ENTIRE SENTENCES TO EVOKE THE CULTURAL VALUES OF THE ENGLISH
MY COMMENTS ARE HIGHLIGHTED IN YELLOW.
[Chiara: You are NOT simply British, you are ENGLISH! There's a big difference and you should be proud of it.].

1. “SAY WHAT YOU MEAN BUT NON ASSERTIVELY.”

For THE English, a tendency to be indirect and moderate.

Direct                                 UK        UK         Indirect

[The British are indirect in the sense that they are not assertive and are courteous;
but they DO say what they think. So they are not on the far right, like the Japanese or even Italians.]

2. “CULTURAL DIVERSITY IS GOOD, BUT NOT TOO MUCH”

Because we the English feel a sense of ambivalence about immigration; we welcome the difference, but not to the extent of loosing our identity. this contrasts with our spirit of adaptation that is not so strong. [Actually your spirit of adaptation is very strong: you dominated the climate and people of Asia and Africa and the West Indes. The problem is that you have a phobic sense of defending your peculiarity. So you are open-minded and welcome foreigners but you do not want to mix with them. You are NOT really collectivistic.]

Individualistic       UK                 UK                        Collectivistic

3. BRITAIN BUILT AN EMPIRE THAT STILL EXISTS! [OK]

We don’t forget our colonial past and the presence of the Commonwealth reinforces this pride; the sense of being a world power emerges all the time.

Horizontal                                     UK                    Hierarchical

4. YOU CANNOT DO THAT, IT’S NOT ENGLISH! OR “ALWAYS REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE, ABOVE ALL, ENGLISH” -- this means that you shouldn’t do things that a Gentleman or a Gentlewoman would not do.

Rules observant     UK                                             Rules bending 

5. OK, YOU CAN DO THAT! OR: “DO WHAT YOU MUST, JUST SO YOU DO IT PROPERLY”

Eccentricity is a prerogative of the Gentlemen and Gentlewomen. But, nonetheless, they have to do the odd thing with class!

Self in control  UK                                                               Other in control

6. GOD “SAVE” THE QUEEN That’ s to say British people, like me, are very traditionalist and the presence of the Queen is meaningful. SHE REPRESENTS THEIR IDENTITY AND SENSE OF HISTORICAL CONTINUITY. SO SHE IS WORTH THE COST. SHE ALSO GUARANTEES THAT YOU AND THE OTHER UPPER CLASS PEOPLE WILL REMAIN IN POWER FOREVER, SINCE THERE WILL NEVER BE A REVOLUTION IN ENGLAND AS LONG AS THE QUEEN IS LOVED. ]

Traditionalists       UK                                                        Innovators        

7. “HOW ELEGANT REFINED WE ARE!”

British elegance REFINEMENT is WELL known and it appears both in the language and in the customs. South-east English people, just like me, feel different from people of the other parts of Britain, we feel a certain kind of superiority. AS WELL KNOWN, THE SCOTS AND THE WELSH ARE STILL (ON OCCASION) SAVAGES... NOT TO SPEAK OF THE IRISH!!
[On second thought, “refined” is better than elegant since “elegance” can be aesthetic: Italians dress in an elegant way, the British in a refined way that is not always elegant.]

Horizontal                    UK                 UK       Hierarchical

 Form distrusted Jamaica                            UK        Form Trusted  

8. PEOPLE, LEARN TO LAUGH LIKE US!

British sense of humor is very particular and it can be frequently misunderstood.

[BUT BRITISH COMEDY FILMS ARE ACCLAIMED WORLD WIDE: MR. BEAN, MONTY PYTHON, ETC. THE BRITISH THINK THEIR HUMOUR IS THE BEST IN THE WORLD]

Superiority       UK                                                   Inferiority    

[THIS IS NOT REALLY THE RIGHT VALUE EXPRESSED BY BRITISH HUMOUR. USE INSTEAD
THE BASIS OF BRITISH HUMOUR: “THE FACT THAT, ALTHOUGH ONE MUST BE REASONABLE AT ALL TIMES, DOING SO CAN PRODUCE ABSURDITIES SINCE LIFE IS NOT REASONABLE.”

It can be reasonable to be absurd  UK                               Italy    Nothing is absurd, it is just human