Things Americans don't get about the UK

That most men in the UK are uncut.

Their teeth 😬

Separate hot and cold water taps

What is the point in comparisons, really?

Unless it's to point out we live on this planet and there are huge disparities about quality of life, depending on the country we live in?

In that case, that's an important conversation, since it's not good, country to country, how we treat our people.

I know, nobody wants to care about human lives beyond your own life, family, town, city, county, state, country.

But until we actually start thinking about things beyond our own personal comfort, this planet is doomed. We're on a tract to no-wheres-ville.

That's all. And I know i'll be roasted over and over. but it's true.

The NHS.

No electrical outlets or light switches in bathrooms.

Fire doors. Why so many?

Central heat being a luxury 🥶

[quote]No electrical outlets or light switches in bathrooms.

What? You have to poop in the dark?

^ The switch for my bathroom light is in the hall next to the bathroom door. No hardship.

Salaries are generally lower to the tune of about 25% or so

You don't have "sick days*. You just take the day off.

There's two minimum wage rates based on age (over/under 23).

Sick days have to be self certified up to seven days, then you have to get a sickness certificate from your GP.

r10 Right? Why would you want the light switch inside the bathroom instead of next to the door right outside of it? It makes perfect sense to light up any room before you enter it, rather than enter a dark room and start pawing around for the light switch.

As for the outlets, they're obviously strategically placed so you don't splash water on them, but they're there.

It's 5 last time I checked, but there's no running tally per year like there is in America.

I cannot understand their unintelligible speech.

Why only 6 episodes a "series"? Is that supposed to be impressive?

It'sa all about the funding, which is completely different from the US model with far smaller budgets.

Television licenses.

Hun culture, as evidenced here.

I actually like how most British shows don't seem to last forever the way many American sitcoms do. Think Grey's Anatomy. Can't believe that shit show is still going on.

Sinks that have separate hot and cold faucets, or taps as they call them.

Breakfast

John Cooper Clarke.

Those tiny major appliances standard in the kitchen. I mean the washer holds like 4 shirts! The pale skin, for a country with high tea consumption more whitening toothpaste needs to be sold to counter act the staining.

Why many loos at restaurants or bars are upstairs. This is most of Europe too not just UK. And they have separate water closets a lot, not just one big room with stalls.

The language.

Lawrence points out a few differences.

Cute British twinks react to memes about Britain.

Why do they never have screens on their windows? Do they not have bugs in the UK?

And I finally learned why these awkward and small 1/8 of the total window portions are the only ones that operate because:

[quote]The owners or operators of a building have a duty of care under Health & Safety law. Many (or their advisors) have done risk assessments and determined that there is a risk of falling so, as a control measure, they have restricted the windows.

...but why do i see these same operable mini windows in private residences? Public housing I get. Country Estates, I do not. Whats the story? And do those mini sections let enough air in if every window in a building (or flat) has them?

And what about all the high rises that DON"T have them?

Public restrooms stalls with doors that run floor to ceiling instead of the humiliating 3/4 doors the expose your pants down and shoes and provide no barrier to sound effects.

[quote]Cute British twinks

Two of those things are true.

Why there are virtually NO TOPS in England.

sobriety is a rarity

[quote] Public restrooms stalls with doors that run floor to ceiling instead of the humiliating 3/4 doors the expose your pants down and shoes and provide no barrier to sound effects.

But those actually make sense. It’s the American ones that are strange and wrong.

Even better, some of the UK toilets come with the little prison sink and soap right inside the stall. Love it.

How to say Pall Mall.

I love you all so very very much, I can’t resist your charms. There were a couple of English guys working in my university department, they were smoking hot and at the end of the term they always do a “roast” so they did a skit where someone imitated the hottest guy, with both men and women trailing after him like an entourage.i felt bad for the guy because he was shy. He moved back to the uk. He still looks good.

Americans aren't used to the limits of old buildings, old infrastructure, and old money. Also, there's 55+ million people into the UK, which is the size of Oregon. It's also very population-dense because so much land is undeveloped private land. There's a reason why landed folk want the attention on immigration rather than wealth disparity.

The king doesn't pay taxes on his "property." That's fucked up.

Why they all hit the wall at 19. 🧱🚶

These freeloaders with silly hats...

That their showers are not completely enclosed. What’s the point of having a half door in your shower? The water splashes out all over the floor.

Su Pollard

No death penalty.

Their total obsession with Eurofest.

Aristocratic titles and the whole aristocracy thing in general.

Marmite.

I don’t understand why they need their own set of minor celebrities. The US has more than enough. Just use ours.

I have visited London many times, went to university outside of London, and have had a few side trips over the years. I generally find the differences between the UK and the US to be enjoyable. (Just like any country you visit -- if you don't like the differences then don't go, or don't go back.) That said, there are things that I "don't get," which is not to mean that anyone is wrong; it is how it is.

On my last trip (earlier this month) I found it much harder to use cash. What do you do for those who cannot afford to have a credit card? I see that many places are sites of discretionary spending (Many pubs, Mercato Mayfair, and Seven Dials Market really made me think about this) but this is something that I don't get.

R47 Most payments are being made using debit cards, not credit cards. Even the poorest of the poor with their benefit payments being paid into a basic Post Office current account will have a debit card.

I cannot remember the last time I used cash. Possibly pre-lockdown.

Most people don’t think about the aristocracy. We leave that to Americans.

All my descamisados expect me to outshine the enemy -- the aristocracy! I won't disappoint them!

R29 I lived in a postwar house in England and we had the same things. I understand having them on the 2nd floor due to fall risk, but why the first floor?

I also did not understand the lack of screens. Our house had none. You just open the top window and let whatever comes through in.

This lot..

That the accents don't somehow make them smarter, better or "classier" than any one else.

Speaking of UK men's toilets do they still have those long metal communal urinals in some pubs?

R4 are you microdosing?

R49 All those pictures & flowers for Di were in America?

The aristocrats love people like R49 while they collect ground rent from the many, many leasehold properties in the UK. Americans would get out the pitchforks.

Half of OP's statements are factually wrong.

@r49, "Most people don’t think about the aristocracy. We leave that to Americans. "

Maybe you should, you're the ones being soaked for 100s of millions to support them. It doesn't cost Americans one penny to think about them when we need a good laugh 😏

R57, I think yours is a real difference. Except for old, East coast cities and Palm Springs, not owning the land a house you own is built on is unfathomable.

17© of the UK is in social housing. Nearly one on five people.

Masterpiece (formerly Masterpiece theatre) is mostly co-productions with ITV.

Jane McDonald

^ Flap-jacks McDonald

R57 puh leaze. We are getting fleeced in a million other ways and Americans continue to Netflix and chill instead of getting politically active.

R54 - do you mean these troughs?

