The English understatement is another trait that many foreigners find utterly bewildering (or, as the English would put it, ‘a bit confusing’). “I don’t get it,” said one exasperated tourist. ‘How the hell are you supposed to know when “not bad” means “absolutely brilliant” and when it just means “OK”?’ English humour (in comparison with American or Russian) is not cross culturally funny. Its real “defining characteristic” is the value English people put on humour in social interactions. In other cultures, there is ‘a time and a place’ to laugh. In English conversation, there is always an undercurrent of humour. Although the English may not have a monopoly on irony, they are acutely sensitive to the distinction between ‘serious’ and ‘solemn’. The tiniest sign that a speaker may be overdoing the intensity will be spotted and picked up on immediately, with scornful cries of “Oh, come off it!” To take a deliberately extreme example, the kind of hand-on-heart solemnity favoured by almost all-American politicians would never win a single vote in England. The same goes for the gushy speeches of American actors at awards ceremonies, to which English television viewers across the country all respond with the same finger-down-throat “I’m going to be sick” gesture. Russians also have a very skeptical outlook on what is said by politicians independently from the way they speak, as people have been cheated a lot. Traditionally Russian public figures give clever interviews, but their body language leaves a lot to desire, especially, when compared with American politicians who know exactly what to do with their hands, feet and the rest of the body to look and sound convincing and believable.
Back in 1872 Charles Darwin wrote about the fact that all humans express basic emotions (fear, joy, surprise, anger, sadness and disgust…) the same way. It is known that gestures help to strengthen interaction with others and much more likely to convey the meaning of speech to the interlocutor. But gestures on the “foreign territory” may not coincide with what you are used to. For example, a wink to Russians is a sign that the speaker is joking whereas for Americans it could be a signal that everything is OK.
The visually focused demands of the 21st Century communication even gave birth to a pictographic script like Emoji. It is flexible, immediate, infuses tone beautifully and unites people all over the world. There are the same sets of Cream White, Moderate Brown and