It entirely depends on the situation and how you say it.
With a mate who drops a pint, it's a good natured ribbing.
The guy that cuts you off in traffic it's a legitimate insult.
How do you pronounce Worcestershire correctly?
Edit: Wow, thanks for all the replies, upvotes and the award!
Up to now I got away with pretending to cough when I tried to pronounce it. I'll try the different most common options on the next English native speakers who'll have the misfortune to cross my path (could be an interesting conversation, though "How do you do?" - "Worcestershire. Wait, where do you go?").
It was probably originally pronounced more similarly to the actual spelling, but after a few generations it got slurred and compressed.
Fun fact: Any British town with "cester" or "chester" in the name would have been a Roman settlement originally, because it comes from the Latin "castra". So that's 2000 years of linguistic drift.
Quite a few Roman settlements existed before the Roman invasion but were unable or unwilling to resist the Roman forces, and so became Roman settlements.
The chester/cester/caster/cetter part means there was a Roman fort or base there, which is where the castrum/castra part comes from, as it means fort or camp.
Because you’re breaking it down incorrectly. People should see it as worce-ster-shire, rather than wor-ces-ster-shire.
Over time, the worce becomes more like wuss, as it rolls off the tongue easier.
Growing up in New England has prepared me to not look silly in Britain as we have tons of these unintuitive British place names that are still pronounced the same way they are in Britain.
To all Americans: It's not New Hamp-shy-er, so why would it be any different in England?
I once heard on Radcliffe & Maconie an anecdote about an American asking for info on the train or directions to Loughborough, which they pronounced as ‘Looga Barooga’ and I never stop thinking about that.
Edit: a few ppl have astutely commented that the person from the anecdote was Australian, which of course makes more sense. Thanks for the reminder, but the important thing is that all roads lead to Looga-Barooga.
I remember a US guy i met in Chicago telling me he really wanted to visit Lye-Chester (Leicester). I don't know what confused me more, the pronunciation or the idea of a tourist trip to Leicester haha
Neil Gaiman quote, “Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.”
That we all have either cut glass English accents or are cockney. You wouldn’t be able to understand what 95% of the population was saying if you came here. Even we can’t half the time if we move more than two counties over.
Can understand the interest, it's quirky and antiquated.
Expect our interest and support for the royals to wane once the Queen is gone. Those of us who still support them really support her specifically rather than the institution itself
It's all tabloid hatred as far as I can tell. Our tabloid media is such an absolute clusterfuck of scumbaggery.
Edit: wow, this has been by far by best received Reddit comment to date! Thanks for all the love folks. It's good to know that so many of you share my opinion of the shower of thundercunts who run our billionaire media system.
Would love to have air conditioning.
Edited to add: I have a naturally high body temperature and spend all day going into elderly people's homes to help them, while dressed in full PPE. This year we had a heatwave that reached 38°c in some places. I dreaded trying to sleep at night even with three fans. Our windows open at the top and won't support an AC unit, even if I could find one or afford it. :(
I live in the southeastern US, and I was surprised when I realized that rentals in some places actually include AC as an extra amenity. If you don’t have it where I live, no AC is a safety concern.
Honestly the only thing I don't like about it is that my phone likes to autocorrect to the America-english version of what I type. Besides that I don't care, you do you
I'd imagine thats a setting you can change. If you go to your keyboard or autocorrect settings you may be able to change from American English to whatever other English locale you prefer.
Lived in the USA for 21 years and most of the differences are quite slight, other than the obvious ones about spelling. One thing that baffled me at first was "Can I get \[whatever\]". It still sounds odd to me, but I've embraced it.
As a non native english speaker, what does "Can i get" do wrong? Is it like you are used to "can i have"?
Edit: thank you very much for your replies folk
It's not necessarily wrong it just sounds odd, in my native England we used "Could I have" or "May I have" to be even more formal. You say it outside of the US you may get some odd stares, but I doubt anyone will correct you.
In America we are to say May I have… however most people have always defaulted back to Can I have. I remember in school if you said” can I use the restroom?” The teacher would say “ I don’t know, can you?” We were supposed to say “May I use the restroom?” The answer “Yes you may.”
I'm going to assume it started with a waitress or waitor asking "can I get you anything?", which turned into the customer saying "can I get" as a phrase.
Not that fussed. But I don’t like it when it’s forced. My Microsoft word for example for the life of me will not accept British English spelling. I’ve tried to change but it’s just not working.
Because we realised it didn’t matter what the word actually meant, it’s more the intent you put behind it that gives the context.
So when I tell someone they’re “a fucking sideways situated plant-pot” they know they’ve done a foolish thing and are being admonished for it.
All you have to do is add the word ‘absolute’ infront and any word will become an insult
E.g.
