Originally Posted by
Scots_Al
What this fails to recognise, though, is that "manners" are entirely culturally dependent. See taking the time to politely thank your waiter in the USA without leaving a tip, a Japanese person slurping noodles, or the discussion on here the other day about whether to leave any food on your plate, as examples.
By behaving in a certain way (and IMHO you should generally try to behave in the manner expected where you are) you may be behaving "correctly" according to your culture, but to describe that as inherently culturally superior is an odd world view.
British culture though is a complete mixed bag of things. It's not, as previously said, something from the 1800s with the isolated gentry looking down upon the working class who knew their place, but everything from those who like to rub in peoples' faces what they have through to "right mate?", "init?" and so on.