3. English
Manners (Pronunciation Guide)
A Pronunciation Guide to English Manners
Excuse me! Here’s our guide to English manners, cheers.
Greetings /ˈgriːtɪŋz/
When you meet someone, “Hello” /ˌheˈləʊ/, “Hi” /ˈhaɪ/ and “Hiya” /ˈhaɪə/,
are the obvious places to start. The higher you begin, the more
enthusiastic you sound. It’s often followed by an interrogative question
like “How are you”, “Alright?”, or “How do you do?” /ˈhaʊ də ju ˈduː/ if you’re meeting aristocracy /ˌærɪˈstɒkrəsi/.
“Good morning”, “good afternoon” and
“good evening” are all appropriate at certain times of day and they can
be shortened to simply “morning” /ˈmɔːnɪŋ/ “afternoon” /ˌɑːftəˈnuːn/ “evening” /ˈiːvnɪŋ/,
but confusingly “goodnight” isn’t a greeting, it’s only used when
you’re going to bed. Again, this can be reduced to “night” or “nighty
night”.
If you meet someone for the first time,
you might say “Nice to meet you” or “It’s a pleasure to meet you”, to
which one might reply “the pleasure’s all mine”. Liar /ˈlaɪə/.
Goodbye /ˌgʊdˈbaɪ/
“See you”, “see ya”. “goodbye”, “bye”, “cheerio” /ˈtʃɪriəʊ/, “so long”, “catch you later” all do the job. In the North they might say “ta-ra” /təˈrɑː/ or “ta-ta” /təˈtɑː/. “Farewell” /ˌfeəˈweɫ/ is quite old-fashioned and dramatic, “toodle-pip” /ˈtuːdɫ ˈpɪp/ is just old-fashioned. The Italian “ciao” /ˈtʃaʊ/ has come into English too, and sounds continental and trendy.
Touching /ˈtʌtʃɪŋ/
The English don’t touch much in public,
though presumably they do behind closed doors. A hand shake with the
right hand is the universal greeting for both men and women, a few firm seconds is the norm.
Beyond that it’s a bit complicated – it’s increasingly common to give
one kiss on the cheek, it really depends on the company, so probably
best to wait and see what your host does first. Hugging /ˈhʌgɪŋ/ is common among friends and family, but not elsewhere.
Giving & Accepting Thanks /ˈgɪvɪŋ ən əkˈseptɪŋ ˈθæŋks/
“Thank you” /ˈθæŋk ju/, “thanks” and “many thanks” work well in most scenarios. “cheers” /ˈtʃɪəz/ can be used informally instead, and the more posh you are, the more it will sound like “chairs” /ˈtʃeəz/. Go on, have a go “Cheers!”. More formal options are “much obliged” /ˈmʌtʃ əˈblaɪdʒd/ and “much appreciated” /ˈmʌtʃ əˈpriːsieɪtɪd/, up North they might say “ta” /ˈtɑː/.
In response to somebody thanking you, you have the opportunity to say something horribly British like “Not at all”, or “the pleasure’s mine” /ˈpleʒəz/ but “You’re welcome”, or “no probs” /ˈnəʊ ˈprɒbz/ will also do perfectly well, thank you very much.
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