There's also these really open ones that don't leave much to the imagination.

No air conditioning.

A holiday isn’t a holiday, it’s a vacation.

In the U.S., holiday just means a day you are granted off for your job or that everyone celebrates because it’s on the calendar, like Christmas (a federal holiday) or Martin Luther King’s birthday.

In the UK it’s when you take time off work and go to Mallorca.

[quote] Public restrooms stalls with doors that run floor to ceiling instead of the humiliating 3/4 doors the expose your pants down and shoes and provide no barrier to sound effects.

Such a thing allows for NO FUN AT ALL.

Closed bathroom stalls are dens of perversion!

No wonder you lot like them.

@r68, Brits love damp and moldy, it reminds them of their peasant roots

Climate change isa making this less so, but it doesn't get as hot in the UK as it does on the US. Newer builds do have more climate control, though.

I have never quite understood, of the British, the generally accepted by college-educated people belief that fine art and architecture came crashing to a dead halt in 1902.

I'm not convinced the UK celerity circuit makes sense. Imagine if everyone was a Kardashian, only speaking with an accent that made them sound like mice being tortured on the rack. It's not like the UK doesn't have talented actors and musicians. But they all seem to live in LA.

Robbie Williams.

R13, sometimes, in the US, we want to turn lights on and off in the bathroom (e.g. turn off the lights over the sink and turn on the shower light/fan) without having to open the door or shout for someone to do it for us.

Towel warmer racks in the bathroom. Magnificent!

Wallpaper. All the homes seem to have wallpaper.

How the country produces so many good actors. I have watched hundreds of movies and episodes of tv series and almost always the actors seem perfect for the role. I can't remember ever seeing an out-and-out bad actor.

I've seen many trashy photos on this site, but the one at R66 just might be the trashiest of all time.

Muslims who refuse to assimilate to their host society and do nothing but cause problems and suck off the public welfare tit.

We have trough urinals in America. Usually in small town dive bars.

R79

1) Most of them are trained in the theater.

2) The UK casts based on acting ability, and the US casts based on looks.

@r83, And that's why there's so few Brits in American movies 🤪

The shit that passes as food 🤮

Why every goodbye is dragged out for ages.

"Drink-driving" as opposed to drunk driving. You are drunk, and driving. Not drinking whilst driving, in most cases.

Of course there is absolutely nothing about the USA that other countries find strange or amusing - nothing at all!

They seem overly sensitive to being mocked or criticized. ^(ahem)

@r88, Ooh, somebody sounds butthurt 😂

How all that cocaine makes it to London.

r47 - I don't know about other cities, but a lot of bars and restaurants in our downtown business and entertainment areas are no longer accepting cash due to "dine and dash." People walking out on bills.

[quote]They seem overly sensitive to being mocked or criticized. ^(ahem)

True, but so are most New Yorkers.

[quote]The arts are infested with conservatives.

WTF?! Everyone knows the arts are as left wing as you can get.

Delusional!

Victoria and Albert Museum is crawling with Tories. One example linked.

That they call gift baskets "hampers". I once bought a few lovely (though expensive) Christmas hampers at Fortnum and Mason.

Andrew Lloyd Webber was a conservative peer in the house of Lords until 2017.

[quote] a lot of bars and restaurants in our downtown business and entertainment areas are no longer accepting cash due to "dine and dash." People walking out on bills.

You can still dine and dash in a place that only accepts cards.

[quote]Victoria and Albert Museum is crawling with Tories. One example linked.

LOL, the director of the V&A is former Labour MP Tristram Hunt!

[quote]Andrew Lloyd Webber was a conservative peer in the house of Lords until 2017.

Who else from the arts are in the House of Lords?

Joan Bakewell (Labour)

Floella Benjamin (Lib Dem)

Melvin Bragg (Labour)

Michael Cashman (Labour)

I can't be arsed going past D.

It isn’t like Downtown Abbey.

Saatchi's of the Saatchi museum helped get Thatcher into office.

Pedestrians don't have the right of way.

^Of course the Repugs made a pathetic attempt to revive the poster in the 2012 campaign against Obama.

Diphthongs

I once went into a convenience store in London and asked where I could find dental floss. The cashier girl said she didn't know what that was.

Well, smell Miss r4!

r105 This British article is claiming floss isn't recommended by dentists. News to me.

Would you trust a British dentist considering what most of the teeth look like in that country?

R96 A hamper was a hamper before America even existed. “Gift basket” how common.

In American English "hamper" means the covered basket you throw dirty laundry into, pending washing day.

A hamper is full of dirty twisted knickers, no?

I got a lovely Harrod's hamster for my birthday.

Gift baskets are usually smaller in size and feature a variety of smaller items. They are often arranged with decorative elements, such as ribbons, bows, and wrapping paper, to enhance the presentation.

Hampers, on the other hand, are typically larger and contain a wider selection of items. They are presented in a wicker basket or container, which adds to their rustic and traditional charm.

[quote]Hampers tend to be wrapped in cellophane where as gift baskets don't have any cellophane.

Won't someone think of the poor cellophane?

[quote]Most of the classic TV dramas on PBS are from ITV, not the BBC.

I have no fucking idea what the distinction is between those things.

That the king or queen does absolutely nothing of significance without specific instruction from the elected government. Even major US news outlets appear to be unaware of this fact.

We used to wrap gifts in cellophane, until it became a problem 🙄

Their groveling.

What Cockfosters is like.

The hamper vs. basket argument/back and forth reminds me of this.

Their toadlike appearance and demeanor while somehow convincing the world and themselves that they are truly superior to everyone. So their delusion, I guess. They really think the Empire was won because by gum, they were industrious and intelligent rather than you know, chopping off hands and blowing entire nations away. Looking at you Cecil Rhodes.

^ The thing that Brits don't get is that almost every country that celebrates Independence Day is because of them

I, for one, admire our former imperial overlords.

Brits are a contradiction. Snobbery mixed with servility and pomposity. Pathetic lot.

Biggest scammers in the world. It's delicious to watch them wall themselves in and have no choice but to colonize themselves post-Brexit from the Republic of Ireland.

R121. Things the British probably don’t get about Americans are 1) the American delusion that their country stands for freedom, 2) America’s conviction that its past is somehow Jess shameful than that of the other imperial powers, and 3) the belief that American wealth is the result of free enterprise and Yankee ingenuity and not the result of labour and land stolen from other people.

Like clockwork: deflect, deflect, deflect.

Postbox toppers. How long do think one of these would last in the US?

R127. Being an idiot like clockwork.

@r126, You Brits slay me with you're high and mighty attitude on slavery. When everyone knows that THE BRITISH WERE THE BIGGEST SLAVE TRADERS IN THE WORLD...

