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.

Brits*

Am I the only person who thinks it's actually quite rude to criticise a country to a person who is from that country and visiting yours (Brexit etc). It doesn't matter if you think it's mad - that one person doesn't owe you an explanation/defence of it. I wouldn't criticise Trump to a visiting American - good manners should ensure you make guests feel welcome and comfortable.

As an aside, I don't know anyone who doesn't rinse their dishes once they come out of the soapy water.

Blimey I work at a London tourist attraction and I can 100% tell you french people absolutely refuse to speak English even when in an English tourist attraction.

We all have our little foibles

"Why do children eat dinner at 4-5 and parents when the kids are in bed?"

This was my experience in the UK too! Children eat really early, and so do the very old.

I don't think the British are dirtier than anyone else but I was (quietly) grossed out by how many people wore shoes inside.

As an aside, I don't know anyone who doesn't rinse their dishes once they come out of the soapy water.

Dh doesn’t. And as I said above, he’s Dutch

I don't think of British, but rather English, Scottish, N Irish, Wales. I know people who are very proud of the areas they are from.

UK always makes me think of indie music too, such many great bands from UK that could have not happened anywhere else. A very vibrant music scene.

Why do Brits see themselve as special and not part of Europe?
2 world wars and not invaded??
Though in the past now and probably an attitude that's fading rapidly.

I think lately Brits have been seriously bashed from many directions and don't feel they are superior to many/any others.
But personally don't think they are worse in their flaws than other countries.

I find Brits can be quite offensive about other countries, a bit like racism, assuming someone who looks Asian is from Japan when they are Phillipino, but not deliberately rude, just gormless.

I wouldn't criticise Trump to a visiting American
Blimey even teh Scottish Government were extremely rude about Trump (evidence of their stupidity imv as he was, after all, voted in by millions of Americans who are entitled to their vote).
I find people are critical of America to Americans, gun law, Trump.

Why do children eat dinner at 4-5 and parents when the kids are in bed? And, why do you feed children rubbish instead of normal food (a friend shaking her head at the children menu in a restaurant)

This is a really interesting one.

My friend recently told me that she eats with her partner after the kids go to bed and I was a bit miffed because I'd never heard of it before so it can't be a common thing.

We do eat early, 5.30, all together, all the same thing because the kids go to bed at 7.30 so we couldn't really eat any later.

The restaurant bit is 100% true! We eat out often (admittedly with small children so we're limited to quick-service chain restaurants and pubs so not so much experience with high end restaurants and children's menus). We always look at menus online before hand because my kids (2 and 3) will not eat most "kid meals". They are often utter crap. The pasta is always overcooked with a blob of bland tomato sauce on top, the pizza is always inedible. The choice for kids is frequently stripped of any nutrition and bland. We often have to order an adult meal for them to split.

Tapas revolution seems to be the best for us and we always have very happy (full of calamari) kids walking out.

I wish there was better choice for children's menus too but I suppose it's supply and demand sadly.

We eat after the kids because they are hungry at 5.30 and we are not. And they go to bed at 7 and we do not.

We eat breakfast and lunch together everyday.

"2 world wars and not invaded?? "
Isn't that because we're an island, rather than any special strategic powers?

I don't know anyone from anywhere who doesn't rinse soapy dishes.

Yes to the wide backs! My partner who’s European says we are known for our wide backs, and are quite broad with straight bodies 🙁 On the other hand he says we are have better personalities than women from his country.

What a foul racist thread.

BRITISH IS NOT A RACE.

I’m Swedish with Irish family and (a little) English family. I’m married into Eastern European family. In other words I have wide-ranging prejudices.

I’ve been thinking back based on this thread and I don’t think I’ve ever met, personally, somebody Scottish or Welsh. Isn’t that bizarre??! But I can still have a view on some things British , namely houses. Swedish people are of the opinion, nay, know, that houses in Britain are poorly built. This also goes for Ireland. Swedish people have a very high (and nowadays a little unwarranted) opinion of our building codes and think all houses abroad are poorly built in some way, but that’s by the by. There was a programme on the telly where they helped people with houses that were broken and figured out how to fix them, can’t remember the name of it. Your man and your woman I think her name is Sarah was in it. Anyway, the state of some of those houses - in Sweden they would be written off, torn down, rebuilt from scratch. In the UK and Ireland you plug the leak, dehumidify for two months, paint over the mould and screw together the broken load bearing beams and you’re good to go. I quite like this because it means a lot of history is preserved. Swedes tend to tear too much down.

Swedes think carpets are obv potential dirt-traps and you should only have them if you are very clean. Since Swedes see Brits as a people who wear shoes indoors their carpets cannot be clean. QED.

