This sort of slightly twee, charming attitude that you know is underpinned with a hidden, sharp steeliness that tells you not to mess with them, but in the most polite way. And a wit that isn't mean. Understated and, put altogether, exceedingly English in the best way. I'm English and give my country a bad rap, there is much to discredit it, both in history and now, what with the conquering, war, slavery, pillage and an excessive class system- supported snobbery which prevents most social mobility This etiquette topic could be viewed within the class context, which makes it potentially awkward. There is a view that many of the etiquette rules that have been created use that they are 'good manners' and 'compassionate' and 'thoughtful', as a veneer, when in reality they are designed to be exclusive, to keep the classes in their lanes, to showcase which class you are in, a la the U-Non U Mitfordian coinage. Not knowing the rules, which are in the main created by the ipper classes, marks you out as beneath them, unwell-bred and uncouth. And whenever the classes below cotton on to the rules, following them is mocked and sneered at, particularly when the upper class then changes or relaxes the rule, leaving middle class people using overblown, archaic and try-hard terms such as 'lavatory' instead of merely 'toilet', which is ehat posh people say. They used to use terms which were more flourishy or foreign, to mark themselves out as worldy with large vocabularies. But as the middle class rose, and could afford to be in many of the same circumstances as the upper class, and became well-travelled, and could afford formal etiquette classes, the upper classes needed to adapt to maintain their exclusivity. In a perverse move, rather than go for further esoteric terms, they counterintuitively went 'backwards', towards more simple terms, leaving the middle class looking like nouveau riche tryhard idiots. This is the height of fun for posh people, who genuinely have more affinity with and for the working classes, would you believe it, and despise the middle class, who were the ones by and large, who over the centuries, stole their wealth. The economic trickle-down which is now largely discredited, did in fact exist, with merchants and bankers and lawyers etc, moving from the rigid dichotomy of lords and peasants, became rich...often richer than atistocrats, who didn't work or learn innovative skills and thus couldn't make money in the emerging industrial zeitgeist. Their money was the land they owned, which often had to be sold off for them to maintain their lifestyles. The archetypical broke aristocrat, who was torn between maintaining ownership of land they almost saw as part of their souls, and liquidising their assets to engage in the growing consumerist society. Thus, the middle class are the sworn ideological enemies of the people they unwittingly try to emulate with these etiquette skills. Both posh people and the working classes tend to be blunt, straighforward and inclined to behave as they please. Getting dirty is a joy, and swearing and sex are both equally earthy, shall we say. It is the middle classes who are prissy, obsessed with how things look, overly precious, overly clean, and who fall apart at the slightest discomfort. This may be because the working classes, being at the bottom of the class hierarchy, have nothing to lose by being 'real' and honestly themselves, and the upper classes at the top, are the rule-setters, whatever they do being the 'correct' thing by definition. The middle classes feel they are in an existentially precarious position, both because they are always trying to move up the scale or 'beat' their peers, which keeps them in a stressful competition, and because they fear losing what they have and falling into a lower class, which is possible, if patronising. Class isn't really just about money of course. But such is the fear of losing status and wealth, at the more extreme end of this coming to pass, there are instances where a father who loses it ends up wiping out his family and himself, to avoid the embarrassment and shame of losing that class status. You don't see working class men obliterating their families like this, and titled people won't lose their status even if they lose their money. Which is the chief benefit of a title. It cements your status in society. All of this is of course utterly ridiculous. Class is a scourge on society. The hierarchy, which is structurally immovable because we have a monarchy which makes the system, from birth, seem normal, posits not that someone has more money than another, but that someone is better than another. It wraps worthiness in the arbitrary qualities of wealth. It bestows unwarranted power on the potentially undeserving. It is so counterintuitve that aristocrats, who have historically had the most ability to learn, to advance society, to be benevolent, are often the ones who live in unknowing bubbles, unaware of anything outside their small worlds, which could be huge. They often didn't and don't bother educating their children beyond what is necessary to run an estate and host parties. Educated aristos are seen as benignly eccentric. The educated ones tend to become renowned experts in their field of interest because they have unlimited access and resources. There is thus a gap between the ignorant ones and the more modern learned ones. The ignorant ones tend to be snobbish pigs you come across, and the educated ones are likely to be very charming and polite, in much the same way this etiquette teacher is. This was not meant to drone on for so long. But the class system in the UK IS complex and difficult to understand, so I thought expounding on it a bit would interest the type of person who'd watch this video. Ultimately, etiquette and manners can be used for good or ill. Intent is king. Being thoughtful, kind and considerate are behavioural traits that do not require ritualistic rules
And those who have such qualities can come from any class. They may not have the need to know which spoon is for the caviar, or whether it is 'napkin' or 'serviette', and being ignorant of such rules cannot be framed, at all, as rude or inconsiderate. And if your aim in appraising someone's action or behaviour is to ascertain whether they are 'your sort' or not, then what masquerades as manners is actually snobbery. The great thing about this gentleman is that he knows all of this, and is very emphatically linking these rules to politeness and consideration. He also clearly does it all with a wink, knowing that the anachronistic nature of his work is eccentric, and can be fun. It's faintly ridiculous, but you still don't dismiss him or his work. That in itself is an achievement. In a world of turmoil, rapid change and growing polarisation, we need some reminders of stability, tradition and shared values and rules. He provides this, and whether you think it is just pointless snobbery or whimsical usefulness, the fact of etiquette can certainly be a weapon against the rapid societal desteuction taking place. The likes of Trump could very much benefit from taking a class or ten.