"Britain was the most dominant between 1640 and 1807 and it is estimated that Britain transported 3.1 million Africans (of whom 2.7 million arrived) to the British colonies in the Caribbean, North and South America and to other countries."

Kindly GO FUCK YOURSELF!

Ad hominems are all you have, r129. The best way to beat a Brit is to cut through the pomp designed to keep the scrutiny off them and be breathtakingly direct.

What's more, r130, is the British compensated their slave traders and owners when they abolished. But aren't the accents pretty?

@r132, Oh, yes, the Brits compensated their slave traders and owners. A hell of a lot of good that did for the actual slaves. To this day Brits are deporting British citizens just because they're black...

"In the last two decades, the UK has deported thousands of people to Jamaica. Many of these 'deportees' left the Caribbean as infants and grew up in the UK. Deporting Black Britons traces the life stories of four such men who have been exiled from their parents, partners, children and friends by deportation."

AKA: Windrush

R240 You Yanks slay me with your stupidity. Nothing in the post indicated Britain doesn’t also have a shameful past. What is stupid is Americans thinking they don’t have a shameful past. That’s why calling you an idiot is not an ad hominem attack.

[quote]Postbox toppers. How long do think one of these would last in the US?

Hopefully, not long.

Literally nobody said that America isn't shameful in this thread. And it isn't just Americans coming for you here. Such fucking denial. And r129 was an ad hominem.

British people are so used to being worshipped they have no idea how to deal with being called out for their shit.

@r134, I have no idea what post you're referring to, 240 doesn't exist, but what you idiot Brits conveniently like to forget that we weren't the USA before 1776. Up until that point we were YOU, BRITISH

You Limeys never seem to be able to remember that 🤔

R236. I’m not British either. It’s funny that you would criticise Britain for its shameful imperial history knowing America’s history is at least as shameful.

"Things Americans don't get about the UK "

Everything they have of value they stole from someone else

@r138, What fucking thread are you working? There is no 236

God, you're dumb 🙄

R240. God you’re brilliant :)

I love British threads in the morning, they're all cranked on cheap tea and got their knickers in a twist 😂

R2 - I'm not British or American but I can tell you that the Brits have better teeth than Americans do now. Dental treatments are included in their NHS. Lucky bastards.

@r143, " Brits have better teeth than Americans do now. "

😂 Stop, you're killing me, stop... 🤣

I present to you, Queen Camilla, otherwise known as, "Ol' Snaggletooth"

"Things Americans don't get about the UK "

Their delightful Colonial past...

"Blowing from a gun is a method of execution in which the victim is typically tied to the mouth of a cannon which is then fired, resulting in death"

Not the old horses R144.

The British invented the concentration camp during the Boer Wars.

R145 OMFG 🤬 🙀

All this tea and lace covers up one of the cruelest societies to plague the world.

Funny

Their obsession with silly hats.

One of my exes from the UK said he thought British men were more masculine than American ones. I literally busted out laughing.

Formerly Great Britain was a world empire based on exploiting third world countries and enslaving their peoples.Two world wars knocked them off their pedestal. They are now a third rate tourist trap of a country competing with Euro Disney. Brexit was the last nail in their cosplay coffin. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

Those big landed estates are slave blood money.

R152 Difference without Distinction: Englishmen and Homosexuals.

Back when England was broke in the late 70s there was a joke that Disney would buy the whole country and turn it into the United Magic Kingdom.

R154. In America?

It’s true the UK is a shadow of itself post-war because it gave back almost all of its stolen land. If America did the same, it would essentially cease to exist.

[quote]Things Americans don't get about the UK

That the Brits have a love-hate relationship with America(ns).

Like a parent who resents their child who has surpassed them.

In general, Americans are very welcoming of Brits, but the feeling isn't often mutual.

Many Americans get a rude awakening when they first visit the UK.

It wasn't all that hard to give up the colonies. Even Thatcher recognized that maintaining the Empire was a net financial loss for Great Britain.

@r158, Who stole the original 13 colonies that was the original America? God, sometimes you Brits are so thick. Anything bad you can say about the US all started with YOU.

Do they teach you any history that isn't a total pro-British lie?

The sarcasm gets really old, really fast.

This is the Datalounge. We all got really old, really fast.

Why all the houses in suburban neighborhoods look exactly the same. Seriously, is there a zoning regulation that enforces a single style? In the US it would be unheard of to build a house that looked identical to you next door neighbor's.

Why Britain is facing its particular truth, one of its own making: do we continue to decline slowly as a nation, or decline quickly?

The direction is not in doubt, just the speed with which they'll get there.

R164 "In the US it would be unheard of to build a house that looked identical to you next door neighbor's."

Not exactly. Have you been to Levittown?

r164 lol you haven't seen all the new sub divisions they're building. I got lost in one of those things one time looking for a pizza truck.

I’ve wondered if bigots in th UK have played the “Great Replacement Theory” to scare their old people snd control their children.

R161. Comprehension of the English language isn’t a strength of yours, is it?

You should see the communities in. Florida where they clear-cut acres of woods and put up hundreds of the exact same house/facade/layout.

As a society, they are far more anti-Semitic. Even their newsreaders feel free to go batshit on air.

R170 can’t tell the difference in that picture. Clearly, some garages are on the left and others are on the right.

The Brits invented the cat. 🐱

"do we continue to decline slowly as a nation, or decline quickly?" Take a look at a map of the world in 1924. You answered your question.

R172

That's their token variety. It also sometimes has to do with window locations and views vis a vis the next door neighbors. So the location of the garage garage may be the only difference.

2024 Britain is Grand Fenwick without the charm.

Why it's hard to order a regular cup of black coffee at most coffee shops in the UK. Perhaps it's just me, but everytime I have been to London (at least ten times), trying to order just a cup of black coffee is an ordeal. I once tried to explain when the person taking my order was confused, explaining that I just wanted a black or drip/filtered coffee, with nothing else in it, and she asked me if I wanted a "flat white." No, that is not what I wanted. I decided to just order Americanos thereafter. Less chance for awkward exchanges.

The brown sauce they offer to put on fish & chips. Or is that just Scotland? I asked the kid who offered it what it was, twice, and couldn’t understand what he mumbled in response either time.

The rubbery, undercooked bacon in the UK is nasty.

Although I do like when the British medical examiners put "Death By Misadventure" on the death certificate. They need to bring that to the United States.

@r169, Yes, it is when I'm not dealing with inarticulate gibberish... Oh, your British, never mind

Jimmy Savile. How was it possible not to recognize instantly what a creep he was? Someone that weird and ugly would never last on American television.

^ *you're*

How they go TO hospital.

[quote]One of my exes from the UK said he thought British men were more masculine than American ones. I literally busted out laughing.

I don't blame you. American gaydar often doesn't work with brits due to so many seeming quite effete.

