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.

"need to show documentation of your insurance status if you go for treatment, whether that is Medicaid or insurance you receive through an employer, because your doctor will bill either Medicaid or the private insuranc

It's good that they don't have any pay out of your pocket cost if that's what you mean. although you usually don't have to pay anything with Medicare And some will let you apply for charity if you walked in without a insurance. Happened to me before when I was single with no insurance and no Medicare.

as the Hungarian-born humorist George Mikes put it: ‘On the Continent people have good food; in England they have good table manners.’

www.dailymail.co.uk/home/books/article-8894825/How-POSH-nosh-marmalade-brand-loaf-eat-defines-class.html#comments-8894825

Today's DM has yet another article on class,..

Frowned upon!
If this thread had been about any other nationality there would have been uproar after the first post and it would’ve been removed shortly afterwards.
I bought stereotyping nationalities was unacceptable across the board?

That's why we all have that famous 'British wide back' so we can rise above it...... :)

If this thread had been about any other nationality there would have been uproar after the first post and it would’ve been removed shortly afterwards.

What utter rubbish! I have seen several threads about other countries which are so much more worse than this one. Get a grip!

Not read full thread so sorry if this has already been discussed but I'm
a NZer and have travelled to UK and have many British friends. The things that stick out:

• Words used that appear to define UK social class - ie whether you say 'dinner' or 'tea'? shows how posh you are? confuses me
• A lot of my British male friends appear to have baked beans and/or chips with every meal.
• Houses appear to be all attached or semi detatched. Not very common over here, unless it is a big house converted into flats
• British women seem to be more into fake tan, fake nails, lashes etc and generally dress up, wear short skirts than what me and my NZ friends are. Or maybe we're just lazy and slack!

But, in saying that, I know a lot of lovely British people! I generally find them very easy going.

Michael palin asked this question to a passenger on a Japanese train in the 70’s

She wanted to know if it was true that an English person never left the house without an umbrella

(English person here and I’ve never understood washing up bowls too, I agree that my downstairs is only carpeted because of an uninsulated cavity floor below it and so it would be too cold and dusty without)

Love the carpet comments. Really interesting as i really really hate going abroad and they have hard floors...i just wish they had carpet

Our public (private anywhere else) schools perpetuate the class system. It instills such an attitude of privilege. This might change now they are encouraging 'commoners' into Oxford/Cambridge etc. A posh school background could even become a disadvantage!!

The only thing I struggle with is that lots of people who are British (as in the ones born here) often don’t say what they mean during a conversation.

It happens at work all the time, a colleague will say something but they won’t actually say what they mean yet they’ll expect me to understand what they mean.

If this thread had been about any other nationality there would have been uproar after the first post and it would’ve been removed shortly afterwards. You must be new - usually it's the Australians and the Americans who get these threads. There's always a hint of truth always someone who takes them very seriously and gets terribly offended but they are also always interesting and entertaining.

Re Brexit, it's true that only 52% of those who voted actively chose to leave the EU. But the 20 something percent (26?) who CBA to vote tacitly agreed to accept the result whichever way it went. The flip side being that only 48% of those who voted were actively against it.

@Completmentfille

Not rinsing mouth after brushing to get the toothpaste out

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

I brush to remove dirt and plaque and rinse to remove that dirty mix. Then I brush with fresh paste & don't rinse, so my teeth have paste on

I think we are seen as either an old fashioned stereotype:
ie the Empire / The Queen, Posh stiff upper lipped aristos, Beatles, Taxi's / Phone boxes etc (also don't wash, dirty teeth/houses etc)

OR lager louts / football hooligans, drunk young girls / easy sex

It's a pity as most of us are not in those 2 categories.

BUT... I do think that standards have slipped over the last 20 years.
We have become more insular, education has worsened, the need for food bank use / FSM is an outrage, yet we 'turn on each other' more?
I wondered if we simply CARE LESS but I think it's that maybe nationally feel more depressed / less hopeful than we did?

Which would be a pity as, as a (group of) nations, we have come through difficult times before with a hopefully deserved reputation for fair mindedness, good humour and a championing of the underdog.
Good traditional British values.

Haven't RTFT but Christ! what a load of Brit bashing tosh. If foreigners really do think this about Brits (and I doubt it, it's certainly not been my experiencr) it just shows them up as judgemental and thick.

And I find it quite poignant the way Scots jump up and down shouting "but everyone loves us!'

The thread has moved on a bit since I was reading yesterday but the comments on the housing has made me laugh.

My parents lived in Hong Kong for a while and one colleague told them that he didn't like England as it is full of old buildings!

Lots of us actually choose Victorian or older buildings as they have more character and are seen as more solidly built than new builds.

BUT... I do think that standards have slipped over the last 20 years

I think it's more that there's an anonymous live platform for eejits to air their angst, bitterness and ignorance without being held accountable. It just encourages extremist's rants as they are then the ones to get the attention a but like here just joking!!

Overall, I love the UK and the British. Lots of positive things, traits and habits, some negative, or negative to me, as with every nationality.

