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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

Scotland & England (lighthearted)

106 replies

chocolatecakemakesmefat · 04/07/2016 19:18

Not really an AIBU but thought I'd post in here for traffic , we have in laws who come from England and Wales , they were here visiting and we got onto the subject of differences ie they'd never heard of buckfast or Irn-bru Hmmdidn't have a clue what the orange walk was Shock and the education seems to be different ie they say there 'going to school' at 3 when here it's nursery and year 1 year 2 etc , we have p1,p2 etc , I found it weird that there so many differences when we're only a few hours drive away anybody else ?

OP posts:
backwardpossom · 04/07/2016 22:26

True that about Glasgow. Although it's the only city I've been in where strangers have chatted to me. I love Glasgow very much.

HandsomeGroomGiveHerRoom · 04/07/2016 22:35

It has a lovely vibe, Glasgow. Glaswegians I know look at me like this Confused when I mention how hospitable I've found it, though.

HandsomeGroomGiveHerRoom · 04/07/2016 22:37

Excuse, I've come across 'outwith' in military circles, but never elsewhere outside of Scotland.

HandsomeGroomGiveHerRoom · 04/07/2016 22:38

Outwith Scotland would have saved two entire words there.

Innermagic · 04/07/2016 22:40

I'm in Ayrshire and we have lots of orange walks. I met a lady from Manchester abroad once that didn't realise Scotland was a separate country and not just a town in the north of England. Hmm
Also don't think people down south know that we have longer days in the summer.

PixieGio · 04/07/2016 22:49

Possibly backward - though we stayed in a village too but still found people alot more reserved than my Lancastrian homeland. I still cherish it though. My firstborn was born at AMH after 30 hours at Peterhead and an ambulance transfer. I loved Peterhead Birthing Centre - highly recommended to anyone reading!

BlueThursday · 04/07/2016 22:54

I saw on TV once a girl discovered she was a twin by having the time of her birth on her birth certificate so I was convinced I was also a twin due to this fact Shock

Until I discovered in Scotland everyone has the time of their birth on their certificate Sad

LunaLoveg00d · 04/07/2016 23:04

Having lived in England and both the east and west coasts of Scotland there are a lot of differences - between all regions and not just between Scotland and england.

I still can't get my head round the English school system, even though I have family members going through school there. Year 4 means nothing to me. P1-P7 and then S1 to S6 seems a lot more logical. I also used to live in a part of England with infant, middle and senior schools and that was even more confusing.

The legal system is completely different with different terminology - we don't have manslaughter, we have "culpable homicide". We don't have barristers, we have advocates. If you're selling a house you don't exchange contracts, you sign the missives. We once went through a horrendous transaction of selling one house in England, buying a house in Scotland, dealing with two sets of lawyers and trying to get them to speak to each other. ARRRGGHHH still gives me the rage several years on. And the infamous not proven verdict could have a thread all of its own (it is generally taken to mean that the jury think the accused is guilty as hell but there isn't the evidence to prove it, and they walk away a free man).

Orange marches are very much a west coast thing, I grew up in the east and the first I was aware of them was Edinburgh City Council banning them in the late 1980s. Until then I was completely unaware.

I use "outwith" all the time when writing and if it's a scottish term that explains why it always gets that wee wavy line...

EdithBouvierBeale · 04/07/2016 23:18

I have been to two English weddings which finished at around 9pm. This would never happen anywhere in Scotland!

familygermsareok · 04/07/2016 23:27

When DM moved down to England she would tell her friends she was going to get her messages. One friend eventually asked her who was leaving all these messages for her- they had started to wonder if she was some sort of spy Grin
I love all the differences both between various countries and regions. Especially love that our school hols are different so get cheaper deals (Angus even seems to have different Oct hols from almost anywhere else in Scotland so often get cheaper flights before the bigger areas break up)

familygermsareok · 04/07/2016 23:29

Ceilidhs at weddings - our English friends love them! Disco not quite the same.

Roseformeplease · 05/07/2016 09:07

DS (Scottish) and I are off to visit my extended family in England. He was trying to work out how to field the inevitable questions about A Level choices. His cousin who is the same age has just picked 3 A levels and DS is filling in his UCAS form. Both were 16 last month.

I told him just to say, "It's complicated" as the truth sounds like a massive boast as his High School offer early Highers so he has a lot of qualifications already.

redpinkblue · 05/07/2016 10:43

Weddings that finish at 9pm????????

Oh my god, that's when weddings are just getting started up here.

Furiosa · 05/07/2016 10:51

I've never been to an English wedding (or Welsh for that matter) that finished at 9pm! It's definitely not normal practice.

purplevase4 · 05/07/2016 12:24

large stores in England have limited opening on Sundays

And it was the SNP that actually stopped that changing a few months ago.

I didn't know the opening hours were different in Scotland, when I've eg been in Edinburgh the opening hours have seemed to mirror those down south pretty much with late closing Thursdays for example.

As for the idea that all the shops close in Liverpool at 6pm - erm Liverpool One? 8pm?

Gothgirl78 · 05/07/2016 12:53

There were / still are orange marches in Liverpool too.

GoudyStout · 05/07/2016 13:28

Aberdeen is the driest city in the uk.

Only if you work for the Aberdeen Tourist Board! London is drier - but Aberdeen is supposed to be the sunniest city in the UK (probably because it's so far north).

I think Glasgow is friendlier than Aberdeen (having worked in both).

I used to use "outwith" when doing property descriptions in England before I came north, so it's not unheard of outside Scotland (it's a great word).

Posh English weddings often finish early - the families go back to one of their homes for a private party.

rwilkinson84 · 05/07/2016 13:29

Think we're all a bit clueless on each other's countries to be honest Smile

The one that really gets me: Scotland and England…not the same place…totally different countries actually…no Scotland is not a city in England…

Came across this once when I was at university and working in a bar and an American woman came in and asked the best way to get to Big Ben. I thought she was having a laugh until she started looking really concerned that getting there would involve a flight or a lengthy train journey…spend a good long while talking to her and found out she'd been told by the travel agency back in the States that it was all the same place and it wasn't that big. I suppose compared to the States we're not that big but I did feel really sorry for her Confused

MidnightAura · 05/07/2016 14:44

I'm Scottish but I like the differences. The English education system confuses the hell out of me.
Incidentally my Americn friend last night said I like your Scottish accent, I don't like the British accent.

ExcuseMyEyebrows · 05/07/2016 20:11

HandsomeGroom I try to get 'outwith' into conversation as much as possible here.
I am making it my mission to introduce the word into everyday English usage Grin

backwardpossom · 05/07/2016 20:34

I had absolutely no idea that outwith is not a word!

pearlylum · 05/07/2016 20:56

Of course outwith is a word. It is in the Oxford dictionary.

Eigg · 05/07/2016 23:53

Outwith is absolutely a word, it's just Scottish English rather than English English.

To say it's not would be like saying that the Anerican English 'fawcet' isn't a word just because British English uses 'tap'

pearlylum · 06/07/2016 06:29

To me it's more like the words " mardy" or having s "paddy". Simply regional variations.
It doesn't mean the word outwith is not part of the English language used in the uk/

ExcuseMyEyebrows · 07/07/2016 10:40

Oh, I didn't say outwith isn't a word - it absolutely is and a very useful one (despite outlook refusing point blank to add it to my dictionary)

I'm Scottish but live in England where it doesn't in my experience seem to be recognised as I get Hmm faces when I say it Grin

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