Etiquette in Britain

Acceptable Behaviour in England resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk Debrett's Guide to British Behaviour debretts.com Business Etiquette in Britain executivetravelmagazine.com

Table of Contents
Etiquette in Britain ............................................................................................................................ 1 How to greet someone........................................................................................................................... 3 Manners are Important .......................................................................................................................... 4 Debrett's Guide to British Behaviour ........................................................................................................ 6 Ps and Qs ............................................................................................................................................... 7 Queuing ................................................................................................................................................. 8 Royalty .................................................................................................................................................. 9 Stiff Upper Lip .................................................................................................................................... 10 Tea....................................................................................................................................................... 11 Understatement ................................................................................................................................... 12 Weather ............................................................................................................................................... 13 Business Etiquette in Britain ................................................................................................................... 14 Punctuality, appointments and local time ........................................................................................... 14 Negotiating .......................................................................................................................................... 15 Business entertaining .......................................................................................................................... 15

Acceptable Behaviour in England resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk

The English are said to be reserved in manners, dress and speech. We are famous for our politeness, self-discipline and especially for our sense of humour. Basic politeness (please, thank you, excuse me) is expected.

How to greet someone

(text taken from and copyright of projcetbritain.com) English people are quite reserved when greeting one another. A greeting can be a bright 'Hello' 'Hi' or 'Good morning', when you arrive at work or at school. Find out more about greetings .... Terms of Endearment - Names we may call you You may be called by many different 'affectionate' names, according to which part of the England you are visiting. Do not be offended, this is quite normal. For example, you may be called dear, dearie, flower, love, chick, chuck, me duck, me duckie, mate, guv, son, ma'am, madam, miss, sir, or treacle, according to your sex, age and location Message from one of our visitors "In Staffordshire and the West Midlands both men and women use the term 'duck' when speaking to another person irrespective of their sex. I was quite shocked when I first arrived here in Staffordshire from London to be called 'Duck' by a man and now I find it very endearing and reassuring and far better than that awful term 'Mate'. " Jim Staffordshire Interesting Fact The 'affectionate' name 'duck' is thought to come from the Anglo-Saxon word 'ducis' which was meant as a term of respect; similar to the Middle English 'duc', 'duk' which denotes a leader, commander, general; from which comes the title 'Duke' and the Old French word 'duche' - the territory ruled by a Duke.

Visiting people in their houses When being entertained at someone's home it is nice to take a gift for the host and hostess. A bottle of wine, bunch of flowers or chocolates are all acceptable. Sending a thank you note is also considered appropriate.

Manners are Important

DOs and DON'TS (Taboos) in England In England... Do stand in line: In England we like to form orderly queues (standing in line) and wait patiently for our turn e.g. boarding a bus. It is usual to queue when required, and expected that you will take your correct turn and not push in front. 'Queue jumping' is frowned upon. Do take your hat off when you go indoors (men only) It is impolite for men to wear hats indoors especially in churches. Nowadays, it is becoming more common to see men wearing hats indoors. However, this is still seen as being impolite, especially to the older generations. Do say "Excuse Me": If someone is blocking your way and you would like them to move, say excuse me and they will move out of your way. Do Pay as you Go: Pay for drinks as you order them in pubs and other types of bars. Do say "Please" and "Thank you": It is very good manners to say "please" and "thank you". It is considered rude if you don't. You will notice in England that we say 'thank you' a lot. Do cover your Mouth: When yawning or coughing always cover your mouth with your hand. Do Shake Hands: When you are first introduced to someone, shake their right hand with your own right hand. Do say sorry: If you accidentally bump into someone, say 'sorry'. They probably will too, even if it was your fault! This is a habit and can be seen as very amusing by an 'outsider'. Do Smile: A smiling face is a welcoming face. Do Drive on the left side of the road Find out more about driving Do open doors for other people Men and women both hold open the door for each other. It depends on who goes through the door first. In England... Do not greet people with a kiss: We only kiss people who are close friends and relatives.

