Thing Not To Do Today: cringe.

There's no need to cringe.

Really.

Not even in restaurants.

So what if Grandma is telling the maître d' exactly what onions do to her insides?

So what if deaf Uncle Crispin is making his opinions about  foreigners known VERY LOUDLY INDEED?

So what if Cousin Celia's baby is wiping gravy all over the tablecloth?

So what if Little Maisie has just asked why that lady at the next table is so very fat?

So what...

...look, you're out with the wrong people, okay? Put a paper bag over your head, educate your family, or scarper.

It's no use cringeing, is it?

Thing Not To Do Today: cringe. This word comes from the Old English word cringan, to yield in battle? Cringe is related to the Old Norse krangr, which means weak, and the Middle High German krenken, to weaken.

In Australia the cultural cringe kowtows to foreign cultural standards.