R183 We do?

Despite the accent, the UK is full of Florida-like trash and the people are thick as shit.

R177 it’s just not a thing here I’m afraid. Ask for an americano or a long black. Coffee shops are not set up to serve a revolting filter coffee. Thank goodness.

You can get drip brewed by the cup at some fancier coffee places.

I’m looking forward to the ‘Thing the British don’t get about America’ thread. We can start with the total incomprehension that sometimes people do things differently in other countries AND THAT’S OK.

That Great Britain can function without a written constitution.

^ Did you know you are allowed to start your own thread on DL? 🤦‍♂️

R191 We don't do 21st century things like starting threads. We are British.

The Brits INVENTED the Trans-Atlantic slave trade.

This might sound naive to ask but aren’t British wages lower than American ones for the same type of work? I mean they don’t seem to have quite the extreme disparities the US has, but what do I know.

[quote]Jimmy Savile. How was it possible not to recognize instantly what a creep he was? Someone that weird and ugly would never last on American television.

How did we not spot Michael Jackson? It was so obvious he was a freak. After the first revelations, we were slapping our foreheads saying "well, of course. We should have known."

We did spot Michael Jackson. Only California people didn't because they were obsessed with the visual.

[quote] In the US it would be unheard of to build a house that looked identical to you next door neighbor's.

What? There are tons of planned communities in the US. With rules about what color you can paint your house, what kinds of trees and plants you can have in your yard. How many (if any) cars you can park on the street ... in front of your own house.

R191 that could easily have been a snorty “you do realize …?”

All the roach decorations. Mice for pets. The fascism around the King. The nude cobblestone beaches. The beached whale cookouts. The bullying of gingers. Ginger spice. Posh and Becks. The dumb way extra letters are in every random village rendering the name unpronounceable. GloucesterchesterLeicstershirehamlankenshireshakerfriercastlerugbyhamhamham everywhere a pig

^

Has your prescription run out?

R178,

For your information. Chip shops in and around Edinburgh have a mixture of brown sauce and vinegar to put on chips. I don’t know how it started. It’s not done elsewhere to my knowledge. .

^

Another try!

Genuinely chuckling at all these assumptions. I’m British, every tap in my house is a mixer. I’ve never even seen half the disgusting looking food we apparently like, we have a fairly decent minimum wage meaning companies can’t get away with really low wages & thankfully, we don’t have have to tip everywhere we go (although 10% is considered polite after an evening meal in a restaurant). I’m definitely not stupid. We have sick days? Or do you mean we don’t have a prescribed amount each year? I get 6 months full pay when I’m sick in my current job.. And I have absolutely no problem with Americans. I think we are both equally prosperous & equally have a shit ton of problems.

Some people on here think the monarchy is like Queen Carlotta in Desperate Living. The truth is they have already had that with Donald Trump.

@r203, " I’m British, every tap in my house is a mixer."

Tonic water and seltzer? I'm in 🥳

Pantomimes at Christmas.

If you have kids of your own or nieces/nephews, panto is brilliant fun.

I’m American and my bathroom has separate hot and cold taps. I actually like it.

R177, next time ask for filter coffee. It's available lots of places.

Black Sheep Coffee, in lots of cities, usually brews at least two varieties.

Dropping of articles. I have been to England, and love it. But the next time I'm there, it will be "in hospital" on meth with me. There will be no articles whatsoever in any of my speech, and it will be up to them to figure it out.

R48, and now I know. Thanks.

Those zig zaggy white lines painted on the street.

Floris & Penhaligon’s

R212 they mark areas where cars aren't allowed to stop on intersections, etc.

Why they think they're not racist when they bloody invented racism.

Why they sign off with x but not xo.

Why do they think they are still a relevant country?

They are still relevant, since they raped the world for so long, and most of the worlds problems are due to what they have done, now they're paying for it.

Driving on the wrong side of the road.

Their blatant viciousness towards fellow English colleagues. This was a shock.

Class issues. I guess Americans don't get their class issues like they don't get our race issues. Though, I'm getting the sense that they are beginning to understand.

How they allowed a despicable WHORE! to take the throne.

The vast majority are low class as it is, why do Americans always think aristocracy?! They have rotten teeth.

[quote] Why do Americans always think aristocracy?

Because the Brits always ply us with Downton Abbey and Jane Austen programming. No one in the US ever gets to watch Eastenders o Benefits Street.

R222 it’s American television programmers who ply you with that.

Their use of the word-spelling “whilst.”

“I am [italic]sat[/italic] next to so-and-so.”

They're in hospital.

They're in school.

They're in library.

They're at at post office.

They're in restaurant.

They're at casino.

Why do we have articles on just some, English?

When they ask “why on UuUuuTh would you [insert your activity/opinion that they disagree with]?” … in that snotty fucking tone. It makes my blood pressure hit a thousand in no time flat.

My solution, R227. Using the opposite of their tone, ask them kindly to repeat what they said. I usually preface it with "I know you're speaking English but it's difficult to understand some of what you're saying."

Let their blood pressure go up, not yours.

Baked beans on toast is a good quick lunch

R226 When we say someone is in hospital it means they're staying there.

We'd say "I have an appointment at the hospital. I am at the hospital today". We'd be 'in hospital' if we were staying overnight, being kept in for observation etc.

So if we had a day procedure we'd have been 'at the hospital', but if we were in there for a few days, we'd have been 'in hospital'.

Being IN hospital has a different meaning to being at a/the hospital.

R184 "That though the English are effete, they're quite impervious to heat."

Their overstated, gag-simulating reaction to the combination of chocolate and peanut butter. "Oh how awful; how can you combine sweet and savory?"—as if they didn't eat almonds, hazelnuts, etc. in their beloved Cadburys.

They do half salt, half sugar popcorn at the cinema/theatre.

Kate was in hospital at the weekend.

How about 'poorly'?

Mary doesn't FEEL poorly, she IS poorly.

Kate was in hospital this weekend after she felt poorly bad like

I never understood why, in the Brexit vote, the opposite of "leave" was "remain." American idiom would certainly have expressed it as "stay."

R234 did she stop by doctor office? Run into market for thing? Visit private secretary office?

[quote]I never understood why, in the Brexit vote, the opposite of "leave" was "remain." American idiom would certainly have expressed it as "stay."

"We want to remain part of the UK" makes perfect sense to Americans too, I would think (besides, "Remainers" sounds more dignified than "Stayers")

Americans don't seem to understand that leprechauns are Irish and Ireland isn't part of the UK. In the UK, they have elves and fairies.

[quote]"We want to remain part of the UK"

I beg your pardon: "part of the EU" (that should obviously read). Sorry!

“Ireland isn't part of the UK. In the UK, they have elves and fairies.”

Fuck off you English asshole. We are Irish and we are in the UK.

