Regarding flying Silverjet out of Luton you can indeed check in 30 minutes before departure if you only have hand baggage but you need to arrive 45 minutes before if you have bags to check. They only have a maximum of 100 people to board because that's the number of seats (about a third of the usual because the cabin's been reconfigured to be all business class) and they have their own security channel which leads straight out of the lounge so it's all very quick, trust me!

Catherine E., London, UK

I've been told by Brazilians that they can immediately spot an American: we wear clothes to the beach! (by clothing they meant a shirt and sandals). But really it's simple. Someone who's grown up in America, whether their parents are from China or Australia, will give themselves away as Americans, whatever their personal beliefs or opinions, because of posture, clothing choice, dentistry, etc.

Also, Brits give themselves away, if not by their sunburns, by always complaining about America's superfluous souvenir stands. I've often chuckled at their refusal to simply ignore "vile commerce".

Jack Webster, Lancaster, Pennsylvania, USA

I find the thinly repressed misery in the eyes of many British people gives them away

Daniel K888, Melbourne , Australia

As a Scot living in London, I often catch myself playing spot the scotsman. Got it badly wrong the day after the england-croatia match last year when I assumed that the short, slightly portly bloke with hair the colour of irn bru in the lift with me was a dead-cert glaswegian and made a light-hearted comment about croatia's success. Didn't go down well

iain, London,

If i'm waiting at an arival gate for a flight from the UK i never need to look at the arrivals board to see if the UK flight has arrived . i can spot English arivees from ten metres with 100 per cent certainty.. and for that matter from most other destinations .. dutch flights i dont even have to look at their faces or clothes just their height and hair colour !

andy, lyon, france

Michael, Cork, Ireland said :

"Whenever I see a shaven- headed, pale-skinned, aggressive looking character I often think to myself, "I bet you he's English". "

Michael thet are that exact characteristics of one of Corks most famous sons, Roy Keane !!

Yes, it does work,

Richard, Nottingham, England

After check in at airports I often find my gate without looking at the number the faces allready waiting tell me I am in the right place, Poles, Dutch all have a certain look and I know I have found my flight to Warsaw or Amsterdam, English still have regional looks, a flight from Schipol to East Midlands was once confirmed by that pasty unpretty look

Steve, Vancouver , Canada

I have long maintained I can tell what region in Britain someone is from just by their facial charecteristics.

Steve, Cambridge, UK

Have no fear about personal attacks on the opposition. Recall the president of Columbia University introducting Iran's president with long scathing insults.

John, Hereford, UK

This guy obviously didn't watch celebrity big brother last year. There was the eloquent well mannered Indian Shilpa Shetty displaying all the qualities of the quintessential English rose from Jane Austin’s times, and the foul mouthed battle hardened bruiser Jade Goody from Bridgette Jones’ time. You can still spot the English ones easily, you just need to look for different things these days

jackboy, london,

All white socks are a crime ... unless worn with trainers, where black socks are the offence. Yes, apart from that, white socks are perhaps an even greater crime than socks worn with sandals. But socks are never something to be proud of. The man who invented socks (an Italian with an eye on the emerging tourist market, ca 1820) later killed himself in a bizzarre choking incident. He was memorialised in the poem "Whither toes?" : "Whence whither hence hither toes shiver socks quiver ..." or something like that. I was taught it in school back in the 70's but the fashions of the day rendered it incomprehensible to us. "Socks wrong? If socks be wrong, ain't nothin' right" We had already lost faith in our fathers because of the Vietnam/T-Rex mixup (what was that all about??). Poems about socks really were the last straw.

sharp, LDN,

It's a combination of factors. English genes have given a very distinct mouth, jaw and teeth shape to the vast majority of people of english descent. One just has to look at the Asterix in Britain comic book. Strangely- I think it's far more easy for a non englishman to spot an englishman due to this factor (as most english refuse to acknowledge they truly are different looking) There are also factors like popular culture that then determines hair styling, clothing, gait, mannerisms, etc. Another factor involved is dentistry. The American smile (dentist created) is quite unique. English dentists also seem to have their own beauty model. It seems to me that people are far more observant about all these small cues and usually come to very educated guesses on peoples origins. Same with all the psychic lot.

