Xenophobe's Guide to the English

The Xenophobe's Guide

by Antony Miall, David Milsted

Never overstep the mark

Moderation—a treasured ideal—means a lot to the English. Their respect for it is reflected in their shared dislike of any person who “goes too far.”

 

Irrational rationality

The English can admire something without enjoying it, or enjoy something they suspect is fundamentally reprehensible. You can never be sure which stance they are going to take—the reassuringly reasonable, or the wildly irrational.

 

I'm fine, really

Stoicism, the capacity to greet life's vicissitudes with cheerful calm, is an essential ingredient of Englishness.

 

Push-me, pull-you

Two equally fundamental but contradictory English characteristics are a love of continuity and a yearning for change. In the English character these two opposite desires vie with each other constantly, which produces some curious behavior patterns and several characteristics most usually observed in the classic split personality.

Genres: Nonfiction, Travel, Humor, British Literature, Comedy, Cultural, Polish Literature

92 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

He has written several books on Victorian songs and society. Now he works as a public relations consultant. Resides in Wandsworth.

Reviews

[Hadas]

This book is hilarious!

[Mark]

After reading The Xenophobe's guide to the Germans, where I've worked and lived the past twenty odd years, decided to read the book about my nation. Again I found it amusing and contains many truths. Only after working and living in a foreign country can we really appreciate who we are and see our own culture objectively. It's like putting mirror in front of your face, we're all prisoners of our own culture.
I think we have to take all the books in this series with a pinch of salt and not too seriously, then they are very amusing. The books obviously deal with stereotypes, so there will always be truths for some and not others. Had me giggling about my own British foibels though and again made for very entertaining reading!

[Gabriele]

Having lived in England for some years I do agree with most of it. Very funny.

[Jenna Veirs]

I love the Xenophobe books, and have a collection of them in my kitchen. Why the kitchen? They are cute and look nice with the cookbooks. These books are very stereotypical, but fun.

[Gizella Tóth]

Csak tudnám, miért nem vettem le előbb ezt a könyvet a polcról. Jókat vigyorogtam. (Persze, biztosan sok minden változott a könyv megírása óta, de én sem vagyok mai csirke, sok dolog visszaköszönt ifjabb éveimből:))

[danana]

Really funny and enjoyable book !

"Deep down, the English regard Americans as English people who turned into something else as the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding, and who would be a lot happier if they just had the sense to turn back again. Then, they could start talking 'proper' English."

"English puritanism is best expressed in the belief that if something tastes good it must be bad for you; and if it's unpleasant, it must be good for you. There can be no other explanation for the existence of tapioca pudding."

"In England, brains are optional but a sense of humour is compulsory."

"A man walked into the doctor's surgery. The doctor said, 'I haven't seen you for a long time.' The man replied 'I know, I've been ill.' "

"For them this faecal nirvana is never reached. None of them can be persuaded to flirt with the ubiquitous suppository so beloved of the Europeans."

"Fortitude in the face of adversity is the thing. Queen Victoria's dying words were : 'I feel a little better...' "

"England is identified as the country of Shakespeare, Milton, Byron, Dickens and Beatrix Potter"

"The Independent is read by the people who think they should run the country, The Guardian by the people who think they do run the country, and The Times by the people who actually run the country. The Financial Times is read by the people who own the country, The Daily Telegraph is read by people who ran the country 60 years ago and The Sun is read by people who don't care who runs the country so lang as the female on page 3 has great breasts."

[David Baird]

I enjoyed very much the Xenophibe's Guide to The Danes, it was a very funny book and exactly explained the odd behaviour of my Danish wife and in-laws. With the English book I was looking for simillar laughs about myself, but found the book far less entertaining. That's not to say it wasn't correct in many ways, but it lacked the sarcasm of the Danish guide.

Still fun though and can be read in about an hour.

[Rebecca]

A great read, full of observations and stereotypes of the English.
I'll admit, I agreed with quite a lot of it.

It's separated into sections discussing everything from what we think of ourselves, what others think of us, sports, culture, government and so on.

The Xenophobe's Guides are generally a good laugh :)

[Christine]

Crossposted at Booklikes.

Really funny. I got this when my friend was cleaning out his books. I will try to find more in this series.

Wonderful comments about English people like – “When Lloyd Webber meets Beatrix Potter, nobody will be able to get a seat”.

[Aline]

This was recommended by TfG before arriving for my year of service. I must say I learned more than anticipated from this account of English life. Written by two Englishmen it covers the in and outs of English Culture and Society. I know do's and don'ts as well as views of other nations and foreigners as a whole. Good read with some good English humour!

[Phoebe]

Interesting and funny, but I had expected more "English wit". :)
Especially since even the book put it that well: "In England, brains are optional but a sense of humour is compulsary."
Could have been even more humour for my taste. But it was a nice leisure-time book anyway! :)

[Virginie]

I think I am going to read the whole series of these Xenophobe's Guides! Very interesting to decipher why people act or react as they do depending on which culture they come from!