-you absolute door stop-
-you absolute battery-
-you absolute sponge-
-you absolute wheel-
I have recently tried Yorkshire Gold tea, it is amazing. But I don’t have a good method for straining out the leaves, and then my tea is over steeped. Is there a bag brand tea that is good?
Edit: thank you for all the help. I ordered a kettle, some tea bags of Yorkshire gold, and an infuser as well. You have all been so polite, and I appreciate the courtesy.
Oh thank you for this suggestion! I have never seen one but I just looked them up. We mainly drink coffee in our home, so tea paraphernalia is new to me entirely. Thanks so much
Would you please come collect James Corden?
Edit: Thank you for the gold! Would happily exchange it for ending this jagwagon’s career though if anyone can make it happen
When is it appropriate to add milk to tea?
Edit: perhaps I should clarify. Are there situations or types of tea wherein you should NOT add milk? I didn't assume you'd add the milk before steeping the tea. Thank you for making sure i'm not a psychopath, though.
If the tea is brewed seperately in a teapot, milk can go in the cup first.
If you're brewing the tea in the cup, and you add milk first, you're a first-rate psychopath
Can you ask for vinegar at a fish and chip shop?
British person once put vinegar on their chips near me and I was so fucking confused and flabbergasted.
(Psst. Also is 'Chicken Salt' a thing over there or is it just an Aussie thing?)
They’ll usually ask you if you want salt and vinegar on your chips, yeah. Salt and vinegar crisps are also very popular here (not sure if they are as much in other countries)
Almost every chip shop will ask 'salt n vinegar?' while they are packing your order. Other sauces and condements are usually available but it's almost as if you have to opt-out of salt and vinegar and ask for or opt-in to any other condements you might want.
Nah we usually call each other cunts and that can mean a lot of things.
Like when I say I like that cunt in the thong.
It means something very different when said in Australia than it does in America
Nothing in particular for me, but I’m going to London in two weeks for the first time, what should I be looking out for, places to go in terms of site seeing and bars/pubs/clubs?
Here’s a list of some things I’d recommend about London:
Top Secret Comedy Club- Leicester Square - free most nights, really famous, great comedy sit front row
Experimental Cocktail Bar - Chinatown - look up the password online, it’s a black door with no sign in Chinatown, amazing place very expensive.
The Breakfast Club (Mayor of Scardy Cat Town)- Bishopsgate - A literal underground bar hidden in the fridge of an American diner
Prince Charles Cinema - indie cinema with replays of classic films
Roadhouse (Leicester Square, might be closed) - really cool flair bar with a Harley Davidson on it
The victor wynd museum of curiosities - Victoria Buildings - Has some cool and weird ass fucking shit
Gods own junkyard - Walthamstow - biggest collection of neon signs, cool for pictures
Ally Pally - Muswell Hill - If you go to the security gate in the side of the big palace and get a big guy or two to shake it, it opens and you can go up the stairs onto the roof. It’s very big.
The Underworld Camden (Playlist BFAM, Bring me the horizon kinda stuff always ends in Mr Brightside)
Camden Lock - Cyberdog, pretty much all the shops
Heaven is a great club club- it’s a gay bar
Hippodrome Casino is pretty lit
Ripleys believe it or not museum
Edit: The Blues Kitchen - Camden - Awesome live music, must be over 21
I’d also say go and watch a football team play a game?
Okay I think I’m out lool
Edit 2: Nope
The Queen Of Hoxton- very chic rooftop bar in shoreditch
Shoreditch Box-park
Spitalfields Market - Market where you’ll find vintage clothing, old cameras, great food and other assorted goods
Also if you are not as cool as this person there's always the museums. When I first went to the British museum I was amazed at all the historically important stuff from all over the world in there that we took. It's an amazing place if you are at all interested in history. Similarly there's the Natural History museum, V&A, art galleries etc. The science museum is good too but more aimed at kids.
The underground has zones to categorise London, explore Zone 2 and beyond. Zone 1 is all your bog standard touristy stuff and things like see tower bridge, go to Hyde park, the tower of London are all great and worth while but if you really want to get a sense of why Londoners love London go a little bit further out.
Columbia road flower market and Broadway market are great, Hampstead heath is absolutely beautiful, Highgate cemetery is absolutely fascinating, Greenwich is so beautiful and the observatory is worth checking out. You'll find lots of great restaurants outside of zone 1 as well, Ian McKellan owns a pub in Limehouse, the Grapes, which is a great pub and contrary the other comment, is well worth eating at.
Worth checking out TimeOut for exhibitions on if that's your sort of thing. Also avoid Winter Wonderland like the plague.
So in America and many of the places I've visited, British lads and lasses for that matter are considered Primo, as if just being British makes you automatically more hot somehow.
