February 27, 2005

Grin and bare 'em. In which we find that Britons and Americans smile differently. US viewers of the Simpsons may be very pleased to hear that, but apparently Science™ shows we Brits are more likely to be sincere whilst scaring infants with our wonky gnashers. Via ALD.
posted by Abiezer_Coppe 19 years ago
  • I don't know why, but the phrase "wonky gnashers" is making me giggle like a schoolchild.
  • Sorry, I don't believe that Science™, seeing as I haven't yet tried to reproduce its results. Perhaps after I have read all there is to read about the matter, especially all the contradictory evidence and experimental finding, I may come down on one side or the other. Until then, I take no position on the effects of a second-hand smile, be it British or American. Thank you, and good night.
  • Are there any pictures to go with that Timesonline article? I haven't memorized human facial anatomy.
  • I was wondering about pictures, too. Have been standing in front of the mirror trying to actually do a British smile, but I can't tell how close I got.
  • What Big Davey said.... why is Times Online so loathe to include a picture, which is such a big part of this inherently visual story?
  • I did a Google on the researcher quoted's name before posting and found his page at wherever it was but no links to the research, just other postings of the same story. Couldn't find anything about it in a decent science publication either, though I didn't look too hard (I just have an aversion to Murdoch-owned media). I thought the interesting bit was him being able to identify nationality with a 90% accuracy. I'd be honestly surprised if that was true. I haven't noticed enormous differences in smiles based on nationality (as opposed to individual traits) myself, including with the Chinese people I live around now. Tickled me when I read it was all.
  • Oh, and InnocentBystander - then my work here is done!
  • According to the article, Prince Charles has the perfect British smile, and Julia Roberts is typically American.
  • Gnasher showing a very famous British grin.
  • I like that there are different names for different smiles. This article gives off weird vibes, though, in the way it describes the smiles of various nationalities and celebrities. I've probably done the "Pan-Am/botox" smile on many occasions, because I was instructed to smile when I didn't really feel like it (customer service and school photo situations come to mind).