For now, r242

R237 how do you cope with life if you are flummoxed by this very simple concept?

We do need to keep them alive and breathing, the UK, for their TV programs at least, they're still the best unfortunately, they still have a hold on the world.

No they don’t. That’s more of their propaganda. Fleabag was boring as ass, and Downton Abbey was more head up ass self-congratulatory bs.

Let’s also not forget their cheapness. They are allergic to generosity both as people and materially. They steal everything that isn’t nailed down though.

Fleabag went downhill with that priest.

R237 yeah, you're kind of dumb even by American standards.

I'm going in hotel! I'm going to stay there. Auntie's in hotel this weekend too!

" In the UK, they have elves and fairies."

But mainly poofs.

Six weeks of vacation time per year is the norm as opposed to two weeks in the US.

Except that two weeks is not “the norm.”

Collective nouns with plural verbs.

"Do you know what the Government do with poor people?"

"The team are wearing new uniforms."

"Unilever are planning a merger."

'They are allergic to generosity both as people and materially.'

A supposed allergy overcome with fulsome contributions to Ukraine's war of resistance.

Yet you have children who are literally, banally starving.

I'm surprised R237 has even *heard* of Brexit.

237,

You need to get out more.

It's a tone/usage thing, r257. Americans don't 'remain', they 'stay".

"Banally" starving, R255? As opposed to creatively, imaginatively?

As opposed to dramatically, spectacularly, cinematically, r259

I’ve always wondered where are the rednecks and hillbillies?

When I think of “country” in the US, I think of MAGA and trailer parks and meth and Jesus.

When I think of “country” in the UK, I think of an old manor with an old lady sipping tea in her garden.

And chavs are not rednecks! British people always say chavs are the rednecks of the UK.

Mark Wahlberg and Jersey Shore would be an American equivalent of a chav. City white trash is different from country white trash (rednecks).

chav is actually an acronym: council housed and violent

Country dwellers in the UK are usually not lower class, though.

Irish Travellers might be somewhat similar…trashy, living in caravans

R258 no shit. Doesn’t make either “remain” or “stay” incorrect or confusing. Wait till you find about the concept of Indian English. Your mind will be blown.

People in the US are much more religious and don't mind having the local church goers up in their business.

Devolved governments and distinct national identities.

That’s fairly well understood, actually.

^ The UK is still often referred to as “England”.

Given the way things have been going, the Scottish and Welsh are quite happy with that.

It’s called shorthand. The US is often called America, or The States. Neither is accurate, but we all get the drift.

I was mostly happy with any CHAV dick I could get, back in the day.

French fry sandwiches.

So is "chav" more perjorative than "scally", R263.

Not clear on the difference.

I shall go to urbandictionary to enlighten me.

Scally means a porn chav👽

I thought 'scally' referred to Liverpool lads, chavs can be from anywhere. But both categories naturally have their porn fans.

Aren't "chavs" what the Royals call "subjects"?

Beans on toast. Ugly television and movie actors.

Your royal subject

You're a star, R279!

I'm only somewhat bougie.

143 I read the “Willie” portion of Crowned Heads last night - WOW - that was rough. The set up - you could see everything so clearly - when “the others” arrived it was STRESSFUL - and it took SO LONG . I kept worrying about the dogs!!

I posted to the wrong topic - ^^ Good bye!!!

I was on a bus in London and birds kept flying out of peoples’ eye sockets. I just didn’t get that.

This American 🇺🇸 doesn’t get why you drive on the wrong side of the road.

Doesn’t pudding for dessert every night get a little boring?

R160,

Thankfully there is no Empire left, apart from a few tiny overseas territories. It was all gone decades before Thatcher came to power.

Red.

Why is so much of your furniture fabric red? And while I'm on furniture, why is it all so big and bulky (the roll arms are HUGE), and why do you push furniture into the corners of the room, and why do you sometimes line up all the furniture along one wall?

Those big door knobs in the [italic]middle[/italic] of the door.

Wish we had an NHS. How about cutting some of that military budget?

For whatever reason, I love those door knobs in the middle of the door. I also love the high latch to open or lock doors from or into the outside.

Brits typically do not return things. UK friends visit and are flabbergasted about 30-60-90 day return policies. Portions are much smaller in the UK. They always say "no wonder Americans are all fat you eat way too much." Central Air is a luxury in the UK. Happy hour is not a thing, at least the people I know from the UK. (My family is all from Scotland, first-generation American here. I remember my father taking relatives to a bar during happy hour. My grandfather said "You would go broke in Scotland if you had this!" lol).

I disagree central is a luxury. Ductless units are increasingly visible and have been on the rise for at least the last decade.

Sort of speaking of A/C...why don't the windows in the British Isles have screens? Do you not have bugs over there, or are they there but not considered bothersome? (Flies on food is not a thing?)

And what about all the Dutch doors (stable doors)?

There are nowhere near as many bugs in the UK and Europe as there are in the US. That's not to say there's none, but with shorter, cooler summers the bugs don't have as much time to populate. Same reason there's no aircon. Summers usually aren't that hot. Or at least it used to be that way. It's also why the chocolate doesn't have as many agents to prevent melting.

Pudding every night for dessert.

I don’t have dessert every night, and what Americans call pudding wouldn’t pass my lips. It looks like baby food.

r293 a ductless wall unit is not central A/C.

I hope making that distinction makes your day, R297. Although technically you mean forced air central heating and or cooling is a luxury then, but I'm not a hair splitter unless prompted.

How Brits can be both servile and snobby. Weird people.

The lack of bedroom closets. You’d never catch Americans on a House Hunters-type show making agreeable noises if you showed them a primary bedroom that can fit a queen bed and a shared wardrobe - but on Escape to the Country and Location, Location, Location it never phases British homebuyers. Also, the “oh yes, of course” prioritization of drinking culture - no middle-aged couple on the US would ever make “walking distance to lively pub” a publicly understood criteria when it comes to their home search.

The ubiquity of Indian food as cheap “no brainer” comfort food dinners. The American equivalents of chavs and Middle England fraus would never eat Indian food.

Cold water swimming (and using the beach in the rain.) Even in Florida, the only people who swim before Memorial Day and after Labor Day are Canadians.

The whole strata of celebrities whose basically make careers out of being funny on low-stakes quiz shows.

Ouch!

[quote] The whole strata of celebrities whose basically make careers out of being funny on low-stakes quiz shows.

How dare you. It's a living! And I'm certainly not funny.

Jeremy Paxman, Rhod Gilbert, Frankie Boyle, Alan Davies, Phil Jupitus, Sarah Millican, Jason Manford

Why they live in their past and disdain their future.

Walking distance to a lively pub It might matter to brain dead heterosexuals who need alcohol to function socially, but otherwise unimportant.