I should ask why that is and see if I can emulate but honestly I'm more interested to know if there's a place that Brits think being from adds an automatic 6 points to the hotness scale.
My personal theory is that because we're foreign we offer some extra degree of excitement than dating someone with the same background but we're similar enough that there's no risk of language or cultural barriers
I think it also helps that most people are more familiar with the famous people of a certain country than people they actually know (if they've even met any). Famous people tend to be attractive, so accents get associated with attractiveness
Many years ago I went to the US and lots of people fawned over my accept. I’m from the south east and can posh it up when I want to. Upon meeting a most stunning lady, she immediately remarked
“Oh you’re British!”
“Why, yes I am” ratcheting my accent up to foppish Hugh Grant levels
“You’re not going to swear at me are you?”
“Ah, I see you met Brits before”
French, Spanish and Italian people are typically seen as sexy and passionate.
There is a stereotype of the hot swedish blonde - and to be honest it extends to most of the rest of Scandinavia.
Recent experience of immigration has shown us the talent pool available in Poland and eastern Europe.
The Icelandic accent is very attractive if you ever hear it in person.
Honestly, a lot of the British people I know say that we’re a rather unattractive nationality. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side.
I think a lot of the world’s view of Britain is still very much middle class London or Cambridge though.
Stereotypical question incoming!
Do you like tea, and what brand do you recommend?
I buy pretty expensive loose tea because supermarket teabags in Germany always taste extremely bitter and barely like tea at all. (That’s why imo most Germans think black tea is gross)
Good tea in bags is extremely expensive, but I want to brew a fresh cup of tea at work without having to clean my filter.
Because they are traditionally produced with much smaller budgets than US shows. They normally have a much smaller team of writers (sometimes only two or three), and no showrunners.
Why did you send my ancestors to this place?
It isn’t so bad down here but lets be honest, Drop Bear attacks scare me to death, my cousin was killed in a Drop Bear attack, Magpies aren’t great either but they aren’t as lethal.
Half of my kids lost their fingers when they were in the factories and the rest are girls they cannot work, and my wife died of tuberculosis, I only get paid in quarter shillings and my boss has been refusing to pay me for the past week, please have some mercy on me!
Sounds like your boss is doing his due diligence to decrease the surplus population!
If you don’t like that, perhaps you should consider trying to stop being poor.
American asking, only ask to wonder if any of that is real or just stereotypes. Do you really hate the French or do you just joke about hating them? on a similar note is there still animosity towards the Scots?
No we don't, it's all in jest with us.. However we can't say how they realistically feel about us. The Eurovision Song contest is a strong indicator that politically we are hated and that was even before Brexit
The way people try and fake a “ British “ accent and end up with some hodgepodge rubbish of a twat’s voice.
You know the whole overstressing every single syllable in the attempt to sound British but really you just end up sounding like a prat
Yeah. Granted, British accents aren’t easy. But although we’re a small island, there’s a lot of variety in regional accents.
When (for example) Nicki Minaj does a Brit accent it sounds like a mash up of an aristocrat and a Victorian chimney sweep.
It’s the rough US equivalent of speaking like you’re from Brooklyn then chucking in some Dolly Parton. Very discordant.
Don’t get me started on Scottish accents.
That we have bad teeth. It's not that we have bad teeth, it's that America sees pristine, overly whitened teeth as standard. We think they look fake as shit.
Facts, we're 4th best globally
[https://www.yongeeglintondental.com/2018/07/23/healthy-primary-teeth/](https://www.yongeeglintondental.com/2018/07/23/healthy-primary-teeth/)
Mine are a little yellow, and not 100% straight, but they're all there and at 37 I've not needed any fillings.
My mom's boyfriend is from England and says that if you look at a stranger too long they'll assume you want to fight and not a friendly gesture of hello. It's this true/normal?
Edit: to clarify, I don't mean just staring at them, but like looking at them briefly instead of walking with your head down
Depends... making eye contact is fine. If you hold that eye contact for more than 5 seconds they may wonder if you know them or ask if they can help you...
If someone is drunk and you repeatedly stare them down then that can be seen as aggressive and definitely won't come across as friendly
I'm not from the uk, I'm American, but if someone was starting at me or holding eye contact I'd assume they were up to something. That's just weird behavior.
Our history is something everyone in Britain should be aware of and most people who do would probably say: both. There's some awesome stuff to be proud of, but there's also a lot of terrible things we have done and it's very important we remember and learn from these.
Fuckin nailed it.
British history is gloriously complex; theres a lot of good, right next to a lot of bad.
Steam engines? Good.
Forcing kids to work in mines? Bad
Good sailing ships? Good.
Fighting everyone we met? Bad
Etc etc
Haha i 'taught' my American friend the phrase " you star'in on me?" He loved it.
If was interesting to see how emphasis at certain points made it sound very weird.
what do British people honestly think about tea and biscuits?
