To ask overseas folk what British quirks they think are weird/funny?

[Burntmybiscuits]

Us Brits are always on our high horse, making light humour over the habits of other countries (particularly the U.S!), so I thought it would be funny to see what people overseas find 'unique' about us!

No one got offended if they only invited to the evening reception. I’m not sure when that became a thing.

Probably when the whole thing because a big production for the couple rather than the guests and increased importance on the venue and fripperies rather than what a wedding traditionally was, a feast. Hence, evening do's with no thought given to them at all besides a cheesy poem to give money, save the dates for evening do's, invitations that require travel and/or staying over or even to a destination wedding but only to the evening do, undercatered or, I've seen this, no food at all on offer for the guests, not even to buy, over-priced and watered down drinks, just basically no hospitality at all but expecting a lot from attendees and/or becoming offended if the invited person declines.

Or shitty timing, this seems common, too, where the first tier overruns (usually through the ghastly tradition of boring, overly long speeches no one cares about) so the guests show up and are kept waiting, sometimes outside in poor weather, listening to all the a-listers eating and drinking, only to come in and not even get so much as a cup of tea.

Also a trend of inviting people to the ceremony, not local but requiring travel and then telling them to fuck off whilst the first tier guests and fed and watered and then come back.

Saying 'half 7' and meaning 7.30. In my country 'half 7' is 6.30

Mint sauce is vile. As are beans.

Hot water out of taps in public bathroom. I hate washing my hands with hot water.

Not saying; I have my period. But instead saying things like, I'm due on etc.

The obsession with baths. Yuck stewing in your own filth.

Tiny ensuite bathrooms. Would much rather have a big family one.

Men taking their shirts off on a mildly sunny day
Saying sorry when it’s not your fault
Meeting for a pint instead of a coffee during the day
The retro sandwiches (Coronation chicken!)
Greasy spoon cafes
Passive aggressiveness
Alan Partridge

I love you Brits!

I'm quite old and wonder if the washing up bowl is left over from when we had to boil a kettle to get hot water.

I don't use one by the way as I think they are gross, as are T towels used for drying up.

My American friend found it awful that British people have their children christened when they aren't religious.

She found our plug in kettles very weird.

She couldn't understand why most people in Britain don't really give a shit about the royals.

And she asked why we drink so much alcohol.

Although she loved our 'mass display of hatred' to trump when he visited

I don’t understand the hatred of washing up bowls. I have one. It’s really practical. You only need to put a small amount of water or washing up liquid in, you can use the sink for other purposes at the same time, less likely to chip crockery, etc.

Not saying; I have my period. But instead saying things like, I'm due on etc

Ah, the British use of euphemisms. We have so many, especially for bodily functions. A friend and I once counted up how many euphemisms we could come up with for defecating, we were up to over 100 before we stopped.

It must be very confusing for people who aren't native English speakers.

Why is a washing up bowl more unhygienic then a sink?

My American friend found it awful that British people have their children christened when they aren't religious

Do non-religious people still do this? None of my friends have, although a few have had naming ceremonies.

I'd kind of assumed it was no longer a thing. It was considered pretty weird when I was baby (born 1955) and DP and his brother (b.1960 &'61) were both christened, but no-one really thought anything of when his sisters (b. 1968 and '69) weren't christened.

Re the alcohol. As far as I know UK isn't even in top 20. I think rather than how much in total it's about how people drink. If I got so drunk I would end up pissing in the middle of the street when I was still party age where I grew up, I would probably have to move. So embarrassing. We drink more, but spread it, not binge drink to oblivion on Friday...

Others mentioned school uniforms. What really baffles me is this assumption that school uniforms are a magic all-encompassing fix for everything that's wrong in the education system.

Do non-religious people still do this? None of my friends have, although a few have had naming ceremonies.

Some of my UK friends did it to get their children into better schools.

And that's another thing that's baffling from the outside. That you have to christen your child to get them into a school that's almost entirely funded by taxes.

I'm from N Ireland so in some ways I nod my head in agreement about the things that Irish people find strange in the UK, whilst with other things I'm thinking 'yea, that's how we do things here as well'.

The washing up bowl thing, I always assumed that came from having limited hot water. I can't do my washing up under a running tap because I'd run through all the hot water in the tank. It doesn't matter these days because most people have dishwashers, but I know when I was a child people would have had a washing up bowl as it used less water than filling the sink. Also for pouring out any leftover tea, half drunk glasses of water etc. I have one of the little half sinks in my kitchen, but none of my friends do, even ones with much bigger, fancier kitchens than me.

I find the importance of Christmas is really weird as most people are not religious.
There are lots of mumsneters complaining they have to go to their parents or in-laws for Christmas day but they actually want to stay at home but cannot as parents or in-laws will get upset.
I have already told my children who are young adults that I don't mind what they do for Christmas when they have families.
Since their teenage years we go away for Christmas and avoid all the madness.