Lastly- please never use the terms 'lavatory' or 'serviette'. The cringe factor is embarrassing for everyone, regardless of class. Never try to perform 'grandness' to impress people, or to appear to be reaching for a 'higher' class. What class you are on is clockable instantly, in myriad ways, so not just being yourself and its resultant phoniness renders you ripe for deserved mockery. Be proud of who you are. Express your own culture, enact your own values. Never let anyone be disdainful of your perfectly acceptable behaviour. Think Jack from Titanic at the fascinating and brilliant, pivotal dining scene. Have the same attitude towards others that Rose has despite her high status. Avoid being her mother. Take lessons from Kathy Bates' Molly. That film is a little masterclass of class relations, hence its popularity, which is erroneously attributed to the drama of the sinking, when what really fascinates is the class relation element. And how it is so insudious and rigid, that it can dictate whether you live or die on a sinking ship. To this day on ships, if one was sinking, people in expensive cabins are better-positioned to access escape if the ship was rapidly sinking. Think about that.
@@LJAS2024 Same difference. Pampered, privileged upper-middle-class kids who have never and will never know what it is to have any real worries or concerns in life (certainly not financial).
@@mided2119 Those "Pampered, privileged, upper-middle-class kids" had to endeavour through much strife to attain a place at Cambridge, one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The notion that they will never know any real worries or concerns in life is absolutely false, and utterly ridiculous. These young people will go on to be important business people, pioneering doctors, courageous journalists, and hard working politicians; simply put, they will one day rule the realm. They are intelligent and industrious, and although they may have had privilege from the start, they will have to work hard to maintain that privilege. The mindset that many people have about "anti-privilege" is a sad reflection on how jealous, petty, and small minded people have now become. Instead of complaining that others have privilege, try doing something to help others attain it in the future. We live in a nation of equal opportunity of outcome, though we may not start at the same station in live, we can achieve so much more. The Prime minister is a wonderful example of how a man can start from humble beginnings and work his way to the highest elected position in the realm. All of this being said, this is not a personal attack on you, but rather the mindset that you have been indoctrinated with. I wish only happiness for you and for you to not have to know the hardships that millions of other compatriots know. Have a wonderful evening.
@@mided2119 You got the name of the University wrong, and you are also wrong on the socioeconomic status of its students. Plenty of Cambridge students come from backgrounds in which they were eligible for free school meals. Cambridge teaches critical thinking and the value of using evidence to reach informed conclusions. You might consider following suit.
This is shittiest + quietest crowd I've seen in A WHILE. Although some of the questions were good, none of them were able to catch up with William's humour tbh... What a shame
Time for Williams etiquetiminology of the week. Cha cha cha
I love that there was a G&Diva in the audience! We get everywhere 😂
Really enjoyed this. Love hearing William speak about anything but especially etiquette
I love listening to William .
I love this guy, he's charming and inoffensive
This sort of slightly twee, charming attitude that you know is underpinned with a hidden, sharp steeliness that tells you not to mess with them, but in the most polite way. And a wit that isn't mean. Understated and, put altogether, exceedingly English in the best way.
