WHAT IT IS TO BE ENGLISH?

A nation of tea drinkers, we also like our biscuits but shock, horror! .......

It seems that the end is nigh for the good old English biscuit. According to those in the know no longer popular are the humble RICH TEA, CUSTARD CREAM or DIGESTIVE for while sales of 'basic' biscuits fell by 4.5 per cent over the last 12 months, sales of gourmet biscuits increased by as much as 20 per cent in the same period.
Jenny Rea, a leading supermarkets chief biscuit buyer said "In these tougher times people are working harder than ever. They feel they deserve a better biscuit and only the best will do." 

Supposedly a difficult language to learn, what do you think is the most commonly misspelt word in the English language?

Would you be surprised to learn it is 'separate'? The eight letter word came top to to the regular placing of an 'e' where the first 'a' should be. Second in the list was 'definitely', which often falls victim to a string of mistakes including mixing up the second 'i' with an 'a'.
A spokesman for the market research company OnePoll.com, which carried out the study on a sample of 3,500 said "There seem to be some words which we always struggle to get down. A common mistake is writing a word the way it sounds which leaves us muddling up one letter with another and getting it wrong."

Known for our reserved ways, many of us Brits shudder at the mere thought of greeting each other with a kiss, much preferring the good old handshake but what is the key to a good handshake?

A firm squeeze, a cool and dry palm and three shakes. Yes, no surprise that scientists have come up with the formula for the perfect handshake.
More than 70 per cent of people said they lacked confidence when it came to performing the gesture according to a survey.
On average people will shake hands 15,000 times in a lifetime (I want to know who counted) but the poll found nearly one in five, or 19 per cent, hated the act and was unsure how to do it properly. Problems included sweaty palms, limp wrists and lack of eye contact.
Professor Geoffrey Beattie who devised the equation said "The rules for men and women are the same: right hand, a complete grip and a firm squeeze ..... a cool and dry palm, approximately 3 shakes with a medium level of vigour, held for no longer then two to three seconds, with eye contact kept throughout.

All articles courtesy of the Daily Telegraph.