The famous British "stiff¹ upper lip" has become a thing of the past, according to a survey on Thursday which found Britons are no longer embarrassed to shed a tear or be affectionate in public.

上周四公布的一项调查称，英国人不苟言笑的著名形象如今已成为过去。调查发现，英国人已不再羞于当众落泪或流露感情。

Quay² railway station in Warrington, northern England, February 16, 2009." width="400" height="257" src="/upimg/100404/4_054706_1.jpg" />
A No Kissing sign is displayed outside Warrington Bank Quay railway station in Warrington, northern England, February 16, 2009.

Nearly three-quarters of Brits now greet others with an air kiss（飞吻） or hug, an increase of a third over the last 15 years, while 63 percent of the 1,000 people surveyed said they had cried in public.

"The British stiff upper lip（坚定沉着，不露感情） is finally wobbling（摇晃的，颤动的） as more and more Brits wear their hearts on their sleeves（感情外露） ," said Richard Hayes of Warburtons bakers³, who carried out the research in connection with an upcoming advertising⁴ campaign.

Brits are also prone⁵ to（倾向） getting carried away（得意忘形，失去理智） when they are excited, the research showed, with 47 percent waving their arms in the air, a third jumping up and down and three in 10 throwing their arm around someone nearby.

Plotted on the "passion index," which measures how often people display emotion, Britain averaged 69 out of 100, with people in the south most likely to show how they feel while the Welsh were the least emotional.