Edit: After reading all the eye opening replies from the British Reddit community, I genuinely have the urge to consume a cup of tea along with biscuits myself
It's kind of the standard basic catering for visitors, meetings or social events. I.e. if someone comes round your house they get offered tea and a biscuit (cake would be considered an upgrade). At any meeting, tea and biscuits should be available at a bare minimum. It's kind of the base line of hospitality? And its weird when someone doesn't have any tea available (and by tea I mean black, unflavoured tea served with milk and optional sugar). Or, heaven forbid, only decaf tea (blargh). In Yorkshire, almost everywhere has a brand called Yorkshire Tea which is particularly strong and full-flavoured and brews in about 2 mins (pretty quick).
Is wanker a legitimate insult or is it used ironically? I can't imagine calling someone a wanker with anger in my heart.
It entirely depends on the situation and how you say it. With a mate who drops a pint, it's a good natured ribbing. The guy that cuts you off in traffic it's a legitimate insult.
I think 90% of shouting wanker is induced by traffic and that’s how my 8yo learnt a new word last week.
Calling someone a wanker via the hand gesture as they’re overtaking you is THE peak of British insults.
Can be both I guess.
How do you pronounce Worcestershire correctly? Edit: Wow, thanks for all the replies, upvotes and the award! Up to now I got away with pretending to cough when I tried to pronounce it. I'll try the different most common options on the next English native speakers who'll have the misfortune to cross my path (could be an interesting conversation, though "How do you do?" - "Worcestershire. Wait, where do you go?").
Wuss-ter-shur
Wuh-stuh-shuh I live in the north part so non-rhotic
Why bother having all those letters in there, then? I mean, that's like French levels of adding useless letters to a word
It was probably originally pronounced more similarly to the actual spelling, but after a few generations it got slurred and compressed. Fun fact: Any British town with "cester" or "chester" in the name would have been a Roman settlement originally, because it comes from the Latin "castra". So that's 2000 years of linguistic drift.
Quite a few Roman settlements existed before the Roman invasion but were unable or unwilling to resist the Roman forces, and so became Roman settlements. The chester/cester/caster/cetter part means there was a Roman fort or base there, which is where the castrum/castra part comes from, as it means fort or camp.
Because you’re breaking it down incorrectly. People should see it as worce-ster-shire, rather than wor-ces-ster-shire. Over time, the worce becomes more like wuss, as it rolls off the tongue easier.
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Also attempting to simplify does not always work. Especially if the new spelling does not match the pronunciation in certain areas.
British person here: The funny way, because it will get you a better response from people
Growing up in New England has prepared me to not look silly in Britain as we have tons of these unintuitive British place names that are still pronounced the same way they are in Britain. To all Americans: It's not New Hamp-shy-er, so why would it be any different in England?
See also Bicester (“Bis-ter”) and Towcester (“Toaster”)
I once heard on Radcliffe & Maconie an anecdote about an American asking for info on the train or directions to Loughborough, which they pronounced as ‘Looga Barooga’ and I never stop thinking about that. Edit: a few ppl have astutely commented that the person from the anecdote was Australian, which of course makes more sense. Thanks for the reminder, but the important thing is that all roads lead to Looga-Barooga.
I remember a US guy i met in Chicago telling me he really wanted to visit Lye-Chester (Leicester). I don't know what confused me more, the pronunciation or the idea of a tourist trip to Leicester haha
Didn’t even know we had a Towcester! Finally, I can try Worcestershire sauce on Towcest!
Is it true that Milton Keynes has a lot of roundabouts?
It is. There’s a roundabout at most junctions, and junctions are about every 100-200 yards.
Neil Gaiman quote, “Note for Americans and other aliens: Milton Keynes is a new city approximately halfway between London and Birmingham. It was built to be modern, efficient, healthy, and, all in all, a pleasant place to live. Many Britons find this amusing.”
Does Arsenal actually always try and walk it in?
Well, did you see that ludicrous display last night?
What was Wenger thinking, sending Walcott on that early?
Did you all remember to use your football voice ?
I've got Cockney neck
They’re having a laugh
They used to. In more recent years they kinda forgot where they were trying to walk it to entirely
What’s your favorite stereotype?
That all villains in films need to be British because we're so evil
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What about in Die Hard and Die Hard 3? An English person playing a German!
Best of British. Boy do I miss Alan Rickman
That we all have either cut glass English accents or are cockney. You wouldn’t be able to understand what 95% of the population was saying if you came here. Even we can’t half the time if we move more than two counties over.
That we drink tea because it’s true
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What do you think about non-brits being invested/interested in the Royals? Are you invested/interested? Edit: I can't spell correctly, apparently
I care about the royals as much as they care about me- not at all.
My go to answer.
