของมนุษย์นั้นเกิดขึ้นกับเปลือกนอกของพฤติกรรมและความคิดจิตใจเท่านั้น ในความเป็น "มนุษย์" เรามีศักยภาพที่จะวิวัฒน์ได้สูงขึ้นกว่าความเป็น "สัตว์" ซึ่งกระบวนการวิวัฒน์นี้เป็นปัจเจกอย่างยิ่ง เมื่อเป็นปัจเจกก็ย่อมแยกออกจากสังคม สังคมซึ่งทำให้มนุษย์แตกต่างกัน ดังนั้นการวิวัฒน์นี้จะนำเราก้าวข้ามความแตกต่างทั้งหลายและนำเราไปสู่แก่นแท้ใช่หรือไม่ ประเด็นสำคัญคืออะไรและอย่างไรจึงถือว่าเราคือผู้วิวัฒน์แล้ว? (less)

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Jan 04, 2009 Jenni rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: non-fiction

Very much enjoyed this again, on second reading. I had mis-remembered that it was as funny as, say, a Bill Bryson book, which it's not - quite - but nevertheless I giggled over lots of it and read many bits out to my willing partner, who plans to read it himself sometime soon.

The insights are quite striking, though as you would expect a little less startling second time round (first time of reading I remember being really taken by the idea that English people form an orderly queue of one if they...more

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Jan 12, 2009 Will is currently reading it

The hidden rules of English people`s behaviour from an anthropologist`s persective-although she certainly doesn`t write like an anthropologist-she`s far too amusing as well as wincingly acurate! As an English woman herself, sh`s able to laugh at herself and is witty, eloquent and accessible. I think it`s a little long-winded at times but she has obviously studied us in great depth and it strikes home and very true. I just hope I`m able to finish it.......

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Mar 26, 2012 Ilze Folkmane rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I have surprisingly little to say about the book itself. It is quite well written (though, the combination of the language styles was a bit confusing as it gave mixed signals about the purpose of the book), there are some phrases that are laugh-out-loud funny, some parts that seems deeply academic but all in all it is quite repetitive. However, the book flawlessly follows the rules of Englishness it so bravely sets out to determine. It has lots of humour, modesty (real and affected), moderation...more

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Jul 21, 2011 Jan-Maat added it

Shelves: 21st-century, british-isles, society

Anthropology practised on the English. The author claims that this was to just avoid the discomfort involved in studying peoples in obscure and isolated parts of the world - but she also tells us that humour is the default mode of the English and that modesty is one of our values. Having put us at our easy with a friendly joke and a humility topos she is able to smuggle her research past the reader and show us just how alien the English are. Which is a nice way of demonstrating the value of her...more

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Mar 31, 2013 Annemieke Windt rated it 3 of 5 stars

Antropologist Kate Fox doesn't go out and live with tribes halfway down the globe. She stays in England and tries to make sense of her fellow countrymen. In Watching The English she takes the reader on a quest to find out the rules about English behaviour.

It's about the intricate rules of being English and some of those rules are quite baffling to people from other countries. Fox states that the English are a private people, but doesn't believe being and island nation is the excuse. Other island...more

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Feb 11, 2013 Christine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Ms Fox takes on her own tribe, the English, and ferrets out everyday behavior among all classes in modern English life. While much of the information provided was entertaining and interesting, this is not a comedic, laugh out loud type of book. I did learn a lot about differentiation among the various classes, especially regarding use of language and dress on special occasions.

However, the book did frustrate me a bit. The author tries to make many behaviors uniquely English which belong to many...more

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Oct 28, 2010 Sijmen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great read, with many lively anecdotes. I found most of the observations to be spot on. I’ll have to take the author’s word on some aspects that I’m unfamiliar with (such as the class system) but considering the accuracy of the other observations I have no reservations doing that.

What annoyed me slightly was the repetition throughout the book. Although I liked how the author distills rules and shows examples throughout the different parts of her research (from pub talk to weddings), the summarie...more

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Mar 19, 2013 Hamish rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: non-fiction

I haven't been able to shut up about this book since I started reading it. Every conversation I have, I somehow bring this into it. Hell, I was watching James Bond movies with a friend the other day and I started pointing out all the English-isms. Like the scene in You Only Live Twice where Bond breaks into an office and cold clocks a security guard with a small statue, breaking the top off in the process, then carefully puts the broken statue back in its place. And in On Her Majesty's Secret Se...more I haven't been able to shut up about this book since I started reading it. Every conversation I have, I somehow bring this into it. Hell, I was watching James Bond movies with a friend the other day and I started pointing out all the English-isms. Like the scene in You Only Live Twice where Bond breaks into an office and cold clocks a security guard with a small statue, breaking the top off in the process, then carefully puts the broken statue back in its place. And in On Her Majesty's Secret Service when he's sneaking into Blofeld's base by posing as a genealogist and the villainous henchman picks him up from the train station and asks how his trip was, he complains that he doesn't travel well. It's all in the book.