I'm English and give my country a bad rap, there is much to discredit it, both in history and now, what with the conquering, war, slavery, pillage and an excessive class system- supported snobbery which prevents most social mobility
This etiquette topic could be viewed within the class context, which makes it potentially awkward. There is a view that many of the etiquette rules that have been created use that they are 'good manners' and 'compassionate' and 'thoughtful', as a veneer, when in reality they are designed to be exclusive, to keep the classes in their lanes, to showcase which class you are in, a la the U-Non U Mitfordian coinage.
Not knowing the rules, which are in the main created by the ipper classes, marks you out as beneath them, unwell-bred and uncouth. And whenever the classes below cotton on to the rules, following them is mocked and sneered at, particularly when the upper class then changes or relaxes the rule, leaving middle class people using overblown, archaic and try-hard terms such as 'lavatory' instead of merely 'toilet', which is ehat posh people say. They used to use terms which were more flourishy or foreign, to mark themselves out as worldy with large vocabularies. But as the middle class rose, and could afford to be in many of the same circumstances as the upper class, and became well-travelled, and could afford formal etiquette classes, the upper classes needed to adapt to maintain their exclusivity. In a perverse move, rather than go for further esoteric terms, they counterintuitively went 'backwards', towards more simple terms, leaving the middle class looking like nouveau riche tryhard idiots. This is the height of fun for posh people, who genuinely have more affinity with and for the working classes, would you believe it, and despise the middle class, who were the ones by and large, who over the centuries, stole their wealth. The economic trickle-down which is now largely discredited, did in fact exist, with merchants and bankers and lawyers etc, moving from the rigid dichotomy of lords and peasants, became rich...often richer than atistocrats, who didn't work or learn innovative skills and thus couldn't make money in the emerging industrial zeitgeist. Their money was the land they owned, which often had to be sold off for them to maintain their lifestyles. The archetypical broke aristocrat, who was torn between maintaining ownership of land they almost saw as part of their souls, and liquidising their assets to engage in the growing consumerist society. Thus, the middle class are the sworn ideological enemies of the people they unwittingly try to emulate with these etiquette skills.
Both posh people and the working classes tend to be blunt, straighforward and inclined to behave as they please. Getting dirty is a joy, and swearing and sex are both equally earthy, shall we say. It is the middle classes who are prissy, obsessed with how things look, overly precious, overly clean, and who fall apart at the slightest discomfort.
This may be because the working classes, being at the bottom of the class hierarchy, have nothing to lose by being 'real' and honestly themselves, and the upper classes at the top, are the rule-setters, whatever they do being the 'correct' thing by definition. The middle classes feel they are in an existentially precarious position, both because they are always trying to move up the scale or 'beat' their peers, which keeps them in a stressful competition, and because they fear losing what they have and falling into a lower class, which is possible, if patronising. Class isn't really just about money of course. But such is the fear of losing status and wealth, at the more extreme end of this coming to pass, there are instances where a father who loses it ends up wiping out his family and himself, to avoid the embarrassment and shame of losing that class status. You don't see working class men obliterating their families like this, and titled people won't lose their status even if they lose their money. Which is the chief benefit of a title. It cements your status in society.
All of this is of course utterly ridiculous. Class is a scourge on society.
The hierarchy, which is structurally immovable because we have a monarchy which makes the system, from birth, seem normal, posits not that someone has more money than another, but that someone is better than another. It wraps worthiness in the arbitrary qualities of wealth. It bestows unwarranted power on the potentially undeserving. It is so counterintuitve that aristocrats, who have historically had the most ability to learn, to advance society, to be benevolent, are often the ones who live in unknowing bubbles, unaware of anything outside their small worlds, which could be huge. They often didn't and don't bother educating their children beyond what is necessary to run an estate and host parties. Educated aristos are seen as benignly eccentric. The educated ones tend to become renowned experts in their field of interest because they have unlimited access and resources. There is thus a gap between the ignorant ones and the more modern learned ones. The ignorant ones tend to be snobbish pigs you come across, and the educated ones are likely to be very charming and polite, in much the same way this etiquette teacher is.
This was not meant to drone on for so long. But the class system in the UK IS complex and difficult to understand, so I thought expounding on it a bit would interest the type of person who'd watch this video.