The equivalent of chavs and fraus would never eat Indian food That’s their loss. Indian food has become very sophisticated here. There are several Indian restaurants in the UK with Michelin stars. Many ordinary local takeaways produce superb food.

[quote] Their toadlike appearance and demeanor while somehow convincing the world and themselves that they are truly superior to everyone.

Nobody in Europe believes this, it's only those outside of Europe who do. My family is from South Asia, my entire extended family is still there. My cousin shamed me for my American accent, she thinks English as spoken by the English is so superior.

r298 I am not splitting hairs. Ductless is nice, but still, it is a room AC not a whole house HVAC system as a lot of older places still have steam or oil heat. The key distinction is central air is controlled by the same thermostat your heating is.

Well, that just isn't splitting hairs at all. Any else before we move on, Bill Nye?

R306. Not so. I have central air with separate thermostats for heat and a/c in each zone because it's forced hot water heat with baseboard elements - like radiators but a sealed system - so they are separate. The boiler's in the basement and the a/c compressor is outside and the air-handling equipment's in the attic. The heat moves through pipes. A/C moves through ducts.

r30 I stand corrected. Moving on - American chocolate is crap.

This American doesn't like your soggy, undercooked bacon.

The complete aversion on the part of a vast swathe of college-educated people to any and all forms of Modernism.

I would also say that their working-class young women manage to dress more whorishly than actual American whores do. You go to a Roadhouse in rural Texas and sure, the girls can look trampy. But nothing on the level of a British hen party.

The pub culture. The level of people passing out, throwing up, etc. on the streets puts most of America to shame.

The love of Keebobs.

I think the vast majority of Americans understand that the UK and Ireland are two different countries and that Northern Ireland is still part of the UK, r240. By the way elves and fairies are also part of Irish mythology. It's not just leprechauns.

Esther Rantzen

Now she's an elderly nutter but she once did something. Why is she famous, let alone a dame?

She did a lot for children's charities.

The use of the word “spoilt”. It’s spoileD. With a D, dammit!

I also hate that they’ve recently discovered “goddamn and goddammit” as exclamations and sound so utterly stupid when they say it.

"Learnt" is the one that drives me nuts.

R318 nothing approaches the ugliness of "whilst".

I learnt that whilst sat opposite him.

^ at hospital.

R305- Unless you’re very well spoken ( Upper class or at least upper middle class) it can be very difficult to understand what a British person is saying.

Americans accents are far easier to understand-I met some people from Amsterdam who told me this once.

A concierge at my hotel in Spain said she found American English easier to understand but British and especially Australian English was at time indecipherable.

Esther Rantzen is dying of cancer, and is currently involved in a debate about legalising assisted dying.

Shit. I met some Belgians who told me British accents are far easier to understand. And the maid at my hotel in Lyon said "L'utilisation de preuves anecdotiques n'est généralement pas un signe d'intelligence." So where are now?

We don't get Jordan. Can someone explain her?

I'd read about Page 3 girls and rabbithole from there.

People look older?

I don't get why you have to put a kettle on for tea. Just heat a cup of water in the microwave, silly!

IMO, the kettle makes sense in tea-drinking countries. Just like how a rice cooker makes sense for people who eat rice a lot.

Most people in the UK are dumb.

Things that Brits don't get about America.

We don't need lessons in logic or anything else from people who drive on the wrong side of the road.

Colin Firth said Europeans see the UK as an extension of America.

Tears for Fears is about protesting Bush wanting to store nukes in England to curtail Soviets.

"They (UK) gave you life (American colonies) and in return you gave them hell" (American policies gave UK hell)

"Those one track minds (American imperialism) I hope we live to tell the tale" (don't get blown up by nukes)

British have a thing about wanting to put pushy Americans in their place ( Prime Minister scene in Love Actually). Americans mistake Brits politeness for weakness, but Brits find Americans insensitive for this. I actually like the middle class British way of not escalating and being very polite. Aggressiveness is tiring. But I do like the Irish folksy friendly ways above all.

R332- I can understand that about Canada ( outside of Quebec) but not the UK.

The British (deep sigh) are not polite.

They are passive-aggressive.

And when they finally blow their stack (which takes far less than you'd think it would) the nails come out.

Of all the national mythologies least rooted in fact, "The British are polite" is up there with "Americans are friendly".

Can you explain the show where people shit in a box and then a woman tells them what to eat?

[quote] Americans accents are far easier to understand

North American English is more phonetically precise than British English. Kind of like Colombian Spanish versus Iberian Spanish.

R337, what do you mean "phonetically precise"?

R336 that show was disgusting. Some nutritionist took giant fatty fats and shamed them and examined their poo to gauge their level of illness and they did CLOSEUPS of the box of shit. It was foul.

I read somewhere a while back that the UK has the 23rd biggest economy, measured by GDP.

TWENTY THIRD!

They have given up colonies with a bigger GDP, they have done so in the recent past (Hong Kong).

The Uk is kind of irrelevant.

The UK not only Brexit but it’s the only country I know of where a different country started a massive ad campaign saying we don’t want you or your money stay home.

'Prawn cocktail' flavored potato chips (crisps) and all the other weird flavors-chicken masala, steak, paprika, it seems to never end.

Why do so many British driveways/parking areas - whether stone or macadam - run right up to and meet the foundation of the home? In general, they look like parking lots. (No foundation plants!)

I’m not speaking of majestic homes in crunchy-driveway period dramas; I’m asking about the local standard homes in villages.

Spend some time in the red light district in Amsterdam and you'll see why they're telling people from the UK to stay home. They're doing it in Spain, too. In both places they're realizing the quality of life is worth more than money. Would you want to live around gangs of loud straight male drunks every day?

[quote]'Prawn cocktail' flavored potato chips (crisps) and all the other weird flavors-chicken masala, steak, paprika, it seems to never end.

And people say British food is so limited!

[quote]The UK not only Brexit but it’s the only country I know of where a different country started a massive ad campaign saying we don’t want you or your money stay home.

In the precursor to the EU, France *twice* voted not to admit the UK. But they kept begging to be let in. So when they finally did make it in, they voted themselves out of it. Nobody likes the UK.

R344

That RLD with its drunks has been there and that way longer than the USA has been a country. Anyone that moves into the RLD to live and then complains is such a clueless ninny.

And there are plenty of blue lights and darkrooms and gay bars in and around the RLD playing the straight card makes you sound like a straight-phobe .

The red light district was started when a few ships were coming into port that brought sailors who wanted some whores. It was not designed for three football stadiums full of discount airline flyers to come in and get drunk and get high and ogle whores under red lights. L

R348

Yes the poor Dutch that recently moved into the 800 year old RLD and were shocked at finding a few short streets with red and blue lights hookers and drunks.

Who could have known?.

