Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour

by Kate Fox

Of all peoples, the English are surely historically the least qualified to preach about the importance of adapting to host-culture manners and mores. Our own track-record on this is abysmal. Wherever we settle in any numbers, we not only create pockets of utterly insular Englishness, but also often attempt to impose our cultural norms and habits on the local population.

Humour is our ‘default mode’, if you like: we do not have to switch it on deliberately, and we cannot switch it off.