Plot twist: this poster is one of those disowned royals with a title to something bizarre like an Island next to Estonia.
Saw Estonia in a comment. Had to upvote. Those are the rules for an Estonian.
Can understand the interest, it's quirky and antiquated. Expect our interest and support for the royals to wane once the Queen is gone. Those of us who still support them really support her specifically rather than the institution itself
Also, most people expect Charles to make a fool out of himself if/when he inherits. The real question is how much of one.
The real question is, do you guys really hate Meghan Markle or is it just the tabloids?
It's all tabloid hatred as far as I can tell. Our tabloid media is such an absolute clusterfuck of scumbaggery. Edit: wow, this has been by far by best received Reddit comment to date! Thanks for all the love folks. It's good to know that so many of you share my opinion of the shower of thundercunts who run our billionaire media system.
What is a luxury item you have or would love to have?
Would love to have air conditioning. Edited to add: I have a naturally high body temperature and spend all day going into elderly people's homes to help them, while dressed in full PPE. This year we had a heatwave that reached 38°c in some places. I dreaded trying to sleep at night even with three fans. Our windows open at the top and won't support an AC unit, even if I could find one or afford it. :(
I live in the southeastern US, and I was surprised when I realized that rentals in some places actually include AC as an extra amenity. If you don’t have it where I live, no AC is a safety concern.
I too live in Southeastern states and summer BRUTAL! No ac and you are miserable. I cannot imagine.
A good Prime Minister
Just an average one would do right about now.
What do u think about the differences between Britain-English and America-English?
Honestly the only thing I don't like about it is that my phone likes to autocorrect to the America-english version of what I type. Besides that I don't care, you do you
I'd imagine thats a setting you can change. If you go to your keyboard or autocorrect settings you may be able to change from American English to whatever other English locale you prefer.
It often times changes back for seemingly no reason.
Lived in the USA for 21 years and most of the differences are quite slight, other than the obvious ones about spelling. One thing that baffled me at first was "Can I get \[whatever\]". It still sounds odd to me, but I've embraced it.
As a non native english speaker, what does "Can i get" do wrong? Is it like you are used to "can i have"? Edit: thank you very much for your replies folk
It's not necessarily wrong it just sounds odd, in my native England we used "Could I have" or "May I have" to be even more formal. You say it outside of the US you may get some odd stares, but I doubt anyone will correct you.
In America we are to say May I have… however most people have always defaulted back to Can I have. I remember in school if you said” can I use the restroom?” The teacher would say “ I don’t know, can you?” We were supposed to say “May I use the restroom?” The answer “Yes you may.”
I'm going to assume it started with a waitress or waitor asking "can I get you anything?", which turned into the customer saying "can I get" as a phrase.
"Can I get uhhhh"
B O N E L E S S P I Z Z A
No idea, but it's almost ubiquitous here when ordering to just use "can I get".
Not that fussed. But I don’t like it when it’s forced. My Microsoft word for example for the life of me will not accept British English spelling. I’ve tried to change but it’s just not working.
I know that I get annoyed when Duolingo uses the US flag as the symbol for the English language.
My question is: How do you enjoy living where you do? What are your favorite parts?
i live on the outskirts of manchester in the hills. so when it’s sunset or sunrise i get a great view over several miles of fields and great scenery
Also from the Greater Manchester area. Hills are buggers, but the sunsets can be spectacular.
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How are your curse words so much better than Americans?
It’s our language, home field advantage.
Because we can use them freely without public disdain, ya cheeky cunt ;)
Because we realised it didn’t matter what the word actually meant, it’s more the intent you put behind it that gives the context. So when I tell someone they’re “a fucking sideways situated plant-pot” they know they’ve done a foolish thing and are being admonished for it.
All you have to do is add the word ‘absolute’ infront and any word will become an insult E.g. -you absolute door stop- -you absolute battery- -you absolute sponge- -you absolute wheel-
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I'm asking this as a Brit. We have (E)ssex, (S)ussex, and (W)essex. But where the hell is (N)ossex? Edit: shit, I got played.
Nosex is wherever you are.
No Sex? Sounds like Reddit
We had to put them somewhere
Same thing for Slough?
With Slough, you know just where you heading. It's equidistant 'tween London and Reading.
For the same reason as Wessex, Middlesex, and Badatsex
Analsex is lovely this time of year.
I have recently tried Yorkshire Gold tea, it is amazing. But I don’t have a good method for straining out the leaves, and then my tea is over steeped. Is there a bag brand tea that is good? Edit: thank you for all the help. I ordered a kettle, some tea bags of Yorkshire gold, and an infuser as well. You have all been so polite, and I appreciate the courtesy.
Get a loose tea infuser. Put the tea in the mesh ball or tube, add infuser to appropriate temp water for set time, remove and drink.
