Among the English, gossip about one's own private doings is reserved for intimates ; gossip about the private lives of friends and family is shared with a slightly wider social circle; gossip about the personal affairs of acquaintances , colleagues and neighbours with a larger group; and gossip about the intimate details of public figures' or celebrities' lives with almost anyone. This is the distance rule. The more 'distant' from you the subject of gossip, the wider the circle of people with whom you may gossip about that person.
英国人的个人隐私一般只限于在亲密朋友之间讨论；关于朋友及其家人的一些琐事也只会在稍微宽一点的社交圈子里讨论；熟人、同事或邻居等话题可以在更广的社交圈子里谈论；如果是某位名人的个人隐私，那么绝对是街知巷闻。这就是社交距离的规则。当你和谈论对象的距离越远时，你就会和更大的社交圈子的人谈论他们的事。
If, for example, you want to find out about an English person's attitudes and feelings on a sensitive subject, such as, say, marriage, you do not ask about his or her own marriage – you talk about someone else's marriage, preferably that of a remote public figure not personally known to either of you. When you are better acquainted with the person, you can discuss the domestic difficulties of a colleague or neighbour, or perhaps even a friend or relative. (If you do not happen to have colleagues or relatives with suitably dysfunctional marriages, you can always invent these people.)
但是，如果你想了解英国人对于某个敏感话题的态度或感觉，比如说婚姻，那么你就不能直接询问他自己的婚姻，而应该尝试谈论其他人的婚姻，最好是那些彼此都认识的名人的婚姻。当你和此人的距离拉近以后，你就可以和他谈论一些身边同事或者邻居的家事，乃至是亲友的问题也无妨（如果你的同事或亲友没有不正常的婚姻，你可以编造一些人）。
