Summary:
The Wicked Wit of England is a celebration of British humour, featuring a collection of stories, anecdotes, quips and quotes that capture the various idiosyncrasies of the English character.
If there is one thing that first-time visitors to England find mystifying – along with our obsession with discussing the weather, our pride in making the perfect cup of tea, and our impossible-to-decipher slang – it is our unique sense of humour.
Have you just been insulted? Or was the slight merely a demonstration of affection? Was that a genuine compliment? Or is the ever-present sarcasm in English conversation at work again? The dark, dry and often ironic humour of the English can be difficult to get your head around, but there’s no doubting its essentiality at the heart of English culture.
As well as celebrating this classic humour, The Wicked Wit of England encompasses the various idiosyncrasies of the English character – the social awkwardness, the constant need to apologize, the stiff upper lip, and the love of queuing, to name but a few. Containing a varied collection of stories, anecdotes, quips and quotes featuring English people from all walks of life, from Quentin Crisp to Frank Skinner and Stephen Hawking to Thora Hird, this book might not help outsiders fully understand the English, but it might help them tolerate us a little more.
The Wicked Wit of England is a celebration of British humour, featuring a collection of stories, anecdotes, quips and quotes that capture the various idiosyncrasies of the English character.
If there is one thing that first-time visitors to England find mystifying – along with our fondness for eating chips out of old newspapers, our nostalgia for the shipping forecast (even though most of us have never ventured out to sea in a trawler) and the fact that not all men wear bowler hats to work – it is our sense of humour. ‘Ah, you English and your humour,’ they will say, with an air of suspicion, unsure as to whether they have just been unexpectedly praised or routinely insulted. It is easy to sympathize with them, for English humour encompasses a number of different styles. It can be surreal or satirical, dark or sophisticated, bawdy or genteel. And nobody does irony or sarcasm like the English. If Olympic gold medals were awarded for sarcasm, we would top the leader board every time.
The various idiosyncrasies of the English character – the social awkwardness, the constant need to apologize, the obsession with the weather, the stiff upper lip, and the love of queuing, to name but a few – are celebrated in The Wicked Wit of England, a collection of stories, anecdotes, quips and quotes featuring English people from all walks of life, from Quentin Crisp to Frank Skinner and Stephen Hawking to Thora Hird. This book might not help outsiders understand the English, but it might make them tolerate us a little more.
The Wicked Wit of England is a celebration of British humour, featuring a collection of stories, anecdotes, quips and quotes that capture the various idiosyncrasies of the English character.
If there is one thing that first-time visitors to England find mystifying – along with our obsession with discussing the weather, our pride in making the perfect cup of tea, and our impossible-to-decipher slang – it is our unique sense of humour.
Have you just been insulted? Or was the slight merely a demonstration of affection? Was that a genuine compliment? Or is the ever-present sarcasm in English conversation at work again? The dark, dry and often ironic humour of the English can be difficult to get your head around, but there’s no doubting its essentiality at the heart of English culture.
As well as celebrating this classic humour, The Wicked Wit of England encompasses the various idiosyncrasies of the English character – the social awkwardness, the constant need to apologize, the stiff upper lip, and the love of queuing, to name but a few. Containing a varied collection of stories, anecdotes, quips and quotes featuring English people from all walks of life, from Quentin Crisp to Frank Skinner and Stephen Hawking to Thora Hird, this book might not help outsiders fully understand the English, but it might help them tolerate us a little more.