Ultimately, etiquette and manners can be used for good or ill. Intent is king. Being thoughtful, kind and considerate are behavioural traits that do not require ritualistic rules
And those who have such qualities can come from any class. They may not have the need to know which spoon is for the caviar, or whether it is 'napkin' or 'serviette', and being ignorant of such rules cannot be framed, at all, as rude or inconsiderate. And if your aim in appraising someone's action or behaviour is to ascertain whether they are 'your sort' or not, then what masquerades as manners is actually snobbery.
The great thing about this gentleman is that he knows all of this, and is very emphatically linking these rules to politeness and consideration. He also clearly does it all with a wink, knowing that the anachronistic nature of his work is eccentric, and can be fun. It's faintly ridiculous, but you still don't dismiss him or his work. That in itself is an achievement. In a world of turmoil, rapid change and growing polarisation, we need some reminders of stability, tradition and shared values and rules. He provides this, and whether you think it is just pointless snobbery or whimsical usefulness, the fact of etiquette can certainly be a weapon against the rapid societal desteuction taking place. The likes of Trump could very much benefit from taking a class or ten.
Lastly- please never use the terms 'lavatory' or 'serviette'. The cringe factor is embarrassing for everyone, regardless of class. Never try to perform 'grandness' to impress people, or to appear to be reaching for a 'higher' class. What class you are on is clockable instantly, in myriad ways, so not just being yourself and its resultant phoniness renders you ripe for deserved mockery. Be proud of who you are. Express your own culture, enact your own values. Never let anyone be disdainful of your perfectly acceptable behaviour. Think Jack from Titanic at the fascinating and brilliant, pivotal dining scene. Have the same attitude towards others that Rose has despite her high status. Avoid being her mother. Take lessons from Kathy Bates' Molly. That film is a little masterclass of class relations, hence its popularity, which is erroneously attributed to the drama of the sinking, when what really fascinates is the class relation element. And how it is so insudious and rigid, that it can dictate whether you live or die on a sinking ship. To this day on ships, if one was sinking, people in expensive cabins are better-positioned to access escape if the ship was rapidly sinking. Think about that.
Enjoyed the talk. Thank you.
Loved this. I hope the Union offer the same invitation to Jordan North.
I love William, unfortunately his wit seems to be lost on this crowd, sadly the interviewer is much too wooden.
I wonder what is the polite way to say Gosh, the interviewer is such a sweet and handsome young man? 😍
He’s in good company with his own kind at Oxford.
He's speaking at Cambridge, darling. This is the Cambridge Union.
@@LJAS2024 Same difference. Pampered, privileged upper-middle-class kids who have never and will never know what it is to have any real worries or concerns in life (certainly not financial).
@@mided2119 Those "Pampered, privileged, upper-middle-class kids" had to endeavour through much strife to attain a place at Cambridge, one of the most prestigious universities in the world. The notion that they will never know any real worries or concerns in life is absolutely false, and utterly ridiculous. These young people will go on to be important business people, pioneering doctors, courageous journalists, and hard working politicians; simply put, they will one day rule the realm. They are intelligent and industrious, and although they may have had privilege from the start, they will have to work hard to maintain that privilege. The mindset that many people have about "anti-privilege" is a sad reflection on how jealous, petty, and small minded people have now become. Instead of complaining that others have privilege, try doing something to help others attain it in the future. We live in a nation of equal opportunity of outcome, though we may not start at the same station in live, we can achieve so much more. The Prime minister is a wonderful example of how a man can start from humble beginnings and work his way to the highest elected position in the realm. All of this being said, this is not a personal attack on you, but rather the mindset that you have been indoctrinated with. I wish only happiness for you and for you to not have to know the hardships that millions of other compatriots know. Have a wonderful evening.
@@mided2119 You got the name of the University wrong, and you are also wrong on the socioeconomic status of its students.
Plenty of Cambridge students come from backgrounds in which they were eligible for free school meals.
Cambridge teaches critical thinking and the value of using evidence to reach informed conclusions. You might consider following suit.
@@gnpmorgan Interesting!
What a pity that the previous guest was a taxidermist and all the audience volunteered to be used in the demonstration.
How interesting - a discussion chaired by a marionette.
This is shittiest + quietest crowd I've seen in A WHILE. Although some of the questions were good, none of them were able to catch up with William's humour tbh...
What a shame
This interviewer is dire. Needs to be changed asap!!!
God. This crowd seem hard work.
Poor William. 😩😂
The interviewer and the crowd are giving 'Valium if it were having a bad Monday'.