The funny thing about the British...

... or with any emotionally repressed people is that while they take vociferous issue with the "confessionalistic" nature of American culture, they make the same mistake over and over again in coming to that evaluation.

It's a very simple and profound mistake:

Never assume that when someone tells you something that seems somehow over-intimate, that they are ever telling you everything about it.

This is the secret to American Privacy. We will tell you about what terrible things our parents did oh so many years ago when we were little, but we will never tell you about the terrible thing we are planning on doing to you - and our parents -
tomorrow.

You've been warned.