Avoid talking loudly in public It is impolite to stare at anyone in public. Privacy is highly regarded. Do not ask a lady her age It is considered impolite to ask a lady her age Do not pick your nose in public: We are disgusted by this. If your nostrils need de-bugging, use a handkerchief. Avoid doing gestures such as backslapping and hugging This is only done among close friends. Do not spit. Spitting in the street is considered to be very bad mannered. Do not burp in public You may feel better by burping loudly after eating or drinking, but other people will not! If you can not stop a burp from bursting out, then cover your mouth with your hand and say 'excuse me' afterwards. Do not pass wind in public Now how can we say this politely? Let's say that you want to pass wind. What do you do? Go somewhere private and let it out. If you accidentally pass wind in company say 'pardon me'. It is impolite speak with your mouth full of food Do not ask personal or intimate questions We like our privacy. Please do not ask questions such as "How much money do you earn?" "How much do you weigh?" or "Why aren't you married?". Never eat off a knife when having a meal. In all countries in Britain ... Women in Britain are entitled to equal respect and status as men (and indeed vice versa) in all areas of life and tend to have more independence and responsibility than in some other cultures. Women are usually independent and accustomed to entering public places unaccompanied. It is usual for women to go out and about on their own as well as with friends. Men and women mix freely. It is ok for women to eat alone in a restaurant. It is ok for women to wander around on their own. It is ok for women to drink beer.

resources.woodlands-junior.kent.sch.uk

Debrett's Guide to British Behaviour

Our indispensable Guide to British life and manners British rituals, social occasions, manners and characteristics decoded debretts.com

Ps and Qs

Opinions differ as to the origin of the phrase, Ps and Qs. Some say that it was once shouted in pubs when things were getting a little rowdy, Mind your Pints and Quarts!, these being the main measurements of drinks before the Second World War. Others say that it was an old printers axiom; a reminder to typese tters to pay attention to the details. Regardless of its origins, this admonition has been common in post-Victorian Britain as an abbreviation of to mind your manners or, more specifically, to say both please (ps) and thank-you (thank-qs). This is inevitably a childs very first introduction to all-important manners, and parents will soon weary of the mantra-like repetition of, Say please/thank-you! every few minutes for the first five, ten or fifteen years of their childs existence. In this case, the tedium of repetition is surely justified - a child who doesnt mind their ps and qs, the most basic of good manners, is being given a very poor start in life, especially in British society, where every single social transaction is eased by reiteration of these phrases.

Queuing
Where other nationalities mass frenziedly, the British queue. Turn up at a railway station, or a supermarket, or a post office and you will see an orderly queue. It all dates back to the days of rationing in the long years during and after the World Wars of the last century, when queuing effectively meant the difference between an empty plate and a plate filled with the delights of powdered egg and leaden bread. In such dark days, the queue was an opportunity to catch up with the community, check that your friends were still alive and moan about the privations. Even today, grumbling in a queue is one of the great British joys - there is a liberating anonymity in conversing with someone whose back is to you; the grumbler in front will turn enough so that you can hear them but not enough so that you exchange eye contact and graduate to actual personal interaction and the implications of intimacy that that might entail. For foreigners, the art of queuing must seem esoteric at best and maddening at worst: queue-barging is the worst solecism a foreigner can commit; even the reticent English will feel justified in sharply pointing out the back of the line to any errant queue-jumpers. If in doubt, its always a good idea to ask is this the back of the queue? and avoid giving offence. But there is the finest of lines between queue-barging and proactive queuing - and anyone that isnt fully committed to moving forward an inch for every inch that open s up will earn the equal opprobrium of the crowd queuing behind. Wheelie bags are a new spanner in the works of the immaculate British queue; gaps cannot be closed sufficiently; bags that should be held in front or put on the ground and kicked forward are now loitering in such a way as to trip the unwary. But we can absorb such wrinkles into our queuing science: for nothing can sully the joy of being in the queue (say, at passport control or at the supermarket) that beats another queue. Such moments of pure adrenalin are what life is all about.

