What language and behavior are British people afraid of?

Three taboos

You can't improvise. British people have the habit of queuing. You can see them queuing up one after another to get on buses, trains or buy newspapers. Poisonous gas is disgusting.

You can't ask a lady's age. British people don't like to talk about men's wages and women's ages, or even how much their furniture is worth. You shouldn't ask. If you ask a lady's age, it's also inappropriate, because she thinks it's her own secret and everyone wants to stay young forever. There is no better compliment than saying "you look so young" to a middle-aged woman. There is no doubt that every lady's hairstyle, makeup and clothes are designed to make herself look more beautiful and younger, but if her dress makes people feel too deliberate, then others will accuse her of being "tacky" in a critical tone.

You can't bargain when shopping in Britain. The most taboo is bargaining. The British don't like bargaining and think it's a shame. If you buy a valuable work of art or a large number of goods, you need to negotiate a full price with the seller carefully. The British seldom bargain. If they think the price of the goods is right, they will buy them, and if the price is not right, they will leave.

Toilet, go to "100"

The word "toilet" originally meant a place to wash hands or face, but its practical meaning is toilet. British people don't directly say "go to the toilet" when they go to the toilet, and they don't directly mention the word "toilet" when reminding others. If you want to go to the toilet, you can say "go to the men's room" or "go to the women's room", or you can say "please forgive me for a few minutes" or "I want to wash my hands" and so on. If the child wants to pee, say "I want to go there". Among relatives and friends, "No.65438 +000" is the most commonly used expression.

How not to be rude at the dance?

Large-scale dances in Britain usually start around 10 in the evening. The dance can be held in a private home or hotel. The host should send invitations in advance when inviting guests, and pay attention to the fact that the number of invited guests should be roughly equal to that of men and women; If not, there can be more men than women. According to the custom, the host will invite people to the dance and sometimes hold a dinner party; Please don't eat and dance when you are free; Others invite a few guests to the dance party for dinner and dance after dinner; Others can only attend the dance, not eat. Therefore, the invited person must read the words on the invitation carefully to avoid embarrassing the host. At the dance, the host prepares dinner, or just some tea, coffee and sandwiches. Guests attending the dance should dress neatly. When dancing, male guests should take turns to invite female guests, and one of them must dance with the female host. Men and men, women and women * * * dancing is to be laughed at. On major festivals, if a person receives two invitations at the same time, he can attend one dance, leave early and then catch another dance, because it is not rude for people who are used to attending dances to come and go at will.

Ladies first, gentlemanly.

In Britain, respecting women is an important aspect of being a gentleman. Ladies first is a well-known code of conduct.

Generally speaking, the British always give priority to women. If men and women enter the room together, men should open the door for women. When entering a room or restaurant, most women come first, unless men have to choose tables, open doors or do other services before women. When walking on the street or crossing the street, a man should walk next to a woman in the direction of oncoming cars. If a man walks with two ladies, he should walk in the middle. If the host or hostess or both take the bus to pick up the guests for dinner, the guests should squeeze into the front seat of the car and leave the back seat empty, because the driver is the host or hostess. At the banquet, when the host leads the guest into the living room, if the guest is a lady, most men in the hall will stand up to show their respect when she enters the living room. If the hostess's daughter were here, she would introduce the guests to her daughter. A man is usually introduced to a woman unless he is much older or in a much higher position. The usual practice is to introduce young people to old people. No matter whether a man or a woman enters the living room, the woman sitting in the living room doesn't have to get up and salute. At the beginning of the banquet, the men pulled out chairs for the ladies and helped them sit down.

Some British people lament that the world is not as good as before in terms of politeness to women. It is said that because women have gained equal rights with men in elections, employment, wages and higher education, they no longer need the care of the past. It seems that being polite to women is because men think women need protection.

Guests and table manners

If you are invited to someone's house, you should test the tiger. For example, when should I arrive at my host's house? It is impolite to arrive early if it is not a serious business but a social gathering. The hostess is making preparations. If you arrive before she is fully prepared, it will make her feel embarrassed. It is better to arrive late 10 minutes. It's too late to be half an hour late. You need to apologize to the host. When should I leave? There are no rules, but it is impolite to sit too late in the host's house. If you are only invited to dinner and chat, you'd better leave between 10 and 1 or say goodbye after dinner1hour. If you are invited to stay for a few days or for the weekend, you should buy a bunch of flowers specially for your hostess before you leave, which will make her very happy. Besides, the day after you leave, you should write a thank-you letter to your host, and attach a small gift, such as a box of chocolates or some flowers.