[Jonathan]

Funny and True

[Marzena]

An entertaining set of stereotypes about the English. I can only question the translation and publishing errors which were disappointing.

[Okkyun]

Super! Hilarious! The writing style looks very British. I do love to read Xenophobe's Guide to the Korean, if the publisher has a plan to add one for the series.

[Jana]

Helped a lot for my presentation on britishness!

[Meri]

Finally, a Xenophobe's Guide almost as good as the Guide to the Scots. Perhaps it is the dry, English humor, perhaps it is the dry, English people, but this book was certainly an entertaining read.

[Mary Ann]

Kind of interesting look at the British and how they view other groups.

[Ulrike Böhm]

Just plain hilarious!

[Michele Bariani]

Absolutely boring

[Cristina]

Very funny and informative in the same time. It walks you through all life matters and cultural aspects of the English people. It made me laugh several times which is very refreshing for a book.

[Um mar de fogueirinhas]

Laughed out loud picturing some of the descriptions and their real life dramas...

[Emi Yoshida]

I love this series! Germans, Americans, and English are all spot, on in my opinion.

[Adéla Graf]

Skvělá, vtipná a praktická knížečka.

[Jeanette Devereux]

Very amusing and revealing of how we are. I much agree with me miall. Full of wry observations.

[Ana Teresa Queiroga]

Funny. I could recognise some of the stereotypes from the short period of time when I lived in England.

----------------------------
Some of my favourite quotes:
"(...) it is almost impossible linguistically to be over-grateful, over-apologetic or over-polite when it comes to the point."
----------------------------
New words I learnt:
steadfast: staying the same for a long time and not changing quickly or unexpectedly. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

hidebound: having fixed opinions and ways of doing things and not willing to change or be influenced, especially by new or modern ideas. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

fiendish: clever and difficult, sometimes in a bad way. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

roster: a list of people’s names and sometimes their work schedules, esp. for a military unit or a sports team. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

rebuffed (rebuff): the act of refusing to accept a suggestion or offer from someone, often by answering in an unfriendly way. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

supple: bending or able to be bent easily; not stiff. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

mulch: a covering of decaying leaves that is spread over the soil in order to keep water in it or to improve it. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

potholing: a sport that involves walking and climbing in underground caves. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

forlornly: in a way that shows that you are alone and unhappy. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

pent-up: pent-up feelings are not allowed to be expressed or released. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

beguile: to persuade, attract, or interest someone, sometimes in order to deceive them. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

gleefully: happily and with excitement or pleasure. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

truant: a child who is regularly absent from school without permission. (Cambridge dictionary definition)

[e-book]

[Waltram]

This book makes for a very entertaining read. Like others in the series, it has to rely on stereotypes, which are usually correct, though some may be more stereotypes that the English have about themselves and that are not really justified. For example, the authors make a big fuss about the English moderation in everything, the constant use of understatements, and people's reluctance to display excessive emotions (the stiff upper lip). Yet, when you compare with other Europeans, the English are the only ones who will regularly inflate compliments like 'your hair looks fantastic' or 'you look absolutely gorgeous today' when they just mean that it's good. Who else but the English would say things like 'I am positively ravenous' or 'it's perfectly all right' ? Is that moderation and reserve in expression?

[Vichta]

Fajne, ale nie wybitne. Taka poczytajka na poprawę humoru, ale bez wybuchów śmiechu.

Anglicy pielęgnują pamięć o swojej literackiej spuściźnie głównie poprzez jej ignorowanie.

Picie w Anglii nie koncentruje się wokół spożywanego płynu. Pije się dla towarzystwa - nawet jeśli się to robi w samotności.

Programy (telewizyjne) adresowane do mających wyższe wymagania intelektualne członków społeczeństwa są nadawane późną nocą, aby nie sprawiać kłopotu większości widowni.

Anglicy nie przepadają za muzyką, ale kochają hałas, który ona robi.

Przeciętna prędkość w obszarze zabudowanym to obecnie niecałe 18 kilometrów na godzinę - czyli mniej niż sto lat temu osiągał powóz konny.

Dla samych Anglików pojęcie "ekscentryczności" stanowi wygodny sposób radzenia sobie z antyspołecznymi zachowaniami ich rodaków.

[Doncho Angelov]

Great, funny read

I don't think there's a better way to get to your beginning to know this great people than reading this guide.
In the typical for Xenophobe's guides tone, this book gives funny, carefully created throughout humor steam of data, related to the complexity of English.
We usually think we know English, because we watch movies in (American) English. If you also think that - read the book.

[Penelope Winkle]

Basically my feelings on this book are as such: I enjoyed some comments (mainly the first sentence or so) of each section. I liked the sarcasm throughout but not enough or written well enough to fully read instead of skim most of. While I did enjoy the satire, some of the detail was lacking in interesting content or phrasing.