It turns out that understanding the British public is not rocket science. The British appreciate honesty and they also have a bonkers, off-the-wall sense of humour like me.
Sentiment: POSITIVE
What the British seem to like are television historians and naturalists, not public intellectuals. You can't help feeling that's because one supplies narrative and the other supplies facts, and the British are traditionally empiricists so they/we have a resistance to theory and to theoreticians playing too prominent a role in public life.
The British tend to shy away from the spotlight. We don't like being singled out in any way, and I think that is something which is important for me to learn to do.
The British have turned their sense of humour into a national virtue. It is odd, because through much of history, humour has been considered cheap, and laughter something for the lower orders. But British aristocrats didn't care a damn about what people thought of them, so they made humour acceptable.
I just feel like Brits are honest - period. And that's what I like.
There's so much cynicism around in Britain, especially in the press. The American press might be naive, but at least you feel as if they're on your side.
The British are so funny.
The British nation is unique in this respect. They are the only people who like to be told how bad things are, who like to be told the worst.
The idea of exposing the British public to the full breadth of my personality isn't a good one.
I think American guys tend to be a bit more forward, a bit more chatty and open than the Brits. The Brits seem to have a darker sense of humor, though I have met some Americans who have adopted bits of the British dry sense of humor as well.
They're very harsh people, the British: hard to impress, very tough on each other, but I rather like that. It's not that the British are more honest - you're just under no illusion with them.