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From Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour, by Kate Fox

When talking about your house move, it must always be described as
traumatic, fraught with difficulty and disruption, even if in fact the
process was completed smoothly and without noticeable stress.  This
rule applies to the intital house-hunting, the purchase of the house,
the move itself, any DIY undertaken upon moving in, and 'having the
builders in': it is universally understood that all of these are 'a
nightmare'.  To describe them in any more favourable or even neutral
terms would be regarded as odd, possible even as arrogant--as somehow
implying that you are immune to the stresses and upsets afflicting all
normal house-buyers.
		-- p. 119

Tags: stress diy nightmare stresses disruption neutralterms