What general knowledge facts would you expect someone who is British should know?

[jennymanara]

What facts of general knowledge do you think all adults who are British should know?

The Holocaust and what it is
Basic facts about the first and second world war
Basic facts about each of the main religions in the world
Basic grasp of geography worldwide and in Britain

Most of what you’ve listed isn’t specific to Britain though?

Who the main figures are in government past and present.

The words to the National Anthem.

Where cities are located.

@sincethereis I know, just a starter for 10

Native trees, plants, animals and insects and that they are a good thing!

It worries me how little people know about this stuff. If should be more important than the national anthem imo.

Also
Main cities in Britain
Names of main native animals in Britain and able to recognise them
Basic facts about the dissolution of the monasteries
Basic facts about British imperialism and the slave trade

The name of the PM and who is the ruling party at that particular moment in time.
The name of the leader of the opposition.
The capital cities of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

There is a difference between general knowledge, and Specific knowledge about Britain.... So specific knowledge might include Prime ministers,( key names, if not all) , the history of the Royal family, the makeup of our currency, key points in history eg the miners strike, the creation of the Church of England, the riots over council tax, popular television programmes, the structure of our Government, and so on.

What the capital cities of England, Wales, Scotland, Northern Ireland, Ireland etc are.

What the NHS is.

What time Coronation street starts.

Dissolution of the monasteries?

The year England won the men's football World Cup.

At least 3 quotes from Shakespeare.

I would also expect them to be able to exchange pleasantries about the weather

The differences between Conservative and Labour and how both parties started/evolved.

An understanding of FPTP voting system and the way parliamentary works.

Which one is Ant and which is Dec.
Where Albert Square, the Woolpack, and the Rovers Return are located.
Which motorway routes you would take between the major cities.

@PuppyMonkey yes the reason we have so many ruined monasteries

That queue-jumping is akin to treason
Even when you are standing at a bar in a crowded pub, waiting to be served, there is a queue. An invisible queue, but a queue nonetheless.

To be able to name the prime minister and the main cabinet ministers along with the leader of the opposition and the main shadow cabinet.

To be able to at least roughly place every county on a blank map of the UK.

To be able to correctly pronounce scone

To be able to name at least three authors, artists, musicians and sportspeople who are from the UK.

I don’t think many adult Brits would be up to speed on that OP. How many wives Henry VIII had, now you’re talking.

All my initial answers would be literature and story telling based - though geography (location of biggest cities and counties) too.

Far more important in reality is practical knowledge - in very general terms how does the tax system work, how to access the education system and how it's structured, British CV writing expectations, how public transport works, how to call for the emergency services, how to access health care.

On the literature and story telling:

Fairy tales (most "British" fairy tales are broadly European but the Anglophile versions, late obviously exported to other English speaking countries, can be quite markedly different (look at the German version of Cinderella and the central role of her dutiful tending of her mother's grave and the tree).

So fairy tales, nursery rhymes, modern classic children's books like Julia Donaldson, the most famous Roald Dahl, also secular versions of key Bible stories like the Nativity and Noah's ark, the prodigal son, Lazarus, sermon on the mount - not for religious or moral reasons at all but because like fairy stories, nursery rhymes and the most well known children's books they form a backdrop to how many people think and are referenced endlessly in both high and popular culture.

Then a very basic idea about the works of Chaucer, Shakespeare, Austin, Dickens...

That salad cream is preferable to mayonnaise.

so Sport (zero knowledge!)
to enjoy tea & know what a cream tea (& its got to be clotted cream)
to enjoy fish & chips (huh! that's upset the vegans! although apparently you can have a vegan alternative
your favourite meal must be roast dinner (permitted to vegan alternative - so long as it includes roast pots)
to go to seaside even if raining & sit in car watching sea eating fish & chips
to be compulsively interested in the weather
to understand & use both irony & sarcasm

& know whether its cream than jam or jam than cream on a scone (starts new debate )

I had the "pleasure" of doing the Life in the UK test last year. The questions asked are absolutely hillarious in some cases.

From what I think a Brit or potential Brit has to know is

• how parliament/government/voting works
• who is the head of state (name and or function)
• certain events in history, Culloden, English Civil War, Great Fire of London, Peasant Revolt, War of the Roses. You may not be interested but some general knowledge should be there.
• which are the 4 states making up the UK and major cities
• some arts and culture like painter/actors/authors - again, general knowledge. Who plays whom in East Enders is not relevant
• what is the Commonwealth and the EU

If anyone has some spare time you can test yourself:

lifeintheuktests.co.uk/life-in-the-uk-test/

The difference between cottage pie and shepherds pie.

What 'private' and 'public' school means here as opposed to in the US.

The main attractions of some of the cities that aren't London or Edinburgh! (eg Oxford, Cardiff, Cambridge, Manchester, Glasgow, Liverpool, York)

The names of the Beatles (first names at least!)

A bit of awareness about Indian, Pakistani, and West Indian immigration in the 20th century.

A bit of understanding of some of the religious occasions observed by groups of Britons (Christmas, Easter, Eid, Ramadan, Passover, Hanukkah)

Knowing the patron saints (and approximate date of their feast day) of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales

Recognising each of the nation flags that make up the Union Jack.

And yes! to a pp who mentioned basic knowledge of stories, fables, legends etc. I mentioned King Arthur once and the other person (English born and bred) had no idea what I was on about! That tiny lack of knowledge would have made MP's Holy Grail film entirely gobbledygook to her
And my work colleagues had no idea that "Pancake Day" bore any relation to Easter and it was just on the same Tuesday every year and never changed ("how can it be in March? It's a February thing!")

My general knowledge - particularly geography (I only know where the Jordan is because I was brung up relijus - is shocking , though I've learnt a bit more as an adult.

pronunciation of scone

I asked the maid, in dulcet tone,
To bring to me a buttered scone.
The silly girl has been and gone,
And brought instead a buttered scone.

Northern Irish history.

Woefully lacking in a lot of non-NI Brits, particularly the English.

Just watch old episodes of QI on YouTube and you'll be ok.

Everything I know about anything comes from that show.

Any gaps are filled in by The Chase