john phimister, bombay, india

I used to live in Berlin where there are a lot more Americans than fellow Britons but I could usually tell, even without hearing them speak, when I passed a fellow countryman. It was a gut feeling, an instinct,

Edward, Kent, UK

We were in Berlin, staying at the famous Adlon Hotel. We went out for a walk, came back and paused momentarily in the overcrowded lobby to get our bearings. Immediately a young German security man glided up to us and asked 'Can I help you?' in perfect but accented English. How did he know? We hadn't spoken as we entered which would have givewn him a clue. He just looked at us and knew.

SH, Leeds,

I grew up near Bath and as a teenager used to love going there to people-watch. I got to be quite an expert at spotting many different nationalities (without hearing them speak) and, like Matthew Parris, could not pinpoint exactly how I did it. Probably a combination of the clothes, hairstyles, posture, etc. An absolutely fascinating area!

anon, london,

It is very easy to spot an english men on the beach in sardinia: they are the only ones under the sun at 2 p.m., they are purple red and have a can of beer in their hands.
But it is also very easy to spot an italian in London: the girls all wear long coats...michelin style, and they wear sunglasses even under the rain.

Alessandra, london,

Matt from Norwich, it's easy to play 'spot the Englishman' in London. We're the ones apologising when a foreign tourist steps on our feet.

nick, london,

I hear "Spot the Englishman" is a popular game in London these days.

Matt, Norwich,

How interesting. I wonder if anyone has ever "officially" studied this. I first became aware of the ability to spot a countryman when my father was stationed with the U.S. Army in Germany. I was about 15 and attending the American High School in Frankfurt. I could recognise an American, even at a distance and from the back, by the way they carried themselves when they walked. Globalization seems to have changed that. Last time I was in Germany I was unable to spot another American...or, perhaps, there just weren't any around at the time. Still a very interesting phenomenon.

AL Johnson, Fort Worth,

Its not surprising Matthew Parris' side won (just) the debate despite his uncalled for, inappropriate personal remarks about his opponents. Despite arguments advanced its politically incorrect to support the idea of America's role as the world's policeman.
I have watched BBC debates in which the audience is predominantly from the middle east and who have to vote on topics which would be either favourable or not to the west versus Islam.Naturally, no matter how cogent the arguments advanced in favour of the west they are always defeated. Surprise surprise.
Why waste everyone's time with so called debates, the results of which are so easily predicted? At least Matthew had an enjoyable dinner etc.

Rodney Jones, Barbados,

The two main characteristics of an Englishman are humour and lawn. Without humour and without lawn, the Englishman wastes away and fades, and becomes hollow. His humour becomes so lowbrow that he needs to mow his lawn really short to keep it above that level.

Jean, Paris,

I've always thought Australian men can be spotted from a distance. They seem to have a particular swagger and a kind of nonchalance (many of them in London are even easier to spot - wasted and wrapped in a flag - but thats a different discussion...)

And definitely think you can often pick the difference between Australian and English and American and other English-speakers by the way they move their faces - whether or not they are actually speaking.

pheme, sydney, australia

As an American on holiday in Florida, it was fun playing spot the Brit on the public transport and at the attractions. As my daughter quipped, "Have these people never heard of sunscreen?"

Becci Himes, Houston, TX, USA

I am an American who visited London last month. I must say it is true both ways. On the Tube, I could easily tell who was British. I'm sure they could tell I was American, too.

The Brits just seemed bland. Don't take that to be arrogant. The group I was with could have been called loud or obnoxious. It's just that over here we don't have mass public transit. To think, one need not drive to get everywhere. Amazing.

Kyle Conway, McDonald, OH, USA

the same goes for the Dutch - you can spot any Dutchman miles away

Eva, Utrecht, the Netherlands

Spotted a non English face on the London tube? Amazing!!!