Royalty
There is no accepted code of behaviour for encounters with royalty, but adhering to the traditional forms of address will prevent anxiety. When you meet The Queen or other female member of the Royal Family for the first time you should address them as Your Majesty or Your Royal Highness respectively. From then on use Maam, which should rhyme with Pam. For male members of the Royal Family, use Your Royal Highness and subsequently Sir. When being introduced to a member of the Royal Family men should bow and women curtsey. A handshake is also acceptable. The bow should be made by bending from the neck or shoulders (not the waist) while briefly lowering your eyes. Bow again when the member of the Royal Family leaves. To make a curtsey briefly bend your knees with one foot forward (a bob rather a full balletic sweep). This should again be performed when the member of the Royal Family leaves. Should you happen upon a royal during their time off, allow them the freedom to go about their business as an ordinary person. Assume that to royalty, being left alone is far from a slur; it is a luxury.

Stiff Upper Lip

The British Empire was built on the deadpan, the clenched jaw, the occasional polite smile. Adversity was something to be confronted with stoicism and sang-froid - there are numerous apocryphal tales of the phlegmatic reaction of Britons to disaster. The imperturbable refusal to react histrionically to tragedy and disaster came into its own at times of national crisis - the terrible losses of the Great War, the devastation of the Blitz. But the sun has set on the British Empire, and it would seem that in doing so it has melted the famously stereotypical stiff upper lip. Nowadays, it is thought to be psychologically more healthy to admit to vulnerability and freely acknowledge emotion. This change in public sensibility was nowhere more apparent than on the occasion of the death of Princess Diana, where grief was openly expressed on the streets of London, and the public freely questioned the Royal Familys understated reactions. But it would be a mistake to assume the pendulum has swung completely in the opposite direction. The stiff upper lip is deeply ingrained in the British psyche, and even at times of national mourning there are many voices raised in protest, arguing that aggrandising feelings of regret for the passing of a public figure absolutely devalues the currency of true grief. For all the hyped hysteria of reality tv, the crocodile tears of sportsmen, the public wallowing in emotions, the underlying sang-froid of the British still runs deep. The restrained and dignified reaction of the public to the funeral processions of servicemen from Afghanistan in the small Wiltshire town of Wootton Bassett is probably a much more accurate reflection of the British character than the lachrymose scenes at the funeral of Princess Diana. And when the cards are really down - for instance after the tragedy of the July 7th terrorist bombing in London - the British show an implacable tendency to keep calm and carry on.

Tea

In Britain tea is seen as a universal panacea for all ills, and the British love nothing better than putting their feet up and enjoying a cuppa. The quiet gentility of the English tea ceremony is seen as a reflection of the reserved national character. Tea was first introduced to the British Isles in the mid-17th century, and for over a century its popularity did not match coffee. At first it was highly taxed and very expensive, but it soon began to gain in popularity. The tradition of afternoon tea, when tea was served at 4pm with cakes, savouries and sweets, was started by the Duchess of Bedford in 1840 and has remained popular ever since. The British institution of the tea shop owes its origin to one woman, the manager of the Aerated Bread Company, who began serving cups of tea to her favoured customers in 1864. Tea shops rapidly spread throughout the land, owing much of their popularity to the fact that they were safe places for unchaperoned women to meet.

If serving tea for a group it is worth brewing a pot. Loose leaf tea will taste best. A second pot with hot water in it should be provided in order to dilute over-brewed tea if necessary. If a waiter places a teapot on the table without pouring the tea the person nearest the pot should pour for everyone. The tea should be poured first and any milk, lemon or sugar added afterwards. Once you have stirred your tea remove the spoon from the cup and place it on the saucer. When drinking tea hold the handle of the teacup between your thumb and forefinger. Dont hold your little finger in the air. Dont dunk your biscuits in your tea unless in a very informal setting, and dont make slurping noises - even if it is hot. If you are served a scone with jam and clotted cream with your cream tea, bear in mind that the most practical way of consuming it is to split the scone in half, spread the jam first, then add clotted cream on top. This pragmatic method is favoured by the people of Cornwall, but it is thought that in Devon the practice is to spread the clotted cream first.

