Concept of identity peculiar to those from England. We like to think that this means we are more intelligent, reserved and cultured than the rest of the world. However, we probably come across as purely cold and arrogant. Americans generally stereotype us as butlers or as "tally-ho, old bean" types. The French think we are utterly without civilisation, the Italians think we have no romance or passion in our lives, the Scots hate us and the Irish hate us even more. Despite such hostility, we have had the luck to be born in a place teeming with history and traditions of literature, art, music and creativity. Liberal Englishmen and women attempt to forget about our oppression during the days of the British Empire, whereas the more conservative right-wingers look back on those days as when we had power and therefore think it good. In short, Englishness is probably best summed up in one word: irony.