London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Friday, Oct 03, 2025

English Culture: Manners & How to be polite

In this video, you'll learn about English manners. I'll tell you what we in England consider polite and impolite, and then go into detail about how we eat at the table, make and cancel plans, visit friends, and so much more. Some of these cultural aspects of living in England are different even from other English-speaking countries like the USA! Knowing these rules can help you make friends, get jobs, and even get into a romantic relationship. This video is especially important if you're living or travelling in England -- you could offend someone without even knowing it! Watch the video and leave your shoes ON!

Hi, everyone. In this lesson we're going to look at manners in England. Here are the things that are considered polite, and the things that are not considered polite. So this is a talk about the culture, things that people do here in England, and the things that traditionally have been the most acceptable behaviour.

Let's start with the things that are very important. So, I'm sure you already know this one: English people and queuing. "Queuing" is when you stand in a line when you don't... When you want something. You don't just, like, run up there to the front or push. You queue in a line. So, we queue up at the bank, for example, or we queue up when we want to get on a bus and there's some other people already there. Now, of course, in London because there are so many people and also not everyone is English so they have their manners from where they came from, you won't always see people queuing to get on the bus or on the tube, but you do generally still see people queuing up in a shop when they need to buy something.

Next we have: It's very important to bring a bottle, and that means when you go to somebody's dinner party you take a bottle of wine when you go to the meal there. If you don't want to bring a bottle of wine, you can bring dessert or you can bring some flowers or some chocolates, but the general phrase and the general idea of it is bringing a bottle, as in a bottle of wine.

Next we have RSVP. This is a term that comes from French: "Rpondez s'il vous plait", and this is a much more formal invitation that you get. If you're going to something, a special event like somebody's wedding... Because weddings are really expensive and they have to be organized so long in advance, people having the wedding really want to know if you're coming. So when you RSVP to the invitation it means you're definitely going, you will be there. So once you've RSVP'd, it's very, very impolite not to go. You must go if you RSVP.

Next, I think that in England it's very important to be on time. We do tend to be punctual people, attend... Attend meetings at the right time, turn up to our jobs at the right time, or meet friends at the right time, most of us. Of course, there are those people who are always late for everything, but most people in general do things on time or even, like me, I always end up being 10 minutes early. I just can't help that. So I waste a lot of time being too early.

Now let's look at table manners. Some of the things in the table manners' section are changing as people become more relaxed about eating and eating out. But these were all... These are all manners that people follow in more formal situations. Perhaps at home or with your very close friends it would be different. Now, I don't mean it's different for this first one. I'm not saying it's ever acceptable anywhere to slurp, burp-I can't do a burp noise. Anyway, you know what a burp is-and fart. Fart is noise from the other end. These things are never acceptable at the dinner table. Mm-mm, mm-mm. So, no eating noises or doing that when you eat. It's not acceptable.

Elbows on the table, in a formal situation you're not going to do that, but relaxed with friends a lot of people do put their elbows on the table these days, not such a big deal.

Drinking before... Just drinking your drink before somebody said: "Cheers" is considered impolite, but it's also a sign of being familiar with people. If you're familiar with them you don't have to go: "Oh, cheers for this drink and opportunity to drink with you." So it depends who it is.

