Watching the English, 2nd Ed.
The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour
Publisher: Hodder & Stoughton, 2014 , 583 pages
ISBN: 978-1-444-78520-3
Synopsis:
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A bestseller in the UK, Watching the English is a biting, affectionate, insightful and often hilarious look English Society. Putting the English national character under her anthropological microscope, Fox finds a strange and fascinating culture, governed by complex sets of unspoken rules and bizarre codes of behavior. Through a mixture of anthropological analysis and her own unorthodox experiments — even using herself as a reluctant guinea-pig — Fox discovers what these unwritten codes tell us about Englishness.
Table of Contents:
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- Introduction — Anthropology at Home
- Part One: Conversation Codes
- The Weather
- Grooming-talk
- Humour Rules
- Linguistic Class Codes
- Emerging Talk-rules: The Mobile Phone
- Pub-talk
- Racing Talk
- Squaddie-Talk and Two Types of Rider-Talk
- Part Two: Behaviour Codes
- Home Rules
- Rules of the Road
- Work to Rule
- Rules of Play
- Dress Codes
- Food Rules
- Rules of Sex
- Rites of Passage
- Conclusion: Defining Englishness
- Epilogue
Reviews:
Watching the English
Rating: ****** (Decent)
Well, the second edition shows signs of being updated. But it is still mostly a decent book, even though it is pretty funny!