During the Korean war a British unit was being overrun by the Chinese. The American general asked the British Colonel how things where and the Colonel said its a bit hairy. While the American general took this to mean they are ok. They got overrun and everyone in the unit was killed or captured.
I love these kinds of stories, but I think that specific example is just a misunderstanding of idioms, rather than an example of pretending something isn’t happening, though.
It is representative of how British people often avoid the truth or confrontations and instead use sarcasm, idioms, etc. that understate the situation.
The English are also a worldwide example of people who go “Oh no, everything is fine.” when everything is wrong.
There are even famous British comedies like Fawlty Towers, that have a lot of jokes about how they don’t like to be honest or confrontational.
During the Korean war a British unit was being overrun by the Chinese. The American general asked the British Colonel how things where and the Colonel said its a bit hairy. While the American general took this to mean they are ok. They got overrun and everyone in the unit was killed or captured.
I love these kinds of stories, but I think that specific example is just a misunderstanding of idioms, rather than an example of pretending something isn’t happening, though.
It is representative of how British people often avoid the truth or confrontations and instead use sarcasm, idioms, etc. that understate the situation.
The English are also a worldwide example of people who go “Oh no, everything is fine.” when everything is wrong.
There are even famous British comedies like Fawlty Towers, that have a lot of jokes about how they don’t like to be honest or confrontational.