英國在歷史上一直是一個有著明確階級意識的國家，而不同的階級有屬于其自己不同的行為言語方式。上層階級不會輕易的去使用讓他們看上去不是那么“gentle”的語言，Kate Fox將七個被上層社會所敬而遠之的詞稱之為“The Seven Deadly Sins”(七宗罪)。

一宗罪：Pardon

Pardon在我們看來是最為普通也是普遍運用的詞了，沒聽懂時來一句“Pardon?”問清楚說話人剛才說了什么。但是在英國的上層社會看來，這個詞可是用不得的！Kate Fox提出來了這個小小的測試來分辨不同的階級，但這也正體現(xiàn)出了英國人中存在的比較明顯的階級意識。

This word is the most notorious pet hate of the upper and upper-middle classes. Here is a good class-test you can try: When talking to an English person, deliberately say something too quietly for them to hear you properly. A lower-middle class will say "Pardon"; an upper-middle will say "sorry"(or parhaps "What- sorry?" or "Sorry- What"); but an upper class and a working class person will both just say "what".
這個詞被上層和中上層階級視為眼中之沙。這兒有一個分辨階級的好方法：當你和一個英國人說話的時候，說的快一點讓他們聽不清楚，那么這時，一個中下層階級的人就會用“pardon”，而中上層階級的人會用“What”或者“What-sorry”或者“Sorry-what”,上層階級和工人階級的人都會說“What”。

二宗罪：Toilet

"Toilet" is another word that makes the higher classes flinch or exchange knowing looks, if it is uttered by a would-be social climber. The correct upper-middle/upper term is "loo" or "lavatory".
當一個想擠進上流社會的人說了個“Toilet”,立馬會讓上層社會的人為之色變。因為上流社會會用到“l(fā)oo”或者“l(fā)avatory”，而非“Toilet”。

三宗罪：Serviette

It has been suggested that "serviette" was taken up by squeamish lower-middles who found "napkin" a bit too close to "nappy" and wanted something that sounded a bit more refined.Upper-middle and upper-class mothers gets very upset when their children learn to say "serviette" from well-meaning lower-class nannies, and have to be painstakingly retrained to say "napkin".
有一個講究的中下層階級因為“napkin”的發(fā)音太像“nappy”，他想要一個聽起來更優(yōu)雅的詞，便創(chuàng)造出“serviette”。所以當中上層以及上層階級的人發(fā)現(xiàn)他們的孩子跟著處于好意的下層階級保姆學會說“serviette”時，她們不得不費心思的將孩子們改回到說“napkin”。

四宗罪：Dinner

There is nothing wrong with the word "dinner" in itself: it is only a working-class hallmark if you use it to refer to the midday meal, which should be called "lunch". Calling your evening meal "tea" is also a working-class indicator: the higher echelons call this meal "dinner" or "supper".
“dinner”這個詞本身并沒有問題，只不過這是一個工人階級的特點，用“dinner”而不是“l(fā)unch”來形容午飯。將晚飯稱之為“tea”也是工人階級的一個特點，上層人士稱其為“dinner”或者“supper”。