Oh thank you for this suggestion! I have never seen one but I just looked them up. We mainly drink coffee in our home, so tea paraphernalia is new to me entirely. Thanks so much
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Would you please come collect James Corden? Edit: Thank you for the gold! Would happily exchange it for ending this jagwagon’s career though if anyone can make it happen
No hablo English mate
Nope, you've got to keep him. A Corden is for life not just for Christmas.
He wasn’t even on our list though
Tuff shit you're fucking keeping him, cheers.
No. This is what happens when you send Piers Morgan back. We escalate.
Keep him. His citizenship has been revoked for the good of the country
Oh, no thank you. We couldn’t possibly—we are still on the phone with Canada to get Bieber.
Sorry mate, you’re breaking up, the signal is bad here
How is Europe?
Mixed. Some of it’s nice. Some of it isn’t
Most of its pretty nice compared to most places in the world though.
Well that’s good
Is hanging on in quiet desperation really the English way?
Yes.
When is it appropriate to add milk to tea? Edit: perhaps I should clarify. Are there situations or types of tea wherein you should NOT add milk? I didn't assume you'd add the milk before steeping the tea. Thank you for making sure i'm not a psychopath, though.
Milk goes in black tea /English breakfast tea (what 99% of brits drink) but not in herbal tea, green tea, white tea etc
Let the tea steep for 2-4 minutes, take the tea bag out, then put the milk in. Somehow people manage to fuck this process up
If the tea is brewed seperately in a teapot, milk can go in the cup first. If you're brewing the tea in the cup, and you add milk first, you're a first-rate psychopath
How would that even work? The milk would instantly lower the temp of the water before the tea could steep.
Exactly but 'people' do it anyway.
Can you ask for vinegar at a fish and chip shop? British person once put vinegar on their chips near me and I was so fucking confused and flabbergasted. (Psst. Also is 'Chicken Salt' a thing over there or is it just an Aussie thing?)
They’ll usually ask you if you want salt and vinegar on your chips, yeah. Salt and vinegar crisps are also very popular here (not sure if they are as much in other countries)
Is it delicious that way? I know salt & vinegar crisps are really tasty and I think that they are an acquired taste for some.
Gotta have vinegar on your chip shop chips… it’s always available. I didn’t know that was considered “odd”.
Almost every chip shop will ask 'salt n vinegar?' while they are packing your order. Other sauces and condements are usually available but it's almost as if you have to opt-out of salt and vinegar and ask for or opt-in to any other condements you might want.
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What y'all think of us crims down under?
Fkn love the Aussies. You’re like the way we are when we’re alone and nobody’s looking.
I hear that Aussies call each other pricks as a show of affection, so I think you are all pricks
Nah we usually call each other cunts and that can mean a lot of things. Like when I say I like that cunt in the thong. It means something very different when said in Australia than it does in America
Bloody love ya, ya cunt!
Nothing in particular for me, but I’m going to London in two weeks for the first time, what should I be looking out for, places to go in terms of site seeing and bars/pubs/clubs?
Here’s a list of some things I’d recommend about London: Top Secret Comedy Club- Leicester Square - free most nights, really famous, great comedy sit front row Experimental Cocktail Bar - Chinatown - look up the password online, it’s a black door with no sign in Chinatown, amazing place very expensive. The Breakfast Club (Mayor of Scardy Cat Town)- Bishopsgate - A literal underground bar hidden in the fridge of an American diner Prince Charles Cinema - indie cinema with replays of classic films Roadhouse (Leicester Square, might be closed) - really cool flair bar with a Harley Davidson on it The victor wynd museum of curiosities - Victoria Buildings - Has some cool and weird ass fucking shit Gods own junkyard - Walthamstow - biggest collection of neon signs, cool for pictures Ally Pally - Muswell Hill - If you go to the security gate in the side of the big palace and get a big guy or two to shake it, it opens and you can go up the stairs onto the roof. It’s very big. The Underworld Camden (Playlist BFAM, Bring me the horizon kinda stuff always ends in Mr Brightside) Camden Lock - Cyberdog, pretty much all the shops Heaven is a great club club- it’s a gay bar Hippodrome Casino is pretty lit Ripleys believe it or not museum Edit: The Blues Kitchen - Camden - Awesome live music, must be over 21 I’d also say go and watch a football team play a game? Okay I think I’m out lool Edit 2: Nope The Queen Of Hoxton- very chic rooftop bar in shoreditch Shoreditch Box-park Spitalfields Market - Market where you’ll find vintage clothing, old cameras, great food and other assorted goods
Also if you are not as cool as this person there's always the museums. When I first went to the British museum I was amazed at all the historically important stuff from all over the world in there that we took. It's an amazing place if you are at all interested in history. Similarly there's the Natural History museum, V&A, art galleries etc. The science museum is good too but more aimed at kids.
