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.

Lovely post, @TattyDevine. Good observations and it's lovely that you think we're kind. Thanks.

@damselindedress

Interesting that the emphasis on the U.K. having ugly women rather than people? That just smacks of misogyny, oh what a surprise!

Yes, the stereotype is definitely ugly women rather than people I've noticed. Perhaps British men are considered ugly too, but it isn't remarked upon as much because men don't owe the world beauty in the way women do

@cyclingmad I am Spanish, been here 20 years and I still hear the stereotypes fairly frequently, even though I am from a non touristy part and nothing Malaga applies to me,

Honestly, I think people are pretty similar everywhere, I live here and I like here, I also don’t agree with many of the stereotypes, many due to cultural clashes and misunderstandings
Btw, in Spain you would be very rude to go into somebody else’s house and remove your shoes

Brits call it politeness, others see it as hypocrisy.
Brits call others rude, they call it honesty.
Brits think they're special, others think you are arrogant /deluded.

In places frequented by lots of British tourists, the reputation is of loud louts who piss in the street.

Those who move permanently willingly stay in their own ghettos for years. They call themselves expats when they are immigrants.

The British education system has an unfounded good reputation.

The unclean houses impression I'd say is down to the prevalence of fitted carpets - you can't really clean carpet properly with the best will in the world and they are a dust trap.

My Dutch bestie says...

We are an absolute laughing stock over Brexit
We shop online too much (even pre-Covid)
SM has taken over - when do you meet and have real friends?
Lack of community
Run down high streets
Poor quality products, cheap shops, fast fashion, tacky
Indoor rather than outdoor
Unethical in terms of the environment
Unfit
Mono cultural and single language
Over inflated sense of Britain's importance
No common sense, we rely on rules.

Not a great list...

timeforanewstart that's not true. There has been long running threads about Americans and Australians, brits screaming racist for hundreds of posts and the natives of those countries being expected to take it in good spirits.

We all love something about our own country, that is how it should be, but sometimes it's interesting to learn how other view us, fairly or not.

No. It’s seen as really rude in Canada and the States to not take your shoes off

I once asked this on an American forum out of curiosity- consensus was it's weird to take them off! So I think the North Americans are as divided as us on this.

Oh yes Those who move permanently willingly stay in their own ghettos for years. They call themselves expats when they are immigrants

And criticise ethnic communities here who may choose to do the same.

Loved winding up some of those 'expat' communities, including my DP's by calling them 'immigrants' and deploring their use of the healthcare system in Europe!

End of the day we are all human beings on one planet and qukte frankly do I really give e a crap what another country thinks of where I live and what this country is like...no I don't, I don't lose any sleep over it.

I'd much rather continue to live nt my values and standards of not judging other people and being kind to my fellow human beings instead. All for some lighthearted tongue in cheek comments like do we live the Queen, obsessed with tea because its harmless but saying we have dirty houses well dirty based on what standard? Your standard of whats clean which is highly subjective.

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

@damselindedress

Interesting that the emphasis on the U.K. having ugly women rather than people? That just smacks of misogyny, oh what a surprise!

Is it misogyny against English women that English men are considred handsome but woman are not? On the other hand for example Russian men are considered ugly but the women attractive? ( this is the view of a lot of people from my home country) Are they reverse misogynistic against Russians then?

FranklyDear about bit more than half of Spanish people can speak another language indeed, which is significantly higher compared to the language skills in the UK, but not high on EU level - plenty of countries where more than 90% speak more than 1 language. So it's relative.

It’s interesting that several of the more negative stereotypes on here are ones that I’ve seen applied to several other nationalities too - specifically ones about cleanliness, and about the appearance of women of those nationalities (I won’t say which as I consider them to be rude and hurtful). The stereotypes in question certainly don’t reflect my experiences of those nationalities and I’d consider them to reflect very poorly on the people who spout them, but there’s a definite theme there - around ‘dirty foreigners’ and so on. Perhaps xenophobia speaks a universal language... Now there is a depressing thought.

British women have great skin. That's what you get for a 6 week summer each year 😎

I married a Brit and can confirm some stereotypes. I took years to introduce no shoes, rip carpets out, get him to wash himself, trim his nose hair, say what he actually means and get over himself.

Well this is depressing.

Can I ask has your opinion of us changed in recent years? I have to admit, my opinion of my own country has.

During the 2012 Olympics, Britain looked like a great place, maybe I was deluded.

TBH these sorts of attacks say more about the judges than the judged.

Are Russian men considered to be ugly? I thought they had a reputation for being heavy drinkers and a bit backward when it comes to women's rights, but I hadn't heard of them as being ugly.
I always think of Russians as being very hardy.

@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

I second these

Depends what you call proper bread! I can rarely find anything that is processed crap in the local supermarkets.

In the fresh bakery sections of supermarkets. The best fresh baked bread is from the Co-op and Lidl (they use the same provider).
We buy ciabatta, French boule, corn bread, olive bread, rye bread, seeded bread - none of it prewrapped to last for several days.

I am Irish and the only thing I don't like about the British is they tend to claim our big stars for their own eg: Westlife, Boyzone, Paul Mescal, Dermot Kennedy could go on...Otherwise I think its the same as every where else in the world, there's good people and bad. Love a lot about it like the football teams, the tv shows and a lot of my favorite accents are in Britain too

I love the comment up thread that the women in Britain have "wide backs"

Peaky it's like Andy Murray is Scottish when he loses and British when he wins 😁

Down here at the bottom of the world we know them affectionately as whinging poms. Never quite happy.

Brits aren't known for their good looks. Pasty, pinkish skin, overweight and bad teeth.

[Sorry]

Add indoors-focussed and unadventurous to that.

But on the upside Brits are considered to be honest and rule-abiding.