Positive:

• wicked sense of humour, to me the best in the world
• taking the piss out of everything
• great music
• sense of style, clothing and interiors too - quintessentially English rose is beautiful to me, as well as quaint, cottage style, tartan etc. are just so uniquely British and lovely
• great selection of tea and biscuits
• being cheery and upbeat even in tough times
• being polite drivers
• usually a fair dose of common sense, things in this country work sensibly and you sort of know what to expect
• getting on with stuff despite adversities
• being supportive to friends
• great outdoors and nature
• freedom of thought, expression and choices

Not so great:

• obsessed with class and categorising people, I observed that the British tend to put people in the right box depending on their origin, family, wealth and/or education and make it very obvious in how they treat them

• education system and political system (the monarch) supporting class divide and way too expensive for what it is

• superior way of thinking about yourselves, usually in the context of feeling over and above other nations, which usually stems from ignorance

• thinking the NHS is the best thing after sliced bread when in reality many European health systems are the same or better. NHS has room for improvement but it's borderline a crime to say it out loud here!

• relatively poor general knowledge, maths, world history, geography, EU and politics in particular, absolutely no surprise with Brexit because it was so easy to manipulate lots of people here

• lack of knowledge or interest in foreign languages

• lack of thinking outside the box and going an extra mile

• being dishonest, usually considered by the British as being polite/sophisticated/keeping the peace. In reality it makes life difficult for everyone, confuses people and frsnkly, it is full of shit, sorry. There's a difference between politness and lying and there's nothing sophisticated about the latter. It took me a while to recognise and understand it and I still don't like it, although I must admit I do it myself sometimes after so many years to fit in

• being deeply offended about someone being a straight talker and telling the truth, makes no sense at all that you can take a mean joke on the chin, but not the truth

• carpets, wtf with carpets for example in old bathrooms?! Just why?

• double taps, no sense in that, although I actually like it because it's a unique feature

• poor hygiene, especially personal hygiene, but also houses aren't as clean and looked after as in the continent

• bathroom light fittings with a string, the most unhygienic and gross looking thing I've ever seen

• crap public transport and urban planning

• too many chains, not enough independents, although it's improved

• lack of transparency when it comes to salaries in job offers and generally between people in talking about money which helps inequality, particularly gender pay gap. It seems an awkward topic for all the wrong reasons

• gutter, manipulative, shit stirring press like The DM, The Sun etc., they exists because people here read them

• lack of a sensible third option in politics, it's unhelpful for the country

It sounds like there are more negatives than positives, but this is not the case. I actually think most of the negatives in terms of attitudes and knowledge are linked to education system and politics and could be resolved, it's not the issue with people being "bad". The rest I've talked about are things that sometimes annoy me, but in fact I tend to laugh about them with some fondness actually, they're quirks which make this place what it is and I wouldn't change them. I love living here and I've learnt a lot from local people. I think you have lots to be proud of.

When we go away I always notice the way we wue is different. In Rome people just seemed to not que properly!

To be fair, as a child, I was once given a peanut butter & butter sandwich in England, so I take her point!

What's wrong with that?
Butter (good fat) stops the peanut butter (protein) being too "clarty" on wholegrain bread - it's a staple butty for my DC!

bathroom light fittings with a string, the most unhygienic and gross looking thing I've ever seen

Eh? Presumably you wash your hands after using the loo and before pulling the string on the light fitting? How is that more unhygienic than a light switch

thinking the NHS is the best thing after sliced bread when in reality many European health systems are the same or better. NHS has room for improvement but it's borderline a crime to say it out loud here!

That we can agree on and more Brits need to start saying so and saying it loud!

@NotaMemberofSAGE It's because I saw them in old houses, student houses and those that my (British) DH and I viewed over the years in need of modernisation. The string just accumulates dust and dirt over time, not to mention that in a student house I can guarantee not all sharers wash their hands (maybe it's better now?). I just think it looks and feels dreadful, sorry!

not to mention that in a student house I can guarantee not all sharers wash their hands (maybe it's better now?). I just think it looks and feels dreadful, sorry

Dreadful? But how is it more unhygienic than a light switch if the occupants are non hand washers?

And I don't get this unclean Brits that's been bandied about on this thread. Brits love their power showers and en suites! Even in the 60s before most homes had a shower, we were accomplished strip washers at the sink

*MrsMGE" you're not wrong about light pulls. When we moved here there was a good six inches of grime on the light pull cords. 😷
The NHS seems top.heavy with administrators. I think there are a lot of people who see it's faults, but what we appreciate is that it is free to all. I did not clap for the NHS. A huge number of NHS staff don't go near Covid patients (or in some cases any patients at all) but they suddenly became special because they had an NHS lanyard.

"Eh? Presumably you wash your hands after using the loo and before pulling the string on the light fitting? How is that more unhygienic than a light switch"

Some string are made of cotton, I have cotton light string in my house and even in my bathroom closet and people say when you flush, it can get really dirty

I still don't think anyone has defined properly what they mean by poor personal hygiene! Looking at the shower threads, most people shower one plus times a day.

Is it just the toilet tissue thing?

Bad teeth? That has moved along over the decades and people now straighten and whiten their teeth but wonky teeth doesn't mean poor hygiene.

Baths? Most people shower.

What is our poor hygiene that makes us filthy and grime and for it to be constantly mentioned does it appear in everyone or are you just taking a few experiences and thinking it applies everywhere?

I can think of some really grim stereotypes of hygiene for other countries.