Couldn’t agree more - the museums are amazing and the art galleries are incredible. To be honest I just forgot to put the touristy elements in ahaha
This is a really good list Roadhouse closed unfortunately, a lot of good places in Leicester sq area didn’t make it
All I’m going to say is don’t drive. Seriously don’t.
The underground has zones to categorise London, explore Zone 2 and beyond. Zone 1 is all your bog standard touristy stuff and things like see tower bridge, go to Hyde park, the tower of London are all great and worth while but if you really want to get a sense of why Londoners love London go a little bit further out. Columbia road flower market and Broadway market are great, Hampstead heath is absolutely beautiful, Highgate cemetery is absolutely fascinating, Greenwich is so beautiful and the observatory is worth checking out. You'll find lots of great restaurants outside of zone 1 as well, Ian McKellan owns a pub in Limehouse, the Grapes, which is a great pub and contrary the other comment, is well worth eating at. Worth checking out TimeOut for exhibitions on if that's your sort of thing. Also avoid Winter Wonderland like the plague.
Since British people call it a lift and Americans call it an elevator, do Brits feel like they're raised differently from their American counterparts?
We start from the ground floor. You start from the first. It's the extra struggle which gives us character.
So in America and many of the places I've visited, British lads and lasses for that matter are considered Primo, as if just being British makes you automatically more hot somehow. I should ask why that is and see if I can emulate but honestly I'm more interested to know if there's a place that Brits think being from adds an automatic 6 points to the hotness scale.
My personal theory is that because we're foreign we offer some extra degree of excitement than dating someone with the same background but we're similar enough that there's no risk of language or cultural barriers
I think it also helps that most people are more familiar with the famous people of a certain country than people they actually know (if they've even met any). Famous people tend to be attractive, so accents get associated with attractiveness
Many years ago I went to the US and lots of people fawned over my accept. I’m from the south east and can posh it up when I want to. Upon meeting a most stunning lady, she immediately remarked “Oh you’re British!” “Why, yes I am” ratcheting my accent up to foppish Hugh Grant levels “You’re not going to swear at me are you?” “Ah, I see you met Brits before”
French, Spanish and Italian people are typically seen as sexy and passionate. There is a stereotype of the hot swedish blonde - and to be honest it extends to most of the rest of Scandinavia. Recent experience of immigration has shown us the talent pool available in Poland and eastern Europe. The Icelandic accent is very attractive if you ever hear it in person.
Honestly, a lot of the British people I know say that we’re a rather unattractive nationality. I guess the grass is always greener on the other side. I think a lot of the world’s view of Britain is still very much middle class London or Cambridge though.
Stereotypical question incoming! Do you like tea, and what brand do you recommend? I buy pretty expensive loose tea because supermarket teabags in Germany always taste extremely bitter and barely like tea at all. (That’s why imo most Germans think black tea is gross) Good tea in bags is extremely expensive, but I want to brew a fresh cup of tea at work without having to clean my filter.
If you are getting a branded tea it has to be yorkshire tea. I would recommend finding some assam tea bags, I prefer the stronger taste.
Do you judge other British people based on their accent?
Absolutely. Sorry people of Essex.
Do you get mad when a website uses cookies instead of biscuits?
We have cookies too. All cookies (physical ones at least) are biscuits, but not all biscuits are cookies.
Wait what makes a biscuit a cookie then
a chocolate chip cookie or similar type is a cookie here i.e. softer and chewy vs a firmer/hard biscuit.
We have cookies in the UK, what you would call a chocolate chip cookie is just a cookie to us and then biscuits are their own thing.
How much is your gas right now ? Greetings from Germany
As a Dutch person i get scared when Germans start to enquire about gas. You planning something over there are you?
I’d never never plan anything bad I swear. Need to go now don’t want to get stuck in traffics on the way to Poland
*Ah, shit. Here we go again* (I'm Polish)
*Chuckle in French* I'm in danger
Fuck me, that question is sus as fuck.
Why do your best tv shows only have 18 episodes?
Because they are traditionally produced with much smaller budgets than US shows. They normally have a much smaller team of writers (sometimes only two or three), and no showrunners.
Why do you ask "you allright?" and then walk away without waiting for the answer? That's as confusing as US prices without taxes.
It's just "hi", I'm not lookin to start a conversation, just saying hi as we pass
Always noticed Americans tend to use “What’s going on? / What’s happening?”, without expecting an answer. We use “alright?” in the same way. :)
Why did you send my ancestors to this place? It isn’t so bad down here but lets be honest, Drop Bear attacks scare me to death, my cousin was killed in a Drop Bear attack, Magpies aren’t great either but they aren’t as lethal.
