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If the next time a rich person gives you an askance look and you immediately ask them to explain themselves, guess what, you just equalized yourself with them socially without having to learn which fork to use first.

Or you've shibboleth'ed yourself out by not already knowing what the askance look meant.

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Sure, but you were already outside the group because of your misuse of spoons. I have difficulty picking up the nuance of these small askance glances, so without asking, it's unlikely I'll ever pick up the shibboleth.

Personally, I've always thought the only way to win is to not play the game. High class values have never really appealed to me, although I guess feel the hierarchy/status issue as much as anyone else.

Not playing the game is fine, and a classless life is enjoyed by many, but it's not how "you just equalized yourself with them socially."

You can't not play. Not playing just means losing faster because you don't know/don't care about the rules.

This is the outsider play. It basically works by default if you’re a foreigner (aka an American in England) or vice versa. Americans can get away with it via improv or social ability sure... less so if there’s a language barrier.

It's also a good source of comedy, pointing out little things like that and going into detail about them.

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