You may think that the story of Pygmalion (《卖花女》, 1913)—in which people are judged by the way they talk — is something that only existed in the days of British high society. But thanks to etiquette (礼仪) expert and author William Hanson, we realize that little has changed during the past 100 years.
In a BBC radio program, Hanson released a list of common words used in British English that could reveal whether a person is "common" or "fashionable".
And yet here comes the interesting part: While some of us might go through life using fancy words, dressing in ways that make us appear more well-off than we really are, there are wealthy people in the world who try to hide their riches because they want to be seen as "normal" instead of "showy".
Beatrice, for example, is a New Yorker who inherited (继承) millions of dollars. She told The New York Times that she has a habit of removing the price tags from her clothes so her house staff don't see them and feel uncomfortable. "We don't want that ‘Wow'." said Scott, also a New Yorker, who had just inherited over $50 million. "We're just not the type of people who wear it on our sleeve."
