To think most of what people call “British” is actually borrowed from other cultures?

☝ Yes what an absolute shocker!

I agree. People think it’s about food and arts and architecture but to me, British culture is more about our values and behaviour as people.

I didn’t really put much thought into it until we had a Ukrainian family living with us, and it really highlighted our cultural differences and made me consider just what ‘culture’ is.

British culture to me is made up of complaining about the weather, being sticklers for rules, orderly queues and always being on time; piss-taking humour, our love of really championing an underdog (and then subsequently tearing them down), cheering when someone drops and smashes a glass or a plate in public, putting our children to bed very early, apologising for things when we’ve done nothing wrong, being obsessed with food hygiene, and a thousand other things that make us different from other nationalities.

What I love about being British is our sense of fairness and doing the right thing. We have an amazing sense of humour. And despite everything we’re seeing in the news, we are still one of the most charitable and tolerant countries in the world. I’m very proud of that.

White British culture is mostly microbial.

Yes, we know. You are preaching to the choir, pushing at an open door, bringing coals to Newcastle - just to demonstrate a few English idioms which imply you are telling us all what we already know and pretending you’re making an original intellectual observation.

Give it a rest now.

I raise you sausage rolls.😅

I dont think something has to be unique to somewhere or have originated somewhere to be part of its culture. Culture changes all the time.

But i do think trading with the world and 'borrowing' is part of British culture.

And while not everyone is clinging to the idea of a ‘pure’ British culture, plenty of rhetoric (especially around immigration or ‘British values’ seems to lean that way.

Ah, what a suprise. Who would have thought your agenda would be “British people can’t object to unlimited immigration “. I’m shocked I tell you, shocked to my core. And there I was thinking you were genuinely interested in discussing how British culture has evolved into the fascinating entity it is.

'British Values' is forced by government agendas as far as I can see.

Why else am I forced to discuss 'British Values' and find examples of how I live by them every time I meet with my apprenticeship skills coach?!

I am British, but I'm not pushing 'British Values', I simply want kindness and respect from all.
Surely 'human values' should be all that's needed.
But...some cultures don't share the same values. So I guess the government now think we all need a reminder.

It isn’t a fixed thing - and that’s news to anyone? Of course not. But then, you’re not arguing in good faith.

So is every other nation’s culture, by your logic. And therefore no one has a culture, nothing individual, nothing unique.

Could just as easily say Spanish have no culture of their own, no real individual history which shaped the people, nothing organic. They borrowed it all anyway, it all came from others. So what’s so special about Spanish culture anyway?

I totally agree with everything you say. British fashion, fabric and tailoring are extraordinary.

Interestingly though sheep aren't native to the UK. They came from Asia (where they were used in wool production) and were brought to Britain in Neolithic times.

This a weird goady thread you’ve started here. I’m assuming you support Labour?

'Yet people still cling to the idea of a "pure" British culture'

Where in the wide world did you get that daft idea from? One can pretty much guarantee that every British person has a different idea of what traditional British culture is anyway.

By talk honestly, you mean focus on our shortcomings and failures. It’s a boring script now and people are tired of it.

For all your word salad, what do you actually hope to achieve? You do realise the social problems we’re now witnessing are causing large part by people like you - insinuating, not so subtly, that British people have no culture they can call their own and take a unique pride in? Well, they do, and they know it, and they’re not ashamed to say so.

GET IN THE SEA.

I genuinely do think more people should see it. I’ve seen so many comments these last few weeks about how people should stay in their own countries and help resolve their issues etc, and I’m itching to quote the “prosperous place to be” parts.

Hello? Earth to OP…

Everywhere you look, every book you read on culture from the last 200 plus years, will tell you all about the diverse influences which have contributed to British art, language, fashion, architecture, music, literature etc. Have you been living under a rock? Do you not read?

What you’re saying is totally unoriginal and news to no one but a child.

Britain has an extensive history of wool manufacture, tweed and tweed garments. British tailoring and tweed were not borrowed from anywhere else. Nor was knitwear, as Britain is cold. A lot of it came from Scotland, but we haven’t borrowed our fashion from elsewhere.

Vivienne Westwood was probably one of the most iconic and original designers ever.She was British. She worked with tartan and tweed a lot. As was Alexander McQueen. Britain is a leader not a follower in the fashion industry.

All countries are a melting pot of cultures and influences.
Every country has its own way of blending.
That's what makes each country individual.

I liked it when there was nothing! Nothing at all!