What do other nationalities think of the British

[Baggingarea]

For non UK MNers, what are your general impressions of the British?

I was watching a documentary recently and a Spanish man said our houses are all dirty. I'd never heard that before but can see why someone might think that with muddy weather etc etc.

What do you think about us? Promise I won't be offended (no racism/sexism/general bigotry though please). Can't vouch for others though.

@timeforanewstart i so wish you had seen those us/Australian threads they were vile .

Visiting each other's countries, well we all do that, it always greener in other places . That said even if you visit or stay in another country you can still have an opinion on what you like (or not) and what is different compared to what you are used to. And yes it is stereotypes, some are quite funny and some insulting or not recognizable for that country's people.

Peace ✌️

Neither am I saying all those who voted Brexit were daft I'm saying those who voted for that reason are!

And I don't need your permission to state a fact either even if you interpret it as an opinion still don't need your permission

@Napqueen1234

Well this is a depressing thread surely we aren’t that bad?! If anyone were to ask me my opinions on another country I think I’d generally be more positive than 95% of the comments. Never knew we were considered dirty who lives in these filthy houses?!

I think our - 'dirty houses' are about the fact that a lot of English people value old stuff and have quite a lot of things generally so. more clutter . We don't value clean lines and new things as much as other Europeans. There is a sort of snobbishness about too much newness in houses. It is considered not great taste, not individual enough,soulless, boring ,.not comfortable and too flashy. This means that houses and their contents are older, less sleek and more cluttered because older is more valued and therefore sometimes harder to keep looking sleek and clean.

.I think it might have something to do with the country having been industrialised longer and also the class system but I am not exactly sure why

@giantangryroostser but uk is visited in quite high numbers hence having some of the busiest airports on the world .
I never see threads and there is no need my stereotype of say australians is they always have shrimps and bbq's and most have a swimming pool , and practically every poisonous animal or one that can eat you lives there , none of which i think are insulting

@giantangryroostser also i know these stereotypes aren't all true and you can blame neighbours in the 80's for some of them

@Graphista

Neither am I saying all those who voted Brexit were daft I'm saying those who voted for that reason are!

And I don't need your permission to state a fact either even if you interpret it as an opinion still don't need your permission

Saying people (Millions upon millions of them btw) are daft (because you don’t agree with them) is your subjective opinion - the only fact about it, is that it’s your opinion!!

@Graphista but uk does have quite high immigration from eu countries compared to brits going to eu countries that is a fact . Mostly i suspect as english is often taught as a second language in the eu so its easier to go to a country you can speak the language ,where as in uk we aren't so good at second language so limits options
But regarding second language what is best to learn as most languages say french and german are only spoke in those countries ,french also in cananda and some islands
Prob spanish is the most common other spoken eu language ???
English is taught in eu as so many countries speak it so its quite a useful language to have and eu tend to teach from a younger age our kids are taught a language too late
I don't thankfully know anyone who voted brexit because of this though

[quote timeforanewstart]@rorosemary why should we not read something when its been posted on a forum ? We don't have to agree and like everything thats posted [/quote]
You don't have to agree but changing the subject isn't necessary either. The poster I was referring too clearly just wanted to bash the people who answered the OP truthfully. I did. I said good and bad bits AND I named where I'm from. That doesn't mean that I should be put down by answering OPs question. If that poster has such a problem with reading anything negatively about the UK, they shouldn't be reading it. There is a lot of positive things that have been said as welk.

@rorosemary people saying all the women are ugly and things like that is not maybe going a bit more than just stereotypes and that all homes are dirty etc

@grassisjeweled I think we've moved on from Benny Hill
For what it's worth these are my thoughts.
I think the Brits are some of the most welcoming people on earth. We have embraced so many different cultures, stood up for equality for all kinds of people (see Equality Act) much more than other countries.
I don't understand the comments about boring food, you can buy almost anything here!
Re the cleanliness, my house is spotless as are my family's.
Hygiene : I don't know anyone who doesn't shower or bathe at least once a day
Teeth: neither of my now adult children have a filling between them, nor my grandchildren.
Culture and history: it's everywhere! It's why tourism is so big here.
Languages: a lot of countries learn English as a second language so what's the point of us trying to learn other languages? - This was pointed out to me by a Frenchman after I'd said we Brits were terrible at learning other languages.
I agree with the comments on Brexit, I'm totally ashamed and obviously the 'lager louts' on holiday do little for our reputation.

