Things that are different in different parts of the UK

[isabellerossignol]

I thought it might be interesting, and informative, to have a thread about how things throughout the UK. Not customs or traditions, but actual practical things.

So, for me, as someone in N Ireland the first things that spring to mind is that the following things differ from England.

The compulsory school starting age
The cut off date for when you go into one school year or another
The names of the school years

And then I know that with education, Scotland is different again...

St David’s day celebrations in primary schools in Wales with (amongst other things) Bara Brith and Welsh cakes in the staff room. Compulsory Welsh gcse. Learning about the Celts rather than the Romans.

My friends from other parts of the UK are always amazed how good the public transport in London is compared to where they are including big cities such as Leeds and Manchester. If you have to wait more than 10 minutes in London for a bus or tube then that’s considered long

Blackberries are brambles in Scotland and, apparently, in south east London, as that's what my husband calls them too (his Scottish heritage, such as it is, is about 5 generations back).

Learning about the Celts rather than the Romans DS did both in his primary school (in Hampshire).

@isabellerossignol I'm a Belfast girl & can't understand why people here can't grasp what an apple cake is.

Other NI things... brown lemonade and white lemonade! Soda bread, potato bread, wheaten farl, reporting to the Equality Commission on the religious breakdown of your workforce ( but only catholic / Protestant as the others don't exist apparently!) and being forced to make a guess if some one doesn't disclose (by surname, address, school etc)!

No lasting power of attorney in NI - it's still stuck on enduring power of attorney, so there's no provision for health and welfare.

Sunday opening times are different to England. The shopping centres near my town are open 1pm to 6pm.

Pubs don't shut till 1am.

I've just remembered that they leave the skin on your fish at the chip shop in England ( at least they do in the south), yuck! We have our haddock skinless in Scotland thank you very much!

I mentioned 'outwith' on the current 'words you like' thread. Love it and wish it was more widely used.

The area of England where I grew up seemed to have different summer holidays from everywhere else, breaking up at the end of June rather than mid or late July. There were also separate schools for years 7 to 9 and year 10 up.

I've heard squash being called 'juice' on here... where I grew up, juice was only actual pure fruit juice.

I'm in Northumberland and squash is juice whereas fizzy drinks are pop.

Bread is bread unless it's an actual stottie but whenever that stupid "what you call a bread bun shows us where you're from" meme does the rounds everyone seems to think we call all bread 'stottie'.

We're the the least populated county - 64 people per square kilometer. We have our own dialect, totally different to Geordie even though it probably sounds the same to people from other areas, it has more in common with the Scottish dialect.

Our schools are three tier rather than two so First School from age 4 to 9, Middle School from 9 to 13, then High School from 13 to 18. A lot of First Schools have a nursery attached to them for ages 3 to 4 which has the same uniform and routines as the school its attached to and is school/education rather than childcare.

Meals are breakfast, dinner (midday) and tea (late afternoon/early evening). If you're hungry between tea and bed you might have supper which is a snack like toast or cereal rather than an actual meal.

Halloween was a big deal here too when I was a kid. We used to go out Halloweening in costumes made from black bin bags (arm holes, head hole, plus a rolled up bag for a belt if you were fancy) with a cardboard witches hat and a thin plastic mask with razor sharp edges. We carried carved turnips (which were actually swedes but we call them turnips) and people would give us money. My mum used to keep a dish of 2p and 5p coins next to the door to give out to kids knocking. Youd only get a few pence from each house but it added up to enough for some sweets at the shop next day.

We have Santa up here too, also know as Santie and Santie Claus. Father Christmas is for posh people.

We have "hoy outs"/"hoy oots" at weddings where the wedding party throws coins on the ground for kids to collect. At our wedding, DH and I had bags and bags of small change to scatter out on our way to and from the church.

@wigglybeezer - I have never had skin on any fish in a chippy in the north west.

I thought only Liverpool chippies we're Chinese takeaways too - friends from south east have said theirs only do 'chippy food'

They have that school system in neighbouring Worcestershire, Venger, whereas in the West Midlands where I live we have primary schools of rising 5 - 11, and secondaries of rising 12-16. In Dudley where I live very few schools have sixth forms so most kids go to a further education college at 16. Warwickshire still has grammar schools, I believe.
Pop is fizzy. My elderly mom often refers to pop as sharp pop.
Wanna, what’s brown lemonade?

We have "hoy outs"/"hoy oots" at weddings where the wedding party throws coins on the ground for kids to collect. At our wedding, DH and I had bags and bags of small change to scatter out on our way
to and from the church.

That's also known as a scramble

If it's anything like my Nana used to make it'll be lemonade made with brown sugar. Her parents were Irish. She used to give us sugar sandwiches as a snack, they were the best.

@Livpool, that's why I said "in the south" as I realised i've not tried northern fish and chips. Yet another regional variation (and way in which the North is superior ).

In Scotland people eat a "piece" , in England we have a "sandwich".

Regarding Twat being a bad word an ex manager of mine who was from Nottingham said she got into a lot of trouble calling people Twats when she first qualified as a nurse ,she said to her it was like calling someone a twit not really offensive but here in Greater Manchester very offensive!
And I'm from a part of Lancashire where it's got two meanings:

1. to hit someone
2. Jokey insult akin to "silly sausage"

@tabulahrasa eh? I’m in Scotland and every school I’ve ever been aware of has had a uniform? The thing about the school selection process is true but schools definitely have uniforms ... with the badges on.

We can’t drink in the street here in Scotland which I always find a strange one when I go to England.

I thought only Liverpool chippies we're Chinese takeaways too - friends from south east have said theirs only do 'chippy food'

And when I lived in South East several of the chippies did Chinese too. Up North I never came across it.

Blackberries are brambles in Scotland and in the South East.

It's funny how you get ideas that something is or isn't regional. I remember first time I came south, and some things I assumed were national (we had a lovely chain of bakers called "Burtons" for one) were regional and no one had heard of them. Other things I'd assumed were local names everyone knew them.

Both England and Scotland get 8 public holidays...

Scotland gets 2nd January, while England gets Good Friday.

Scotland gets the first Monday in August, while England gets the last Monday in August.

Regarding the August bank holiday, there can be local variations. So in Glasgow, you’ll get Glasgow Fair (3rd Monday in a July) instead of the August holiday.

@mystupidmistake... I think what’s being pointed out is that in Scotland you can buy uniform from anywhere - Asda / Tesco / Next / wherever fits your budget - and then sew on or iron on badges.

In Scotland you can’t be compelled to purchase uniforms from a defined supplier that charges an extortionate amount.

Skin on fish and chips is the best bit!!! Plus it's wear all the vitamins are or so I was told.

When we went on summer holiday to Scotland (around Aberdeen way) all pub food stopped at 6.30pm or 7.00pm. Or were we just unlucky? Fish and chip shops closed very early too.

@plunkplunkfizz you would go to a colleagues parents funeral? Even if you'd never met them? How does everyone ever go to work?

We have pakora. it can be difficult to find it in England.