There are Dutch pissing and moaning today about the drunks in the RLD that have not walked thru that area in years. Maybe decades for some. Yet piss and moan they will. Because complaining about citizens from the UK, Canada , American , the French, the Germans etc etc etc is something they excel at.

I go there often to the RLD but only for the Olde Church and Church in the Attic.

Publicly denouncing all British tourists because of a few (admittedly very loud) bad eggs is beyond the pale, even if Amsterdam can afford to lose them due to overtourism.

As for Amsterdam's Red Light District, it's not as seedy as other districts of its kind elsewhere in the world, because they've always had "respectable" businesses (including a well-established tea & coffee trader and various Asian restaurants) mixed in with the sex work.

R296- Spotted Dick , Bubble and Squeak, Marmite wouldn't pass my American lips.

"What's for pud?"

It's hilarious to observe British people finally hearing that they're unpleasant and not wanted.

[quote]It's hilarious to observe British people finally hearing that they're unpleasant and not wanted.

Sir Christopher Nolan heard the opposite on Oscar night.

[QUOTE]Bubble and Squeak

R351 - Are you basing your revulsion on the name of the dish? Because it's just a UK version of a potato pancake with vegetables and bacon. Substitute eggs for mashed potatoes as the binding agent and bake instead of sautéing and you've got a frittata. Eeew, ICKY, ICKY!!!🤮

Was America the first country to throw the British out? I think so, but the rest of the world had to endure until the 1970s when the last slaves were freed.

Americans always thinking they were the first. Not always.

First at what? The US is a relatively new country. I think Americans realize that.

First at what?

Throwing the Brits out

Americans don't necessarily care so much about being first as being the best and biggest. And it may become a reality in November when we might become the most enormous, splashiest failure of a Democratic Republic ever in the history of Earth!!! Not the first, but the BIGGLIEST. And, quite possibly, the dumbest of the failed states. Watch out Venezuela, Chechnya, Syria! Here we come!

Spotted Dick and Bubble and Squeak are really antiquated. Only very old people would eat them now. I happen to love Marmite on toast. And Gentleman’s Relish. Hungry now.

[quote] Was America the first country to throw the British out? I think so, but the rest of the world had to endure until the 1970s when the last slaves were freed.

God, you’re are stupid.

Did you know we (Britain) refused to trade with you for a significant period of time because you wouldn’t abolish slavery? And, when you eventually did you had to kill 600,000 people to do so. Your embarrassment of a nation should be pointing fingers at nobody.

[quote] It's hilarious to observe British people finally hearing that they're unpleasant and not wanted.

Don’t you have a child to shoot or something, Cletus?

How they got rich on the blacks and browns, then blamed everyone else.

[quote] Did you know we (Britain) refused to trade with you for a significant period of time because you wouldn’t abolish slavery? And, when you eventually did you had to kill 600,000 people to do so. Your embarrassment of a nation should be pointing fingers at nobody.

Because changing your religion every time the king got tired of his wife and decided he wanted a new one really was a winning strategy.

R340 Pretty good for a tiny island

Was Jefferson writing a propaganda piece, placing slavery blame on King George?

"He [King George] has waged cruel war against human nature itself, violating its most sacred rights of life and liberty in the persons of a distant people who never offended him, captivating & carrying them into slavery in another hemisphere or to incur miserable death in their transportation thither. This piratical warfare, the opprobrium of infidel powers, is the warfare of the Christian King of Great Britain. Determined to keep open a market where Men should be bought & sold, he has prostituted his negative for suppressing every legislative attempt to prohibit or restrain this execrable commerce. And that this assemblage of horrors might want no fact of distinguished die, he is now exciting those very people to rise in arms among us, and to purchase that liberty of which he has deprived them, by murdering the people on whom he has obtruded them: thus paying off former crimes committed again the Liberties of one people, with crimes which he urges them to commit against the lives of another."

R346 John Maynard Keynes

[quote]Did you know we (Britain) refused to trade with you for a significant period of time because you wouldn’t abolish slavery? And, when you eventually did you had to kill 600,000 people to do so. Your embarrassment of a nation should be pointing fingers at nobody.

And yet Britain was an unofficial ally of the Confederacy. Those satanic mills back in England ran on cotton produced through slave labor in Dixie.

There was an intense period of Anglophobia right after the American Civil War due both the North and the South feeling betrayed by British "support".

Thus the rise of French architecture and fashion as models for American development.

Thank fucking God.

[quote] Sir Christopher Nolan heard the opposite on Oscar night.

That’s your response?

He probably lives here in America.

[quote]I read somewhere a while back that the UK has the 23rd biggest economy, measured by GDP.

[quote]TWENTY THIRD!

[quote]The Uk is kind of irrelevant.

Oh. R340, if only it were possible to remember where you read that. If only there were some list of the world's economies by size, from largest to smallest economy (U.S. #1, UK #6).

Or if only you could remember that what you were thinking of wasn't the size of the GDP of the countries, but the [bold]GDP Per Capita[/bold] in which the UK is comes in at #27. Way down at 27th!, with the US with its Per Capital GDP of 80,412 trouncing the UK's 56,836 by 141%! Never mind that the U.S. is not in first place but 9th, and that its Per Capital GDP comes in after a bunch of tiny, no account countries and Ireland, Singapore, Switzerland, United Arab Emirates, and Norway; or that Ireland's Per Capital GDP (137,688) trounces that of the US by 171%.

Careful of the measure you use to judge dick size.

Can you explain how chips are fries, crisps are potato chips, pudding is any dessert and a bit of cake is any kind of pastry?

373- Can you explain how COCKS, BALLS and TITS are

Dangly Bits

I can, R374!

I wonder what it’s like to eat one of those French fry sandwiches. They do that over there you know.

R353, it’s quite hysterical. Not only do they truly believe that they are the most civilized, refined people in the world, they think everyone loves them. They point the finger at slavery and scream “racists”, glossing past the fact that THEY started the slave trade and certain families were given reparations when slavery was abolished.

The curtains!

British people like granny curtains.

The curtains are also weird lengths. Not to the floor. Not to the widow ledge. Somewhere in between, and a length that doesn't seem to be at all consistent.

^^^ window, not widow.

The shabby furniture in stately homes.

Binge Drinking

It seems so high school-age like.

Gramma schools vs comprehensives

Grammar*, sorry

"Public" schools are actually private and elite

A levels, O levels. WTF?

Potatoes in jackets.

Twee.

Those ridiculous tea cozies… tacky as fuck.

Ordinary “O’” Levels were taken at 16, and the results determined what you could take at Advanced “A” Levels. O Levels have now been replaced with GCSEs - General Certificate of Education. “A” Levels are university entrance level.

In Scotland there are now National 5s leading to Highers, which are university entrance level. The Scottish education system has been separate since the Union.