Swedes see washing machines in the kitchen as odd but all foreigners do this odd thing. I have lived in Paris with a washing machine in the kitchen, I have stayed in Spain and ditto. Swedes think they go in bathrooms (prob because waterproof room, and waterproof because of our fantastic building code dontchaknow) or separate utility rooms.

I think the English are very like the Swedish in many ways when it comes to temperament. A mix of self-deprecating and arrogant.

@VenusClapTrap

I asked Dh (who is Dutch) if the Dutch think we are dirty. He said yes, but the Dutch think everyone is dirty except the Dutch.

This has made me laugh! My dh is Dutch and his family are pig farmers. They are certainly not frightened of a bit of dirt!

I lived in France for a while in my 20s and the pervading attitude there was that British girls were "easy" and dressed "sluttily". I remember a great deal of derision directed towards the British students at the local uni who would always do themselves up for a night out - heels, dresses, make up etc. It was very noticeable that the French girls transitioned from day to night without much change at all (maybe just added a jacket if it was cold) and were quite amused/judgey about the effort the British girls made. I also got told that all British men are called John (!) and they found it odd I was learning French as most Brits "don't bother". I was often asked if I was Italian or Polish as apparently I don't look English, although I never managed to establish what they think an English girl looks like (aside from the clothes mentioned before).

"2 world wars and not invaded?? "
Isn't that because we're an island, rather than any special strategic powers?

True but everyone also worked very hard at keeping others out. It could easily have not ended up as it did possibly thanks to the Americans.

Lighten up - whatever happened to the British sense of humour?

I've visited a lot of countries and wouldnt want to live in most of them. I hate the lack of queues and I think most foreigners are dirtier than we are - and I have the data to prove it jakubmarian.com/a-study-reveals-how-many-europeans-wash-their-hands-with-soap/

The Scandinavians and Russians drink more than we do but they hold it better, I'm ashamed of drunken brits and football hooligans.

I'm proud that we embrace foreign food, you'll find restaurants from every part of the world in London and even small British towns are likely to have Indian, Chinese, Italian and quite likely Spanish tapas an a kebab house. My experience in other countries is that they serve their own food and precious little else. As for the veg - bigger is not better, it's frequently tasteless. A pity that we are not noted for doing that when we are on holiday but while I do enjoy trying other food I cant develop a taste for bacon other than Danish or British. Foreign breakfasts just suck.

What a vile and offensive thread. Many of the people spouting ridiculous nonsense admit to actually living here .

And the old ‘the world hates the English but welcomes the Scots like old friends’ nonsense. Ok.

Far too many people seeing this thread as an opportunity to bash the English. It’s in bad taste and very offensive.

Being told that we are dirty and live in dirty houses is downright rude, not funny

Some of these are oddly specific. At least three people have mentioned Brits not rinsing soap off dishes when doing the washing up. Are there really widespread stereotypes about how different countries wash up?

I remember being gobsmacked that (future) DH’s Eastern European family all thought English women were dirty, were too lazy to clean a house properly and the men were alcoholics. The irony was that in practice, that applied to them not me!

I find it amazing that other nations, especially Europeans, think we have bad hygiene. I have come across more stinky people in Italy/France/Turkey than I ever have here.

I think a lot of it is jealousy as we had such a powerful empire. That and winning the World Wars.

I think we are great at embracing vegatarianism and vegsnism, and people are making conscious efforts to reduce meat intake. This is a massive positive. It promotes fresh food across all eating habits. Most people I know cook lots of variety. Never used to be like this. 20 years ago I was more aware of freezer food and jars bring used.

I also think many people are actively reducing their impact on the planet. Again a great movement.

I suspect if this thread had been titled.

What do the British think of the 'insert nationality here'

It would have been taken down by now.

If I weren’t a Brit, I’d be thinking that this sort of thread indicates a fairly typical self-loathing and willingness to disparage one’s own country. Or to hear others disparage it,

FWIW I’ve lived abroad - many years in different countries - and have travelled very widely in much of the world, and have very rarely encountered any sort of negative opinion - one exception was a young Greek Cypriot who very rudely told me I couldn’t possibly have a clue about cooking since I was a Brit.

One thing I think is typical of English people - not Brits in general - is a willingness to say how shit their country is. Whereas in many countries I’ve visited (not all) it’s the reverse - people like to tell you how wonderful their country is. Perhaps especially when they’ve never been anywhere else!

To be fair the OP did ask. And realistically, while I have lived in France, Germany and the Netherlands and like all those countries, if I was asked to list common stereotypes about those nationalities I could easily and they wouldnt all be positive.
Some things make more sense when you have lived in the other country - so the bread thing seems unfair, but in Germany there seem to be more bakeries than people and the French are super fussy about bread.
I do think that some of the comments people have had about "you are good looking for an English woman" or "English woman are lazy about housekeeping" is just straight up negging/misogyny.