Sorry I havent rtft

I find the weddings weird. Those who go only in the evening don't get to see the couple get married.
Shoes to be taken off at the door.
Washing bowls
Deep fat fryers
Dogs having to be taken for a walk multiple times a day when there is a garden for it to go into
Not being able to wear any light colour to a wedding
The speed it takes to get a first class letter to where it's meant to be
Boxing day being for a day of sport
So many Christmas presents for the dc
The consumption of alcohol, especially when the sun is out
The fact you cannot get garlic on pizza as standard
Setting times for hot water to come on
An entire aisle in a shop for crisps

I think I'll stop now

Your over-politeness like you cant send an email saying " please send me your work" it has to be one paragraph of niceties and then please if it is not too much trouble could you consider to perhaps send it to me and then if not it's ok just please let me know" I get accused of being very blunt at times. I just think I get to the point quicker.

I am glad I am not the only one scaring people with apparent bluntness

Someone once apologised about the brusqueness of their colleague "I'm so sorry - she's German. They're very rude."

I pointed out that I hadn't found her rude at all (I've worked with Germans before - they are rather forthright by British standards, but far from rude). I rather liked her bluntness because I knew what she wanted and when she wanted it for. However I never managed to master the direct form myself - I must have driven her crackers with my English pusillanimity. However e got on very well and worked closely together for two excellent years before she moved on.

Assuming everyone British is English.

I've encountered many Americans who, when you say you live in Northern England say Oh you mean Scartland.

Yeah. British christmas are unnecessarily stressy. We have 3 days. Christmas eve is only the "nuclear family" (have I used it right?) ei. The household. 25th one side of the family, 26th the second side.
So much goose, so much sauerkraut, so many dumplings, open face sandwiches, beers and shots😁

You all need to lobby for more days off😁

Have absolutely loved this thread. So interesting reading things which, to a Brit, seem perfectly normal, but which to others seem really rather odd!

I stayed very good friends with an ex of mine. He moved to southern Italy and I went on holiday a couple of times to stay with him. Italian friends of his thought it was unimaginable that not every home in the UK had a bidet - I tried to explain that as a lot of homes had very small bathrooms there simply wasn’t the space, but they were horrified.

They found it really odd that we used kettles for our hot drinks (whilst I was fascinated by the seemingly more convoluted way that they made coffee).

My favourite was being told that we “eat” our words. Was demonstrated by how they though unbearable should be pronounced: un-be-air-abul. Can still hear that in the lovely Italian accent and makes me smile over 10 years later when I see that word.

PS - am pretty sure that every chicken I have bought states “do not wash” on the packaging.

And cannot imagine not using a washing up bowl!

@Falcor are you Danish by any chance?
(If you are, I am very fond of the 'bluntness' of the Danes, it's not impolite, and gets to the point!)

Also the idea of children flying economy and parents being in business blows my mind.

Is that not just Kirstie Allsop?

What a great thread OP.
I am British born to ‘forrin’ parents.
My parents have always , as do I, found it odd that people take their shoes off when entering the house. We have never understood this or the request to remove shoes. It’s like saying ‘our floor is too good for you to walk on.’
If you have carpets then just vacuum them. If you don’t want your carpets dirtied then don’t have carpet. If you have wood or laminate then just mop it. Saying that you have crawling babies is a silly excuse.
I also find the silence on public transport bizarre. However, I’m reserving this for southern areas of England. I grew up in the Midlands and have travelled in East Anglia, Northern England Scotland and Wales and have always been struck by the friendliness of folk on public transport, in queues, at public spaces and tourist attractions.
Not in the South ( or should I say, the SouthEast .)
As to taps... I agree that separate taps are silly and potentially harming to young children. Hot taps often get scaldingly hot.
As to weddings... invite all or don’t bother... it causes much friction that may or may not be picked up by the bridal party. Just not worth it.
Scale it down and invite those that you love.

I'm only 6 pages in so apologies if it's been said already, but washing up bowls are used to protect more fragile china and glassware from the sink; not all sinks are aluminium.
As for not rinsing I know that when I was q child my grandparents were economical with water - a throwback to living through the war when the water supply to the house could be disrupted without warning. They kept a pail of water on standby, and the kettle was always refilled immediately after use. In their time they'd both had to share bathwater with their families, and eke out all food and drinks, so everything was as protected as possible. ("Waste not, want not" was often bandied about)

I haven't seen them in Asia or America either.
Walmart have them in the US, if we're doing a long road trip we buy a cheap one and chuck it when we leave or give it to someone, they boil far quicker than a travel kettle even if the travel kettle is multi-voltage.

@SchadenfreudePersonified I started a thread about it a few years ago and got told it was fine if you could afford it. It blows my mind that parents who do that are basically saying business class is too good for their kids.