What would Goffman say? No God Bless You's, Handshakes, How's it Going, or Hellos! But lots of Cheers!

I find myself walking around lately singing Sting's song, An Englishman in New York, with the inverted irony of singing such a song in London and Durham fully apparent.  And yet it fits.  I speak the language of England fluently, as it is my own; but speaking the same language does not mean the language being spoken is the same for each. 

There are so many different colloquialisms and slang terms used by Americans and Brits to make me sometimes stop and yell, "What the hell did you just say?  Arse-on, you're knackered; so we will meet back up at half-three to pick up some bits and bobs, hit the loo, and Bob's my uncle?  Can someone help me, cause Bob's not my uncle?  I got an uncle Steve.  Is he coming? Cause he's in a nursing home in the states...

Everyday here I think so much of Erving Goffman and his sociological genius for the nuances of everyday life and his nagging questions, What is going on here, now, in this interaction?  How is social order being made?

As some friends and family know, one of my pet peeves is "god bless you."  I cannot understand why sneezing requires such concern.  Thank god for the Brits, as they see it the same way.  No 'god bless you's' here.  And no handshaking, or not much of it.  Americans, especially guys, love to shake hands, especially when someone does something kind for you and you want to say thanks; or upon greetings.  And, folks around here are not into saying HI much either.

Americans, especially we who live in the Midwest, like to say HI.  Mid-westerners, generally speaking, also like to smile at everyone--unless you are in New York City, then you do not smile; you just stare at the ground or your iPhone, walk fast, and pretend you live there.  It's not that Brits are not happy to see you; they just do not see the need to get so worked up about passing one another on a daily basis.  It seems to me that mid-western Americans need social order to work by keeping a constant greeting going.  You are there and i am here, hello, smile, ask "how's it going?, hope for no reply beyond, "not bad," and keep moving on.  The Brits do not seem to see the need for all that.  Too much, over the top.

However, they do like good byes and cheers!  While the Brits seem light on HI and smiling, they seem big on goodbyes--in other words, establishing social connection is strong on the other end of the interaction.  As they pass and leave each other, they are very much into 'Cheers! Cheerio! Cheers then! Have a good day love.'  It is as if the front of the interaction is formal, all business, melting into the familiar and a strong good bye--if you are nice--but then right back to formal and distance.  Very interesting the subtleties of interaction.  I am sure Goffman would do a better job of explaining it, but that is my quick take.  

Here is a link to some British slang--CLICK HERE