How to understand the English (for the French)
You might be able to understand all manner of electrical and electronic gadgets, but to understand the English, that's another matter.
Alphonse Allais (a French humourist - ed) remarked that while in France we give our streets the names of victories: Wagram, Austerlitz ... the English stick to names of defeats: Trafalgar Square, Waterloo Station ... That gives you an idea of the problem.
The first clue, perhaps comes from their weather - generally bad. If it's not raining, it's foggy and sometimes sleeting, but practically never enough snow for skiing. Undoubtedly this is the origin of the "stiff upper lip" - the famous British phlegmatism.
The other indication resides in their cuisine - if you can call it that. Their favourite dish is fish and chips - a greasy dish devoid of any refinement. It's a mystery why the Queen of England (the most refined lady on the other side of the Channel) hasn't banned it. Their bread is like cottonwool - practically inedible - and they have no cheeses worthy of the name. Only stilton is worth trying, but we have many better in France. If there's a dish you could almost recommend it's roast beef and yorkshire pudding, but only with a glass of red wine (it goes without saying, a good quality French red wine). English wines don't exist because you can't grow vines in such a pitiful climate, except a little in the corner of the land closest to France.
En dépit de tout cela, les anglais sont sympa, ayant abrité Charles de Gaule pendant la deuxième guerre mondiale, alors que rare sont ceux qui connais la belle lange de Victor Hugo. Mais en ce qui concerne le Brexit, on est tenté à croire qu’ils ont devenu complètement dingues.
(Ecrit en plaisantant en français par un anglais qui porte un nom français.)