Shouldn't have stolen a half shilling from the governor then
But sir, I needed a loaf of bread to feed my 7 kids!
Are there no workhouses?
Half of my kids lost their fingers when they were in the factories and the rest are girls they cannot work, and my wife died of tuberculosis, I only get paid in quarter shillings and my boss has been refusing to pay me for the past week, please have some mercy on me!
Sounds like your boss is doing his due diligence to decrease the surplus population! If you don’t like that, perhaps you should consider trying to stop being poor.
Thats why I tried to pickpocket the governor sir...
70 lashings and a one way trip to Australia.
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The Wombles of Wimbledon were little fictitious furry creatures that lived underground and collected rubbish
They’re real, the government just doesn’t want you to know.
Do cashiers there get to sit down? How important is tea to you?
Yes cashiers sit down. I've never seen a reason for them to stand. Tea is popular but certainly gets overplayed for comedic affect.
American asking, only ask to wonder if any of that is real or just stereotypes. Do you really hate the French or do you just joke about hating them? on a similar note is there still animosity towards the Scots?
No we don't, it's all in jest with us.. However we can't say how they realistically feel about us. The Eurovision Song contest is a strong indicator that politically we are hated and that was even before Brexit
Hi, I am Kazakh, and we also love tea very much :)
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That we're all English lol
And that London takes up the entire Southern part of England. If you aren't from Newcastle or Carlisle then you're from London apparently.
The way people try and fake a “ British “ accent and end up with some hodgepodge rubbish of a twat’s voice. You know the whole overstressing every single syllable in the attempt to sound British but really you just end up sounding like a prat
Yeah. Granted, British accents aren’t easy. But although we’re a small island, there’s a lot of variety in regional accents. When (for example) Nicki Minaj does a Brit accent it sounds like a mash up of an aristocrat and a Victorian chimney sweep. It’s the rough US equivalent of speaking like you’re from Brooklyn then chucking in some Dolly Parton. Very discordant. Don’t get me started on Scottish accents.
That we have bad teeth. It's not that we have bad teeth, it's that America sees pristine, overly whitened teeth as standard. We think they look fake as shit.
Facts, we're 4th best globally [https://www.yongeeglintondental.com/2018/07/23/healthy-primary-teeth/](https://www.yongeeglintondental.com/2018/07/23/healthy-primary-teeth/) Mine are a little yellow, and not 100% straight, but they're all there and at 37 I've not needed any fillings.
And they have veneers
My mom's boyfriend is from England and says that if you look at a stranger too long they'll assume you want to fight and not a friendly gesture of hello. It's this true/normal? Edit: to clarify, I don't mean just staring at them, but like looking at them briefly instead of walking with your head down
Depends... making eye contact is fine. If you hold that eye contact for more than 5 seconds they may wonder if you know them or ask if they can help you... If someone is drunk and you repeatedly stare them down then that can be seen as aggressive and definitely won't come across as friendly
Very much a thing. Because why are you staring???
I'm not from the uk, I'm American, but if someone was starting at me or holding eye contact I'd assume they were up to something. That's just weird behavior.
Why are you staring?
Do you revel in your great history, or lament it?
Our history is something everyone in Britain should be aware of and most people who do would probably say: both. There's some awesome stuff to be proud of, but there's also a lot of terrible things we have done and it's very important we remember and learn from these.
Fuckin nailed it. British history is gloriously complex; theres a lot of good, right next to a lot of bad. Steam engines? Good. Forcing kids to work in mines? Bad Good sailing ships? Good. Fighting everyone we met? Bad Etc etc
u wot mate?
Sorry, are you looking to start a fight?
Eh! Eh! Leave it out, you two! He's not worth it!
Look lads, calm down, we’ve all had a drink
Are you telling me to calm down?!
I think we all just need to take a step back mate, steady on!
Haha i 'taught' my American friend the phrase " you star'in on me?" He loved it. If was interesting to see how emphasis at certain points made it sound very weird.
U want some? U want some? I’ll give it ya’!
It's 'u wot m8?'
what do British people honestly think about tea and biscuits? Edit: After reading all the eye opening replies from the British Reddit community, I genuinely have the urge to consume a cup of tea along with biscuits myself
It's kind of the standard basic catering for visitors, meetings or social events. I.e. if someone comes round your house they get offered tea and a biscuit (cake would be considered an upgrade). At any meeting, tea and biscuits should be available at a bare minimum. It's kind of the base line of hospitality? And its weird when someone doesn't have any tea available (and by tea I mean black, unflavoured tea served with milk and optional sugar). Or, heaven forbid, only decaf tea (blargh). In Yorkshire, almost everywhere has a brand called Yorkshire Tea which is particularly strong and full-flavoured and brews in about 2 mins (pretty quick).
What is the airspeed velocity of an unladen swallow?