Watching the English - The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour

In Watching the English, social anthropologist KATE FOX dissects and explains the quirks and, habits of the English people, from the most famous national traits to the most bizarre reflex reactions. Drawing on over a decade of close observation, interviews, surveys and her own painfully embarrassing field-experiments, she reveals the hidden rules that govern our behaviour - rules we obey without thinking - and what these tell us about our national character. The rules of weather-speak • The Importance of Not Being Earnest rule • The ironic-gnome rule • The reflex-apology rule • The paranoid-pantomime rule • Class indicators and class-anxiety tests • The money-talk taboo • Humour rules • Pub etiquette • Table manners • The rules of bogside reading • The dangers of excessive moderation • The eccentric-sheep rule • The English 'social dis-ease'.