Foreign-language phrase books are a reflection of the manners and mores of past times.
Until the 1980s, ‘Would you like a cigarette?’ and ‘Can I smoke in this carriage?’ were examples of how to make conversation in French, German, Italia, and so on. Then, no more.
Older language guides are sometimes marked by class – evidently people who visited continental Europe used to be posher. I’ve inherited from a deceased cousin EE Patou’s , published