R381,

That furniture is hundreds of years old. What do you expect?

^ a little updating

[quote] Careful of the measure you use to judge dick size.

Why?

By any measure, our dick is much bigger than yours.

Who’s this Uncle Bob everyone keeps mentioning?

r386 Jacket potatoes are the shit,

R377- They and the Dutch started slavery- especially in the new world.

The constant sarcasm -- which gets OLD very quickly.

[quote]Who’s this Uncle Bob everyone keeps mentioning?

Something to do with Gordon Bennett? Whoever he is.

Terry Pratchett?

Uncut cock.

"Grammar schools vs comprehensives"

Has not been a 'thing' in decades.

Private vs state schools is more apt.

[bold]"Bob's your uncle"[/bold]

[quote]... is a phrase commonly used in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth countries that means "and there it is", or "and there you have it", or "it's done". Typically, someone says it to conclude a set of simple instructions or when a result is reached. The meaning is similar to that of the French expression "et voilà!".

[quote]'Bob's your uncle' is an exclamation that is used when 'everything is alright' and the simple means of obtaining the successful result is explained. For example, "left over right; right over left, and Bob's your uncle - a reef knot" or, "she slipped the officer £100 and, Bob's your uncle', she was off the charge".

"Things Americans don't get about the UK"

Finally, a thread I can really relate to!

Who are the BRF’s BFFs among the world’s royal families?

Every other sentence they insert the word

LITERALLY and pronounce the word with such GUSTO.

BRF is good acronym because the whole charade makes me BaRF. Who needs a so called "royal family" in 2024?

[quote] Public housing is far, far more common.

Watching anything on TV or any other media source about the UK and you get the feeling that 75% of citizens there live in some sort of government subsidized housing. Everyone seems to live on a council estate.

[quote]Everyone seems to live on a council estate.

Young man, I’ll have you know that my Richard houses Sheridan and I in a very fashionable neighborhood. Except for Elizabeth next door who seems to have a husband who lives abroad, it’s a very fashionable neighborhood.

And my sister violet has a Mercedes and room for a pony.

^

It’s about 17% of the total.

Who do the Brits use butter on their sandwiches?

Because it’s delicious 🤤 A little butter goes a long way

Why do Americans constantly copy your television shows?

Because the a British sell the concepts to US producers.

Benny Hill

Why everyone hates Meghan Markle. I thought Suits was popular there.

Americans copy British shows because the British shows are generally superior to anything Americans come up with. And the American versions usually fail due to crappy writing and crappy casting.

One example was "Coupling." Great British show. Don't think the American version lasted even a season.

Another example was "Broadchurch". Great British show (at least the first two seasons), renamed "Gracepoint", and with the same writer, the same director, and the same star as Broadchurch, David Tennant. Failure.

Here's a lengthy article about why and how the programs fail.

To be fair, there are examples of success, such as the American version of 'The Office', but it seems that production budgets, writing, and acting suffer in the American versions.

[quote]And the American versions usually fail due to crappy writing and crappy casting.

I think it’s about 50/50.

All in the Family

Sanford & Son

Three’s Company

Shameless

Queer as Folk

Ghosts

Were all successful British imports.

American Idol

We could just watch the other show as is, considering we all speak English. It's not like a remake is necessary.

Why did the UK behave like Alabama towards the EU?

r407 : it’s pronounced Boo-KAY!!!

R415 has never heard of the Sopranos, Deadwood or The Wire. Hell, have they heard of the Simpsons?

R421, all American TV is shit. Including the trash you mentioned.

Of course, all British TV is also shit.

TV is shit.

America is stuck in the 1970’s England in the 1870’s The power coming out of the wall sockets will zap the shit out of you in the u.k. Be careful whe sticking you cock I it.

They treat Spain like Florida?

R422 needs to name some films etc she likes so we can gainsay it all as shit. What an easy game this is!

We don’t speak like Bert in Mary Poppins.

Why anyone would be interested in them.

The drinking culture is ridiculous, surpassed only by that of Ireland. If you don't drink alcohol prepare to be mocked.

"Leftenant"

Drinking is on the decline in both UK and Ireland, and Ireland has seen the biggest decrease in alcohol consumption on Europe in the last ten years.

R430, your link is a dud. If it's talking about pubs closing, that hasn't made any difference. They drink and smoke at home and then head to the clubs fully tanked up.

Confirmation bias, r431? The kids aren't drinking as much.

Everything is "massive".

And “brilliant.”

'Gay' is used as an adjective to describe anything that is uncool. If they actually mean gay, they say 'gay for real.'

Rylan owns this thread.

[quote] Americans copy British shows because the British shows are generally superior to anything Americans come up with

I spent my life primarily watching British TV in Australia. You can make legitimately make a charge about British acting being better, but Americans make better TV as a whole.

Both Americans and Brits shit all over Australian TV though.

It's collective guilt over what they have done, and then Brexit, they will pay for a while, a nation of drunks.

Have British Europhiles really woken up to what is happening in Europe? Their attitudes towards the EU have always been woefully naive, informed more by their summer holidays in Tuscany and their enjoyment of “sophisticated” European culture than by any real knowledge of how politics on the continent works.

They have spent years criticising Britain as some sort of bigoted backwater, a world apart from that supposed bastion of liberal values, Brussels. Now, however, they may be about to get a massive wake-up call.

Across the EU, people are increasingly voting for hard-Right parties. The European elections began in the Netherlands on Thursday morning and will carry on across the 27 member countries until Sunday night, with the final results known early on Monday.

All the polls are predicting huge gains for Right-wing parties, including some worryingly extreme ones. The Alternative for Germany party – one of whose candidates recently suggested there were good people to be found in the Nazi SS – could come out ahead of Olaf Scholz’s Social Democratic Party.

In France, Marine Le Pen’s National Rally party is expected to trounce president Emmanuel Macron’s Renaissance; in Italy, prime minister Giorgia Meloni’s Brothers of Italy party, which has its roots in the country’s fascist past, is due to increase its number of seats in the European Parliament. The nationalist Law and Justice party is looking to make a comeback in Poland after losing power last December. It follows a shock win for populist Geert Wilders’ Party for Freedom in last November’s Dutch general election.

The Brits make much better reality TV. Love Island UK and Made in Chelsea are superior to anything the US churns out. Too many black women screeching on our reality shows.

R439 - a hundred years ago exactly the same thing was happening. Fascism in Spain, Italy, Germany, Greece. Germany really should know better, though.

Watching an episode of The Generation Game with Larry Grayson and thought of this thread.

R159 no kidding. This scene from AN AMERICAN WEREWOLF IN LONDON is not an exaggeration.

Not to mention, the TRAINSPOTTING scene where they randomly beat up a friendly American tourist.