According to social anthropologist Jean Smith, who spent more than a decade looking at how men and women interact and recently completed a four-country comparison, she found that flirting was rare in Britain and people just give up easily and went home; New Yorkers get right down to business; Parisians take refuge in ornate but time-proven ritual.

Britain’s problems start with men. Protocol dictates that men should approach women. Men know this, yet they’re horrified at the idea of rejection, the Daily Mail reported.

“Perhaps I am intruding upon her and her friends,” they think. “She might not welcome the interruption!”