Understatement
The stiff upper lip is underpinned by understatement, a very British way of speaking, which resolutely refuses to succumb to drama, excitement, or high emotion. Sometimes British understatement is undeniably humorous: a famous example is the Monty Python sketch where the Grim Reaper turns up at a suburban dinner party and insists that all the guests accompany him. Well, one of the party guests remarks, thats cast rather a gloom over the evening hasnt it? But understatement isnt always deployed to raise a laugh, it permeates British speech. Conversation is littered with moderating expressions, such as quite, rather, a bit, actually. Not bad is high praise, and not bad at all is positively euphoric. Nowhere is this more apparent than in talk about the weather: a bit nippy is considered an appropriate description of sub-zero temperatures, rather damp describes a monsoonal downpour. Dont confuse understatement with under-reaction - read between the lines and youll find the missing drama and emotion.

Weather
It is commonly observed, that when two Englishmen meet, their first talk is of the weather. Samuel Johnson English people are notorious for their endless fascination with the weather; it is a topic that permeates folk culture, which an endless supply of unreliable - proverbs and sayings: from red sky at night, shepherds delight, red sky in the morning, shepherds warning to the belief that rain on St Swithins Day (15 July) presages 40 further days of downpours. The weather is a topic that is deployed nationwide as an ice-breaker. When two strangers meet, in a train or a queue for example, it is virtually de rigueur to enjoy a short conversation about the weather. The primary function of this fascination with the weather is, of course, to break down the English persons natural reserve; it offers a universal, and neutral, topic, which everyone, from a small child to an elderly grandmother, enjoys discussing. Other countries endure far more noteworthy weather events - droughts, hurricanes, tornadoes - but the English weather is, above all, unpredictable. Sunshine, showers, wind and rain sweep across the country with extraordinary rapidity, providing an ever-changing outlook. The very unpredictability of English weather always seems to take us by surprise: a few weeks of summer sunshine results in near-drought conditions and garden hose bans; a few days of heavy rainfall causes rivers to swell their banks and disastrous floods; a cold snap can bring the country to a standstill. Trains have been known to grind to a halt because of leaves on the track and the wrong kind of snow. In these days of global warming, English people can now enjoy discussing ever more unpredictable weather - blizzards in April, floods in July, and so on. With the weather as a topic, conversation is never going to falter.

Business Etiquette in Britain

executivetravelmagazine.com While we may share a common language, dealing with clients or colleagues in the U.K. requires respect for some subtle differences between North American and British business practices. Regions, customs and accents England is only one part of the entity known as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Most of the United Kingdoms international business is conducted through England. Britain refers to the island on whichEngland, Wales and Scotland are located. Although the English are in the habit of referring to all natives of Britain as Brits, this term is not appreciated by many Welsh, Irish and Scots. Although U.K. countries are members of theEuropean Union, the British do not consider themselves European. This is vital when discussing issues regarding the E.U. Northern Ireland shares the island of ire with the Republic of Ireland. Northern Ireland is part of the United Kingdom, while the Republic of Ireland is not. It is both incorrect and insulting to call someone from the Republic of Ireland (also known as ire, Southern Ireland, the Free State or the South) a Brit. Each of the four constituent parts of the United Kingdom (England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland) has a distinct history, culture and ancestral language. There are also separatist pressures pulling each of these regions apart, so be sensitive to the ethnic heritage of your associates. Great Britains devolution of powers has continued over the last decade. The Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh opened in 1999, as did the National Assembly for Wales in Cardiff. In the U.K., ones private life is just that. Do not try to interrogate your British colleagues with personal questions while youre at work. Even asking where someone is from (something that is obvious to other people from the U.K., based on accent) may appear intrusive and can make a foreign businessperson look a bit desperate for conversation. True English friendships are few and specific; do not try to become chummy during contract negotiations. While there is a Standard Oxbridge or BBC English accent that most foreigners recognize, a multitude of other accents and dialects are common as well. Just 10 minutes outside London, pronunciation begins to change. In the United Kingdom alone, there are well over 30 dialects, including Cockney, Scouse, Geordie, West Country, East Anglia, Birmingham (aka Brummy or Brummie), South Wales, Edinburgh, Belfast, Cornwall, Cumberland and Devonshire.

