> One of the characteristics for which the English gentleman is famed is his self-deprecation. He is trained in understatement in all things; he has litotes coursing through his veins. The height of vulgarity is to draw attention to oneself, and the more remarkable any of his achievements, the less attention he should draw to them. What happened that we've lost this today? I feel the 'English gentleman', with its sel…
> In the UK, perhaps something to do with social change in Britain post-war, but what about similar personal codes in America?
They only work so long as they are widely understood. Take the humility common to a Midwesterner and put them somewhere like California or NYC, and they'll be very confused by why everyone appears to be constantly bragging.