Alec Wilson, Bristol, UK

The ability comes from thousands of years of effective in-breeding. Until recent years our ancestors didn't travel more than a few miles from their home village, and so were breeding in a very limited gene pool which is even more true at the country level. Thus 'national' and 'local' facial features and characteristics have been amplified.

Perhaps in five or six hundred years well be able to spot people born on earth as opposed to mars, the moon etc.

Derek, Las Palmas,

Easy to spot English people - we're all milk bottle white and carrying a plastic bag.

Peter, London,

Matthew is absolutely right, there's something I just can't describe which tells me where people are from - and when I get it, I'm seldom wrong. I always wondered how that worked... still do, really.

Dominic Graham de Montrose, London,

Picking out someone's nationality based on physiognomy is really problematic, because you're going to resort to a set of standards that are very limiting. Let's say the person sitting across the train from you is from southern Europe by heritage, but has been in England his entire life. He may be as in English in spirit as you, but you won't recognize him as such. Seems to me that you're looking for features that indicate "traditional" Englishness--you're racializing yourselves, tying genetic markers to political identity. In a day and age when England is becoming increasingly diverse and culturally rich, I don't see the usefulness of trying to pick out who's "actually English" and who "just got here." Why should it even make a difference? But that seems to be what people do here. This nativism strikes me as a more finely-tuned form of racism, and as I am an international student, it makes me weary.

Amanda, York, North yorkshire

an Englishman? check for the sandals and socks, the offwhite Tshirt, the short shorts with socks and trainers - I rest MY CASE!!

susan hide, NEWMARKET,

I can always tell who's English when I'm abroad - sloppy clothes, beer bellies, drunken behaviour. And that's just the girls......

Alys, Colchester, UK

I too am blessed with patriot spotting skills. Pretty good on other nationalities too, or so I thought.

After taking our seats on an internal flight in the Philippines I bet my fellow traveller P2000 (approx £20) that the bloke in the front row was German. The vest, hair, tash, tan - easy money. He went for Scandanavian. The aberration was from Hull.

Ronald, Manila,

Whenever I see a shaven- headed, pale-skinned, aggressive looking character I often think to myself, "I bet you he's English". (I sometimes look for examples of body art to support my view.) Nine times out of ten I'm spot on.

There's clearly something in what Matthew says.

Michael, Cork, Ireland

You can always spot an English person in Zambia, without fail, s/he will always have an apologetic manner, sometimes a look of disdain (reserved for street sellors), wears sandals and a sun hat and is rather flushed because of the heat. They are peculiarly British in their ways. We like them for that (most of the time).

Michelle, Lusaka, ZAMBIA

I do the same with Australians. Once on the tube I was watching a man who I was so sure was a co-Aussie I would have betted on it - but couldn't say why. I was getting really annoyed because I knew there was no way I'd ever know if I was right - until he bent over to pick up his bag and his bonds undies pocked out the top of his trousers.

Coco, London,

Its being away from home. I also do the guessing game in Europe - hairstyles, clothes, apologetic manner, unsure of oneself is a dead give away to spotting a fellow south african.

anna, Johannesburg,

Good tip about Luton but bit daft to encourage readers to turn up 30 mins before the flight. I'd guess the only reason you were able to do that was that most of your fellow passengers had checked in 2 hours earlier. Interesting to see what happens subsequently when flocks of Times readers arrive shortly before take off. The flight would be delayed until they all boarded - and the next slot became available. Still, they'll know who to thank!

Bob T., London, UK

I think that we have a sub-conscious ability to recognise where people originate from. Because of the mobility of people in the last 100-150 years this has been diluted though.

Faces are made up of a number of geometric curves and lines giving an almost unique shape. But there are repetitions as we all know – not only within families giving rise to the phenomenon of doubles.

The BBC showed a programme last year which took local portrait photographers from different parts of the country around busy crowd scenes such as street markets and asked them to identify faces which they identified as being ‘local’. They had an uncanny ability to identify people who came from families who had lived in the same locale for many generations.

John Dean, London, UK

Only English men wear black socks with shorts and sandals, so it's easy to pick them out out here in the sun! Americans, if they're wearing socks, will wear white.

David Cunard, Los Angeles,