Punctuality, appointments and local time

Always be punctual. In London, traffic can make this difficult, so allow plenty of time to get to your appointment. Schedule your visit at least a few days ahead of time,

then confirm your appointment upon arrival. In the U.K., there are established rules for everything, which gives a sense of stability to the lives of locals. The English are very time-oriented and may become anxious about deadlines and results. There are no designated national holidays in England, but workers enjoy several weeks worth of official holidays in the United Kingdom, including a number of bank holidays. Visit kissboworshakehands.com/2008demo for the official holidays in 100 countries. The English are on Greenwich Mean Time, also known as GMT.

Negotiating
An oral agreement may be considered binding, followed by written confirmation.Generally, only major agreements require legal procedures. Be discreet when you suggest contacting an attorney (called a solicitor in the United Kingdom). The best way to make contact with senior executives is through a third party. The hierarchy in business is as follows: the managing director (equivalent to a CEO in the U.S.), the director (corporate vice president), the divisional officers, the deputy directors and the managers. Businesspeople are normally more interested in short-term results than in long-term prospects. The British do not necessarily see change as a good thing. Generally speaking, the British do not often reveal excitement or other emotions (except at soccer matches, when anything can happen). Try to stay understated as well. Similarly, the British tend to refrain from extravagant claims about products or plans. Some British executives stereotype U.S. businesspeople as condescending. To be safe, make every effort to avoid this impression. Avoid the hard sell. Decision-making is slower in the U.K. than in the U.S., so do not rush your British colleagues toward a decision. Allow British executives to suggest that a meeting has finished, and do not prolong your exit. While U.S. executives are known for being direct, the British are even more so. Dont be offended if theres no hedging about whether your suggestion is good or not. Avoid the typical U.S. conversation starter What do you do? The British may feel this question is too personal. Avoid controversial topics, such as politics or religion, and do not discuss comparative work ethics. Speak in complete sentences. Many U.S. executives have a habit of starting a sentence, then allowing it to trail off without ever completing the thought. While the British are often self-critical, visitors should avoid joining in any criticismssimply listen. Similarly, if they share their complaints with you, do not participate. The British apologize often, even for minor inconveniences. They also have a habit of adding a question to the end of a sentence. For example: Its a lovely day, isnt it?

Business entertaining
Business breakfasts in hotels are becoming common and are starting to shift to a more streamlined Continental style, away from a large traditional breakfast of eggs, bacon,

sausage, kippers and so on. Lunch is generally between noon and 2:00 p.m. A casual business lunch will often mean a light meal in a pub. With senior executives, lunch will likely be eaten in the best restaurants or in the executive dining room. Dinner is generally from 7:00 to 11:00 p.m. in most restaurants. In a pub, never miss your turn to shout for a round (buy everyone in your pa rty a drink). When you go out after hours, do not bring up the subject of work unless your British associates dootherwise, you may be considered a bore. Do not invite a business associate out until you know him or her fairly well (or after 20 years, whichever comes first). Parliament recently passed legislation to ban smoking in enclosed public spaces in England, including pubs. Just as in Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, the traditional thick layer of smoke in pubs will be one more English tradition left by the wayside. If you do smoke (and it is permitted), always offer the cigarettes around to others before taking one for yourself. executivetravelmagazine.com