veneer of civilization

Everything I know about England comes from stories I was told about living there through the Blitz: Blickfordboroughbridgeoxingshireham is pronounced “Blig’m.” When dining out, order your boiled beef “extra spicy,” which means “with salt.” It will come “with veg.” If you ask “which vegetable is that, precisely?” the answer will likely be “Dunno. Boiled down right grey and soft, innit?” English teeth, on the other hand, are just fine. They just don’t look like American movie stars’ teeth, which look like somebody went to the dentist with a perfectly good mouthful and said, “Can you make these look like dentures?”