Using a mobile in the restaurant or when you're eating socially with people is considered rude, so to be like: "Oh, hold on. Let me just take this call. I'm so important, I've got to, you know, talk business", or something is considered rude, or to be like all the time texting on your phone. Of course it happens, and young people and teenagers are definitely going to do it more than older people, but on the whole it's considered impolite.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Trump Administration Launches “TrumpRx” Plan to Enable Direct Drug Sales at Deep Discounts
Trump Announces Intention to Impose 100 Percent Tariff on Foreign-Made Films
Altman Says GPT-5 Already Outpaces Him, Warns AI Could Automate 40% of Work
Singapore and Hong Kong Vie to Dominate Asia’s Rising Gold Trade
Trump Organization Teams with Saudi Developer on $1 Billion Trump Plaza in Jeddah
Manhattan Sees Surge in Office-to-Housing Conversions, Highest Since 2008
Switzerland and U.S. Issue Joint Assurance Against Currency Manipulation
Electronic Arts to Be Taken Private in Historic $55 Billion Buyout
Thomas Jacob Sanford Named as Suspect in Deadly Michigan Church Shooting and Arson
Russian Research Vessel 'Yantar' Tracked Mapping Europe’s Subsea Cables, Raising Security Alarms
New York Man Arrested After On-Air Confession to 2017 Parents’ Murders
U.S. Defense Chief Orders Sudden Summit of Hundreds of Generals and Admirals
Global Cruise Industry Posts Dramatic Comeback with 34.6 Million Passengers in 2024
Trump Claims FBI Planted 274 Agents at Capitol Riot, Citing Unverified Reports
India: Internet Suspended in Bareilly Amid Communal Clashes Between Muslims and Hindus
Supreme Court Extends Freeze on Nearly $5 Billion in U.S. Foreign Aid at Trump’s Request
Archaeologists Recover Statues and Temples from 2,000-Year-Old Sunken City off Alexandria
China Deploys 2,000 Workers to Spain to Build Major EV Battery Factory, Raising European Dependence
Speed Takes Over: How Drive-Through Coffee Chains Are Rewriting U.S. Coffee Culture
U.S. Demands Brussels Scrutinize Digital Rules to Prevent Bias Against American Tech
Ringo Starr Champions Enduring Beatles Legacy While Debuting Las Vegas Art Show
Private Equity’s Fundraising Surge Triggers Concern of European Market Shake-Out
Colombian President Petro Vows to Mobilize Volunteers for Gaza and Joins List of Fighters
FBI Removes Agents Who Kneeled at 2020 Protest, Citing Breach of Professional Conduct
Trump Alleges ‘Triple Sabotage’ at United Nations After Escalator and Teleprompter Failures
Shock in France: 5 Years in Prison for Former President Nicolas Sarkozy
Tokyo’s Jimbōchō Named World’s Coolest Neighbourhood for 2025
European Officials Fear Trump May Shift Blame for Ukraine War onto EU
BNP Paribas Abandons Ban on 'Controversial Weapons' Financing Amid Europe’s Defence Push
Typhoon Ragasa Leaves Trail of Destruction Across East Asia Before Making Landfall in China
The Personality Rights Challenge in India’s AI Era
Big Banks Rebuild in Hong Kong as Deal Volume Surges
Italy Considers Freezing Retirement Age at 67 to Avert Scheduled Hike
Italian City to Impose Tax on Visiting Dogs Starting in 2026
Arnault Denounces Proposed Wealth Tax as Threat to French Economy
Study Finds No Safe Level of Alcohol for Dementia Risk
Denmark Investigates Drone Incursion, Does Not Rule Out Russian Involvement
Lilly CEO Warns UK Is ‘Worst Country in Europe’ for Drug Prices, Pulls Back Investment
Nigel Farage Emerges as Central Force in British Politics with Reform UK Surge
Disney Reinstates ‘Jimmy Kimmel Live!’ after Six-Day Suspension over Charlie Kirk Comments
U.S. Prosecutors Move to Break Up Google’s Advertising Monopoly
Nvidia Pledges Up to $100 Billion Investment in OpenAI to Power Massive AI Data Center Build-Out
U.S. Signals ‘Large and Forceful’ Support for Argentina Amid Market Turmoil
Nvidia and Abu Dhabi’s TII Launch First AI-&-Robotics Lab in the Middle East
Vietnam Faces Up to $25 Billion Export Loss as U.S. Tariffs Bite
Europe Signals Stronger Support for Taiwan at Major Taipei Defence Show
Indonesia Court Upholds Military Law Amid Concerns Over Expanded Civilian Role
Larry Ellison, Michael Dell and Rupert Murdoch Join Trump-Backed Bid to Take Over TikTok
Trump and Musk Reunite Publicly for First Time Since Fallout at Kirk Memorial
Vietnam Closes 86 Million Untouched Bank Accounts Over Biometric ID Rules
×