Exploring Politeness in the History of English

The British have a reputation for being excessively polite. A caricature version of this is available as a picture postcard on which two pictures illustrate allegedly incorrect and correct polite behaviour in a British context (Ford and Legon 2003; see also Wierzbicka 2006: 31). In the picture illustrating the ‘incorrect’ behaviour, a man who is drowning shouts ‘Help!’ but gets no more than a haughty shrug and a turned shoulder from a passer-by and his dog. In the adjacent picture, illustrating the ‘correct’ behaviour, the drowningman politely exclaims, ‘Excuse me, Sir. I’m terribly sorry to bother you, but I wonder if you would mind helping me a moment, as long as it’s no trouble, of course.’ In response, the passer-by immediately comes to the rescue with a life belt, and even his dog changes appearance, puts on a friendly face and wags its tail. To the extent that we appreciate the humour of this cartoon, it appears that it contains at least a grain of truth. We recognise a type of behaviour that we stereotypically associate with present-day English in a British context. However, it is clear that the cartoon presents a version of British politeness that is both simplified and exaggerated. It reduces politeness to an excessive endeavour not to impose on a stranger in a public context even in an emergency. It is an elaborate apology for imposing on the passer-by and disturbing him in his walk with the dog. This has come to be known as negative politeness (Brown and Levinson 1987), and Stewart (2005: 128) comments that ‘in certain circumstances at least, British English tends towards negative politeness and favours off-record strategies in carrying out certain face-threatening acts’ (Stewart 2005: 128). But to what extent is this really typical of British English – is it something that goes back to earlier periods of English, or is it a type of politeness that has developed only recently? According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the noun politeness with the meaning ‘courtesy, good manners, behaviour that is respectful or considerate of others’ is first attested in the English language in 1655 (OED 3rd ed.,