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Stereotypes Of British People
Stereotypes of British people are found in several cultures. Some stereotypes relate to many specific ethnic groups of Britain while others are directed at British nationals in general. Positive Politeness and charm Both historically and in the present day, the British have often been associated with good manners by many people around the world. In countries such as the United States there is a widely-held belief in the concept of a "fancy British man" who is charming, suave, and well-dressed with an attractive accent. Perhaps the most famous fictional example of this is James Bond, with the stereotype being bolstered by other fictional characters such as Lucifer Morningstar. There is also a preference for American media (usually Hollywood films) to portray villains as British, with some studies suggesting that the British accent unconsciously leads audiences to believe the character possesses superior intelligence, thus making it easier to buy into the idea that the character's ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
British Nationals
The primary law governing nationality in the United Kingdom is the British Nationality Act 1981, which came into force on 1 January 1983. Regulations apply to the British Islands, which include the UK itself (England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland) and the Crown dependencies (Jersey, Guernsey, and the Isle of Man); and the 14 British Overseas Territories. The six classes of British nationality each have varying degrees of civil and political rights, due to the UK's historical status as a colonial empire. The principal class of British nationality is British citizenship, which is associated with the British Islands. British nationals associated with an overseas territory are British Overseas Territories citizens (BOTCs). Almost all BOTCs (except for those from Akrotiri and Dhekelia) have also been British citizens since 2002. Individuals connected with former British colonies may hold residual forms of British nationality, which do not confer an automatic right of abo ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-deprecation
Self-deprecation is the act of reprimanding oneself by belittling, undervaluing, disparaging oneself, or being excessively modest. It can be used as a way to make complaints, express modesty, invoke optimal reactions or add humour. It may also be used as a way for individuals to appear more likable and agreeable. Purposes Self-defence Self-deprecation was recommended by philosophers of Stoicism as a response to insults. Instead of getting defensive, people should join in by insulting themselves even more. According to the Stoics, this will remove the sting from the insult. It will also disappoint the interlocutor because the person failed to show upset in response to words that were supposed to hurt them, thereby reducing the chance that they will try to upset the person like that again. People prefer self-criticism over being criticized by others. However, researchers believe it can have an overall negative effect on users. It can result in them feeling that they don't dese ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Keep Calm And Carry On
''Keep Calm and Carry On'' was a motivational poster produced by the Government of the United Kingdom in 1939 in preparation for World War II. The poster was intended to raise the morale of the British public, threatened with widely predicted mass air attacks on major cities. Although 2.45 million copies were printed, and the Blitz did in fact take place, the poster was only rarely publicly displayed and was little known until a copy was rediscovered in 2000 at Barter Books, a bookshop in Alnwick. It has since been re-issued by a number of private companies, and has been used as the decorative theme for a range of products. Evocative of the Victorian belief in British stoicism – the " stiff upper lip", self-discipline, fortitude, and remaining calm in adversity – the poster has become recognised around the world. It was thought that only two original copies survived until a collection of approximately 15 was brought in to the ''Antiques Roadshow'' in 2012 by the ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Stiff Upper Lip
A person who is said to have a stiff upper lip displays fortitude in the face of adversity, or exercises great self-restraint in the expression of emotion.Keep a stiff upper lip Phrases.org.uk. Retrieved 20 February 2011 The phrase is most commonly heard as part of the "keep a stiff upper lip", and has traditionally been used to describe an attribute of British people in remaining resolute and unemotional when faced with adversity. A sign of fear is trembling of the upper lip, hence the saying keep a "stiff" upper lip. Examples The following have often been cited as exemplifyin ...[...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Daily Telegraph
''The Daily Telegraph'', known online and elsewhere as ''The Telegraph'', is a British daily broadsheet conservative newspaper published in London by Telegraph Media Group and distributed in the United Kingdom and internationally. It was founded by Arthur B. Sleigh in 1855 as ''The Daily Telegraph and Courier''. ''The Telegraph'' is considered a newspaper of record in the UK. The paper's motto, "Was, is, and will be", was included in its emblem which was used for over a century starting in 1858. In 2013, ''The Daily Telegraph'' and ''The Sunday Telegraph'', which started in 1961, were merged, although the latter retains its own editor. It is politically conservative and supports the Conservative Party (UK), Conservative Party. It was moderately Liberalism, liberal politically before the late 1870s.Dictionary of Nineteenth Century Journalismp 159 ''The Telegraph'' has had a number of news scoops, including the outbreak of World War II by rookie reporter Clare Hollingworth, desc ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Working Class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most common definitions of "working class" in use in the United States limit its membership to workers who hold blue-collar and pink-collar jobs, or whose income is insufficiently high to place them in the middle class, or both. However, socialists define "working class" to include all workers who fall into the category of requiring income from wage labour to subsist; thus, this definition can include almost all of the working population of industrialized economies. Definitions As with many terms describing social class, ''working class'' is defined and used in different ways. One definition used by many socialists is that the working class includes all those who have nothing to sell but their labour, a group otherwise referred to as the p ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Fawlty Towers
