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Portrait of Kate Fox

Kate Fox

(1975) Researcher United Kingdom

18 quotes in 37 categories

Kate Fox is a researcher from the United Kingdom, best known for Watching the English.

Quick Facts About Kate Fox

Born: May 31, 1975
Nationality: United Kingdom
Profession: Researcher
Notable works: Watching the English

About Kate Fox

Kate Fox is a British social anthropologist, co-director of the Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC) and a Fellow of the Institute for Cultural Research. She has written several books, including Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour.

Biography source: Wikipedia

Quotes by Kate Fox

“...fine love poetry tends to be written when the object of one's affection is at a safe distance; also, it often reflects…

Love

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“People who insist on calculating in detail exactly who had what when it comes to dividing up the bill are despised, not…

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“Humour is our 'default mode', if you like: we do not have to switch it on deliberately, and we cannot switch it…

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A truly English protest march would see us all chanting: 'What do we want? GRADUAL CHANGE! When do we want it? IN…

Change

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“Every social situation is fraught with ambiguity, knee-deep in complication, hidden meanings, veiled power-struggles, passive-aggression and paranoid confusion.”

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“The understatement rule means that a debilitating and painful chronic illness must be described as ‘a bit of a nuisance’; a truly…

Chronic illness

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Men gossip for just as long and about the same subjects as women, but tend to talk more about themselves.

Gossip

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“Even the English, who understand it, are not exactly riotously amused by the understatement. At best, a well-timed, well-turned understatement only raises…

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Male and female gossip also sounds different, as women use more animated tones, more detail and more feedback.

Animated

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Women are more skilled than men at making gossip entertaining.

Entertaining

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“Many of those who pontificate about "acculturation" are inclined to underestimate this element of choice. Such processes are often described in terms…

Pick and choose

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“Native speakers can rarely explain the grammatical rules of their own language. In the same way, those who are most ‘fluent’ in…

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Researchers have found very little difference between men and women in terms of the amount of time spent gossiping.

Amount

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“Class in England is no more determined by wealth than it is by occupation.”

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“The reasons for our prolific understating are not hard to discover: our strict prohibitions on earnestness, gushing, emoting and boasting require almost…

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“I am convinced that the English get great vicarious pleasure from our pets’ uninhibited behaviour. We grant them all the freedoms that…

Inner child

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“when the English say ‘Oh really? How interesting!’ they might well mean ‘I don’t believe a word of it, you lying toad’.…

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“Social scientists are not universally liked or appreciated, but we are still marginally more acceptable than alcoholics and escaped lunatics.”

Science

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