It also reminded me a lot of myself. While neither of my parents are British, they both lived in London for many years and I wonder if they did so well there because their temperaments matched the locale, and then they passed those traits on to me. The social awkwardness, the distaste for strangers talking to you, the insistence on having orderly lines, the uncomfortableness when complimented, the incredulity at politicians who talk a big game, the love for politeness, the dislike for flashy patriotism, it all hit pretty close to home. Part of me wanted to jump up and move there ASAP, but I'm sure I'm also very American in many ways and would still find myself feeling out of place there (the way I often do here). Which then made me wonder what are the essential American-isms that I possess, and how they differ from the British. I'm pretty sure the big one would be class; that English obsession would drive me insane. Though I've long argued that the American equivalent of the English class obsession is race. Seriously, imagine trying to explain our race relations to a foreigner. Like for example why you can't say the N word but black people can and why you even have to call it "the N word". It makes sense to us, but I imagine it leaves non-natives baffled.

Despite this book taking up an enormous amount of my mental energy for a week or so, it's a bit too flawed for me to give it more than three stars. There's a certain feeling of back-patting when the author (frequently) refers to herself, and the humor feels a bit on the self-satisfied side. And her methods often seemed a little arbitrary/unscientific. Also those summaries that end every section, as well as the larger one at the end of the book were rather repetitive and irritating. I also got the feeling that she was writing for a British audience and wouldn't define terms that foreigners were unlikely to know. Also she seemed to miss the mark when talking about musical subcultures and made gross generalizations that seemed to betray a lack of understanding of these subcultures. In fact (and I'm sure she's aware of this problem), the whole book is essentially one gigantic generalization, an unfortunate but necessary side-effect of writing about such a broad subject. But flaws aside, an entertaining and thought-provoking read.

Appendix: My sister was born in England (my parents moved to the states a few months after she was born), and she moved back there a few years ago. But despite the fact that she's lived a large majority of her life in the US, I still like to call her a limey, insist that she is English and not American, and rib her about her nationality. Not because I have any problem with the English (or any particular pride in being American), but because I'm an obnoxious younger brother. In response, she lent me this book. The other day she emailed me with a link to an bawdy catalogue card she wrote as a joke for an exhibit at the museum she works at. Here is my obnoxious younger brother response, inspired by Watching the English:

hi imy,

sure is cold, eh? there we go, good ice breaker, now we can speak. i hope this email finds out well, probably as you sit down to eat the meal you cooked using ingredients you purchased from M&S. a bit dear perhaps, but worth it! maybe a bit of toast to go with your tea and dinner? with oxford or dundee marmalade of course, not like those plebs who use golden shred. i hope receiving this email hasn't interrupted you working on your front garden. it looks great. the back one is a bit of a mess, but the walls are high and no one can see. what's that, you weren't busy gardening or eating? probably you were doing a bit of DIY. got to keep that home looking nice. not that you'd ever brag about it. yes, yes, of course you've made a right mess of things while putting in the new carpet. you'll forgive me if i don't attempt to one-down you. unlike yourself, i'm a brash american and i love bragging. i just put in a new book case and it looks great.

no, the main reason i've emailed is to respond to your message, which i'll get to in a moment. first i need to talk about money. i'm sorry, i'm sorry, i know the subject makes you uncomfortable. but once again, here i am, a brash american breaking the taboo. but as this is email, i feel it will help you to overcome your customary social inhibitions (if the alcohol hasn't done that already) and we could briefly discuss paying for mom and dad's christmas present, which they've finally consented to let us give them. no, i can see i've made you uncomfortable. we'll talk about it later. probably you've been home for a while, and all the alcohol you drank at the local pub (celebrating the transition from work to home) has worn off. i hope you didn't skip out on paying for a round. boy would you be a pariah. oh no, of course you got your round. good 'ol charlie the barkeep is a wonder, isn't he? always knows which order to serve everyone in, even when they're not standing in queue!

oh, that reminds me, did you watch the cricket match last week? we both know you're a brit (it's where you were born and where you currently reside!), but perhaps the locals still view you as a lowly, uncultured american who has not allowed herself to become fully english. their mistake. i hope you demonstrated this error by rooting for england (what with the cricket rule and all) against philadelphia united. they were the underdog and all, so i imagine it was tempting to support them, but i hope you resisted the urge.

well anyways, i seem to have taken some time to get to my point. it's about your catalogue card. while i understand you need to joke about sex, as it's a very uncomfortable subject for you, as a puritanical, prude american i was sickened by it. you disgust me.

love,
hamish(less)

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Sep 12, 2010 James rated it 4 of 5 stars

Runs a little long/redundant. Some areas much more strongly backed with evidence/anecdote than others (particularly the author's previous focus, the pub). But good.
Wish there was this for every place.

"For class-anxious upper-middles, especially the urban, educated, 'chattering' class, concern is focused not so much on doing things correctly as on doing them [i]distinctively[/i]. Desperate to distinguish and distance themselves from the middle-middles, they strive not only to avoid twee fussiness...more

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About Kate Fox

Kate Fox is a social anthropologist and Public Relations director. She is the director of the Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC).

Fox is the daughter of an anthropologist Robin Fox (not to be confused with the famous historian Robin Lane Fox). As a child she lived in the UK, the United States, France and Ireland. She studied for an undergraduate degree in anthropology and philosophy at Cambridge...more

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Books by Kate Fox

Passport to the Pub: The Tourist's Guide to Pub Etiquette

Watching The English. Hidden Rules Of Conduct / Nablyudaya Za Anglichanami. Skrytye Pravila Povedeniya

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“A truly English protest march would see us all chanting: 'What do we want? GRADUAL CHANGE! When do we want it? IN DUE COURSE!” — 5 people liked it

“Social scientists are not universally liked or appreciated, but we are still marginally more acceptable than alcoholics and escaped lunatics.” — 5 people liked it

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