''Fawlty Towers'' is a British television sitcom written by John Cleese and Connie Booth, originally broadcast on BBC Two in 1975 and 1979. Two series of six episodes each were made. The series is set in Fawlty Towers, a dysfunctional fictional hotel in the English seaside town of Torquay in Devon. The plots centre on the tense, rude and put-upon owner Basil Fawlty (Cleese), his bossy wife Sybil ( Prunella Scales), the sensible chambermaid Polly (Booth), and the hapless and English-challenged Spanish waiter Manuel ( Andrew Sachs). They show their attempts to run the hotel amidst farcical situations and an array of demanding and eccentric guests and tradespeople. The idea of ''Fawlty Towers'' came from Cleese after he stayed at the Gleneagles Hotel in Torquay, Devon, in 1970 (along with the rest of the Monty Python troupe), where he encountered the eccentric hotel owner Donald Sinclair. Stuffy and snobbish, Sinclair treated guests as though they were a hindrance to his ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Comedy Troupe
A comedy troupe is a group of comedians and associated Employment, personnel who work together to perform comedy as entertainment. The term is often used interchangeably with comedy group, and the troupe may specialize in a specific comedic genres, genre or style of comedy. Some examples of comedy troupes include: the Marx Brothers, the Three Stooges, Abbott and Costello, Cheech & Chong, the Second City, Kalabhavan, the Firesign Theatre, Monty Python, Blue Collar Comedy Tour, the Kids in the Hall, the Mighty Boosh, the Tenderloins, the Hollow Men (comedy troupe), the Hollow Men, Asperger's Are Us, Kummeli, Senario, and Them There. See also * Improvisational theatre * Sketch comedy References {{Comedy footer Comedy troupes, * ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Monty Python
Monty Python, also known as the Pythons, were a British comedy troupe formed in 1969 consisting of Graham Chapman, John Cleese, Terry Gilliam, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Michael Palin. The group came to prominence for the sketch comedy series '' Monty Python's Flying Circus'', which aired on the BBC from 1969 to 1974. Their work then developed into a larger collection that included live shows, films, albums, books, and musicals; their influence on comedy has been compared to the Beatles' influence on music. (The live version of the Web page does not contain the quoted line, but the archived version does.) Their sketch show has been called "an important moment in the evolution of television comedy". ''Monty Python's Flying Circus'' was loosely structured as a sketch show, but its innovative stream-of-consciousness approach and Gilliam's animation skills pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable in style and content. A self-contained comedy unit, the Pythons had creative ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Word Play
Word play or wordplay (also: play-on-words) is a literary technique and a form of wit in which words used become the main subject of the work, primarily for the purpose of intended effect or amusement. Examples of word play include puns, phonetic mix-ups such as spoonerisms, obscure words and meanings, clever rhetorical excursions, oddly formed sentences, double entendres, and telling character names (such as in the play '' The Importance of Being Earnest'', ''Ernest'' being a given name that sounds exactly like the adjective ''earnest''). Word play is quite common in oral cultures as a method of reinforcing meaning. Examples of text-based ( orthographic) word play are found in languages with or without alphabet-based scripts, such as homophonic puns in Mandarin Chinese. Techniques ; Tom Swifties: A form of humorous writing where adverbs are chosen to reflect the nature of the situation in a punning way. "Hurry up and get to the back of the ship", Tom said sternly. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Satire
Satire is a genre of the visual, literary, and performing arts, usually in the form of fiction and less frequently non-fiction, in which vices, follies, abuses, and shortcomings are held up to ridicule, often with the intent of exposing or shaming the perceived flaws of individuals, corporations, government, or society itself into improvement. Although satire is usually meant to be humorous, its greater purpose is often constructive social criticism, using wit to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. Satire may also poke fun at popular themes in art and film. A prominent feature of satire is strong irony or sarcasm—"in satire, irony is militant", according to literary critic Northrop Frye— but parody, burlesque, exaggeration, juxtaposition, comparison, analogy, and double entendre are all frequently used in satirical speech and writing. This "militant" irony or sarcasm often professes to approve of (or at least accept as natural) th ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sarcasm
Sarcasm is the caustic use of words, often in a humorous way, to mock someone or something. Sarcasm may employ ambivalence, although it is not necessarily ironic. Most noticeable in spoken word, sarcasm is mainly distinguished by the inflection with which it is spoken or, with an undercurrent of irony, by the extreme disproportion of the comment to the situation, and is largely context-dependent. Etymology The word comes from the Ancient Greek σαρκασμός (''sarkasmós'') which is taken from σαρκάζειν (''sarkázein'') meaning "to tear flesh, bite the lip in rage, sneer".Oxford English Dictionary It is first recorded in English in 1579, in an annotation to '' The Shepheardes Calender'' by Edmund Spenser: However, the word ''sarcastic'', meaning "Characterized by or involving sarcasm; given to the use of sarcasm; bitterly cutting or caustic", does not appear until 1695. Usage In its entry on irony, Dictionary.com describes sarcasm thus: In sarcasm, rid ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
