I love these kinds of stories, but I think that specific example is just a misunderstanding of idioms, rather than an example of pretending something isn’t happening, though.
It is representative of how British people often avoid the truth or confrontations and instead use sarcasm, idioms, etc. that understate the situation.
The English are also a worldwide example of people who go “Oh no, everything is fine.” when everything is wrong.
There are even famous British comedies like Fawlty Towers, that have a lot of jokes about how they don’t like to be honest or confrontational.
I love these kinds of stories, but I think that specific example is just a misunderstanding of idioms, rather than an example of pretending something isn’t happening, though.
It is representative of how British people often avoid the truth or confrontations and instead use sarcasm, idioms, etc. that understate the situation.
The English are also a worldwide example of people who go “Oh no, everything is fine.” when everything is wrong.
There are even famous British comedies like Fawlty Towers, that have a lot of jokes about how they don’t like to be honest or confrontational.