English food is very simple, but the rules of eating are very complicated. The most important thing is to sit up straight, learn from others, don't ask others happily when eating, and keep talking to others. Everyone can't leave his spoon on the soup basin, coffee cup or other plate. The spoon should be placed on the saucer of the soup basin, and the coffee spoon should be placed on the saucer. It's best not to make a sound when drinking soup, and scoop it from the inside out with one side of the spoon. You can't drink all the soup left at the bottom of the pot with a spoon head or a soup basin. No matter what you eat, try not to make a noise, otherwise, it will be considered rude. Generally, there is only one main course and salad with a dessert at the end. If the guests are not full, they can praise the hostess for cooking delicious food and order more chicken, steak or other dishes. The hostess will give him one more dish, but never again. You can't burp in front of others. When serving coffee, drink from a cup and put the coffee spoon on the tray. You can't smoke at the table. After eating, guests should put napkins on the dining table and then stand up. Men should help ladies move chairs. If the host wants to keep the guest for another meal, the napkin can be folded according to the original crease. After dinner, the guests will sit for an hour or two, and then say goodbye to the host.

When the British meet for the first time, the general etiquette is: introduce the young to the old; Introduce men to women; Introduce people without titles to people with noble titles; Introduce people with high status to people with low status; Between two women, the unmarried woman is introduced to the married one. If the unmarried woman is obviously older, the married young woman is introduced to the older one. If the aristocrat is a man and the other is a woman, introduce the aristocrat to women according to the principle of "ladies first".

British people generally don't hug and rarely hug. Even fathers don't hold their sons. They only hug their sons when they are young. British people rarely shake hands with others, even friends they often meet. Shake hands only when you are introduced for the first time, or when friends haven't met for a long time.

When we first meet, we usually hold hands as gifts. When introducing, it is usually the woman, the older party reaches out first, then the man, and the younger party reaches out again. When introduced to a man, you should shake his hand, but when introduced to a woman, you should wait for her to reach out first, and then you can reach out. When women are introduced, they don't have to reach out and shake hands with others, but they often reach out to show their friendship. Men should take off their gloves before shaking hands with women, but women don't have to. When you visit an English family, you usually say hello to the hostess and then shake hands with the host.

Generally, there are equal numbers of men and women at banquets. Seating is between men and women, and husband and wife will never be together. If the number of men and women is not equal, there is no need to add up. Generally speaking, there should be more men than women.

British people don't recommend drinking while eating. The host and guests can drink as much as they want. The toast is usually "to the queen's health!" Or simply say "cheers!" After the banquet, guests should stay a little longer and continue chatting with their hosts. Finally, when leaving, the guest shook hands with the host and his wife and said a word or two of thanks. Guests can shake hands or nod their heads, as the case may be. Banquets usually end at 10: 30 to 1 1: 00 in the evening. Be sure to write a letter of thanks after being treated, otherwise it will be considered impolite.

The British also avoid using goats, peacocks and so on. Used for commodity decoration. Goat means "immoral person" and "bad person"; Peacock is a bad bird, and pride like peacock is a bad habit to show off.

British people are very afraid of black cats, especially if black cats pass in front of them, they will feel sick and think it will herald misfortune.

The British hate dark green and think it will bring regret. They are afraid of sprinkling salt, even if they are not careful, they will feel depressed and think it is a sign of quarreling or breaking up with friends. They are afraid that someone will break the glass, thinking that breaking the glass indicates that someone will die at home or have at least seven years of misfortune.

The British people are very jealous of the number "13" and think it is an unlucky number. They try to avoid the number "13" in their daily life. 13 Eating at the same table is not allowed. If 13 is another Friday, it is considered unlucky.

The British taboo lilies and regard them as a symbol of death.

They dare not whisper to each other in front of everyone and think it is rude.

Some British people think that it will bring misfortune if the knife and fork touch the water glass during dinner and let it keep ringing. Therefore, when visiting and eating in English homes, we should try to avoid the collision between knives, forks and tableware. In case the cup sounds like a small bell, press it with your hand to stop it, and don't mind the owner.

British people don't want to eat sticky and spicy dishes in their diet. They don't want to flavor with monosodium glutamate, and they don't want to eat dog meat.

British people don't like to get too close when talking with people. Generally speaking, it is better to keep it above 5 cm. Please don't light three cigarettes at a time when friends who smoke meet. It is said that this will also bring misfortune to one of the three.