Charlie Baxter

Right.

If you're learning English and you've ever been stuck in a conversation you didn't know how to get out of in English, this one's for you.

Picture this.

You're in the work canteen.

You finished your lunch about 10 minutes ago.

The person across from you is mid-story about their weekend, their kid's football match, their mother-in-law's three-hour visit.

You've laughed at all the right bits, but now you need to go.

You've got emails.

You've got a meeting at half one.

You've got, frankly, a million things you'd prefer to be doing than sitting here letting her chew your ear off.

And here's the moment where everything could quietly fall apart for you if you're a non-native speaker.

Because in Britain, we have a load of unwritten rules.

You don't say, OK, that's enough chatting.

Back to work.

You don't finish your meal and announce, right, I've finished my lunch, so I'm going.

And you definitely don't sign off with goodbye.

I will see you tomorrow.

Now, none of these are wrong.

Exactly.

In plenty of cultures, they're perfectly polite.