I'm Latina (but raised here) and these are the weirdest things about the British to me

1. attitude towards extended family. The British nuclear family is very insular.
2. weird, repressed attitude towards death e.g. lots of hand wringing about children at funerals whereas in my culture it would be weird not to have them at funerals.
3. boring vegetables. Just boiled with no seasoning! No wonder people don't want to eat them.

timeforanewstart French is spoken in many countries such as Ivory Coast, Morocco, Switzerland, Tunisia, Mauritius etc. But you're right, I think Spanish is more versatile in it's usefulness.

@Completmentfille your right about veg bit of water and salt and boiled until they change colour almost for some

Not rinsing mouth after brushing to get the toothpaste out

You actually shouldn't do that, it isn't good dental hygiene.

Oh and also a "rules were made to be kept" type attitude. In my home country it's the opposite

@ConfusedcomMum yes i knew french was spoken a bit more so was prob a bad example , i said islands because i couldn't remember which ones and was aware of it being spoken in tunisia
But didn't know about switzerland

@Completmentfille I am def british in this attitude of rules not to be broken , even stupid ones i follow to a tee

I am not a keeper of arbitrary rules. I have to say that attitude is the thing I find most irksome about this country.

@Fink

I'm British (and another nationality) and have lived abroad. The general consensus is that British people don't say what they mean, it's hard to understand them past the euphemisms and pleasantries. That they don't talk about important things and will just want to discuss the weather and other small talk endlessly. Very polite, although in quite a rigid, codified way. Reserved/repressed. Enjoy queuing and making passive-aggressive remarks to perceived social faux pas (such as not queuing). A bit old fashioned and class-bound. Harldy ever bother to learn foreign languages. Very ethnically diverse and welcoming of people's otherness (compared to other European places where, e.g., wearing a burqa is banned in public). Terrible cuisine. Obsession with tea. Good at sport and history. Can be racist and anti-European. Kind and generous. Good universities but not a great opinion of the school system (insofar as they know anything about it), school uniforms are seen as indicative of generalised excessive formality and living in the past.

There was a series on R4 a couple of years back called 'As Others See Us'. It's available on BBC Sounds still. It looks at other countries' opinions of Britain. It was very interesting.

Agree 100% with a lot of these things, based on what I have observed living in England for the past 1.5yrs.

I am Australian

@dublingirl66

Class obsessed Can be tight with money Don't often buy many gifts But arrogant Lacking empathy

I'm Irish though so please forgive my bluntness

Lol I was trying to think of a polite way to say that.

Also, the English seem to have this strong need to have a slogan or name for every single thing. Like a project needs to be given a name, which imo most of the time is totally meaningless (you wouldn’t be able to guess what the project was about based on the name). Eat out to help out is one example...

Oh and you love having extremely long, verbose written rules about everything. And an inflexibility regarding those rules.

Who needs enemies when you have friends like these ?

I remember having a holiday romance with a Swedish man. He said he didn't think I was English as most English woman weren't very good looking!

I had Swedish housemate years ago. He said he thought English women fat and no style. But he was bored with swedish blondes too. Married a senorita lol.

Okay I'll bite (grandparents are from abroad and one is Scottish). In my "home country" opinion of British (mainly English) swings very extreme

Either Posh, well spoken, honest and impeccable manners or
Really common, rude, dishonest
Very unhygienic (grooming habits, homes, in particular terribly unhygienic cooking practices)
Terrible bland food and unhealthy diet
Lovely free healthcare (notorious for waiting times for those who have visited and are used to same day appointments)
Lack of public facilities and shocking state as public toilets are not kept very clean even in swanky shopping centres (one relative refuses to visit because of the facilities especially at airports and train stations)
Superiority complex (British exceptionalism) and out of touch with reality and that the UK has very little political sway even though it considers itself to
Insincere

Only lovely things to say about Scottish and Irish.
Scottish warm and friendly and belly laughs
Irish warm and friendly and very attractive

@TechnicallyBritish and what is your home country to compare