h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Now that definitely is an in-your-end-o.

RF

*tucks thumbs into braces*

I rest my case, m'lud.

If I may quote Adrian Edmonson from Blackadder goes Fourth (well I'm going to, so nobody can stop me)

'How lucky you English are to find the toilet so amusing! For us, a mundane and functional item, for you, the basis of an entire culture...'

I recommend "Watching the English" by Kate Fox - she puts it in a nutshell.

Can you reduce the nutshell down to a setance?

DAMMIT I meant SENTENCE!

The main problem seems to be "social incompetence" - simple things like saying "hello" and "goodbye" are considered embarrassing and get long-drawn-out - but, in the end, she only describes things in the book, without actually giving an explanation as to WHY the English (note, she specifies only having researched the English, not the British) are like they are.

My Dad's got that; I'm planning to read it when he's finished.

I think it applies to a certain sort of English, and more in the past than now. Amongst people I know, hugs on arrival and departure are the unembarassed norm.

Yes - I got the impression it was rather limited in the groups she chose to research. But she does admit that things are changing.

I don't think she went into it enough.
I'm quite European (touchy feely) - but then I haven't lived in England much. However, she pinpointed a lot of things about me right into my class - but other things... waaaay off.

And not enough about the English attitude to children. Although I believe she did make a good point about the regions, you can't compare people from very similar backgrounds (class) from Cornwall, Yorkshire and Surrey for instance.

I don't know if this is relevant but it always amazes me that there is such an incredible variety of accents in England, which suggests we are a big mixture. Even London is famed for being a city of different villages. The difference say between the south east of London, eg Greenwich or Lewisham and the north west, eg Highgate or Hampstead is amazing,

To me that's what Englishness is about - a right bloody mixture. And I love it for that

I read the Paxman book a few weeks ago, and concluded (as an Englishman) that he was exhibiting that typical English characteristic, "Professor of the bleeding obvious".

"Turned out nice again".

RF

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/europe/4788167.stm

Has anyone else read this story about the German exhibition in Berlin? What does anyone think?

Hm. I don't really know what to think. All I know is that this really is a *huge* controversy that's been going on for years (and there's much more behind it than the debate about the exhibition), people have stopped listening to each other years ago.
I don't see how this exhibition is an act of re-writing history, though. They're not denying anything that has happened. But I'd also like to know what other people think.

Well, and I have read that the exhibition itself is pretty boring, with its moralistic / didactic approach. Haven't been there myself, though.

There's once aspect, fairly key, I feel, that I'm not clear on. These 12 million Germans who were forced out of Poland- were they Germans who had been settled thier after the Nazi invasion of Poland, or were they there anyway?

Mainly they were driven out because of ethnic origins during the Third Reich. At least, that's what I think happened. Germany is now inundated with returning groups of people from Poland, the Baltic, Rumania, etc., who have German passports but can't speak German. They were forbidden in the years after the war to speak German even in their own homes. Those who flouted this rule (good for them - no one can force me to speak German to my own children in my own house, regardless of whether I live in the country or not) are now at an advantage as there is a great need for teachers and translators.

As far as I know (correct me if I'm wrong), they had been there anyway, at least some of them. It's all a bit confusing because borders - and states - were subject to constant change until the end of WWII. Before WWI, the area belonged to Prussia, but then at times it had also been a part of Poland... Perhaps I should wait for an expert to come along and clear things up.
Well anyway, most of the people who were forced out had been living there for generations.

The exhibition is about the people who were driven out after the end of WWII. Those that TC is referring to is yet another group.

Yes - many of the Silesians, for example, were here before 1989. I'm rather confused about the whole thing. Perhaps I ought to look at the exhibition.