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!

Different crowds at the wedding vs the reception.

Brits not rinsing their dishes is defines a thing. I used to work in home care and this was more common than not. This was about 20 years ago so things may have changed.

This was something that foreigners I knew mentioned the most. www.bbcamerica.com/anglophenia/2012/10/the-cultural-divide-on-washing-dishes-brits-vs-americans

I've always rinsed my dishes, I didn't think it was a 'non British' thing to do, but can understand it could be generational! I just thought it was down to common sense and cleanliness!

As for the Spanish finding our sandwiches odd, I remember seeing an anchovy and stilton sandwich on offer in Spain! My friend really enjoyed it and still eats them now but I can't get over the thought of it

I remember stopping off at a motorway service station in Germany and seeing sandwiches with a filling that appeared to be a big, chunky block of wood. I looked at them for ages and still couldn't make out what they were meant to be - they really did not look like anything but balsa sandwiches. They were made on the premises, so not labelled either. Most German food is wonderful, but I passed on that one occasion.

For instance, who is it who finds our sandwiches funny?
Everyone 😂

I had an Italian friend at university who thought gravy was the most revolting food concept in the world. She couldn’t get over it’s vileness.

DH’s family are from (two different parts of) the Caribbean and are mystified as to why British women want to be thin and think being skinny is desirable. Hips, thighs, buns and boobs are seen as desirable in the Caribbean.

what do you do if theres a bit of tea or coffee left in the cup and the sink is full of soapy water , surely thats why you need a bowl so that you can tip it down the side

Anything and everything between two slices of bread makes a sandwich! Chips, crisps, fish fingers, banana..

Indeed. Technically, there's nothing actually stopping you from using a third slice and making yourself a bread sandwich

splitting bills in restaurants equally
God I’m English and absolutely loathe this. Thankfully nobody I know does this as we all like to pay for ourselves. I see threads on here all the time about how the people who want to split the bill are the ones who order the most and spend the most so it certainly works in their favour! Not saying you do this of course, just saying that I don’t think it’s a very popular thing to do!

Technically, there's nothing actually stopping you from using a third slice and making yourself a bread sandwich

Toast sandwich anyone?
My grandparents used to make these all the time for my lunch

I thought you use a washing up bowl so that you can rinse! I.e. you wash up in the bowl and then use the tap to rinse in the sink next to the bowl. Why else would you use a bowl?

LongTallJosie
Dinner for One Where are you? I was introduced to it too living abroad. Had never heard of it before...

The washing up thing definitely!
Why have a bowl when you can use the sink?
Why leave suds on the dishes? And expect to eat from them? I never understood that.
Born and raised here, to mediterranean parents. They never understood it either. Thank God for dishwashers.

Also, my SIL (Italian) doesn't quite get the economical way we serve our food to guests- As in we plate the dishes in the kitchen and that's all you really get, whereas in the Mediterranean, you put on a whole spread; the main meal in all its glory on the table and those that want more can have more.

Oh and the individual hot and cold taps in the bathrooms.

Milk in tea too- I get a few funny looks when I do that

what do you do if theres a bit of tea or coffee left in the cup and the sink is full of soapy water , surely thats why you need a bowl so that you can tip it down the side

Most sinks have that separate little tiny sink at the side for that reason don’t they? I think I’ve had it most places I’ve lived

We recently went to a business function. It was actually held in Bermuda but the hosts are ex-pat Brits and many of the guests and staff have lived and worked in London even if they were not originally from the U.K. so the whole do had a very British vibe. The dress code on the invitation was ‘smart casual’. I was seated with two very pleasant young men from New Jersey who were absolutely convinced that this was a phrase made up by our host as a joke. As they pointed out, its a contradiction for clothes to be both smart and casual, it had a to be a joke. Even though the Brits around the table confirmed that ‘smart-casual’ is genuinely a thing in the UK and all gave our own interpretation of it the two lads remained unconvinced. Incidentally, they were both wearing smart polo shirts, ironed chinos and deck shoes and were excellent examples of smart casual.

English “bread” is what Germans consider to be toast bread - not really to be eaten untoasted. In Germany, as dh likes to point out, the bread is the meal whereas over here the filling is the meal and the bread basically just stops you from getting your fingers dirty.

I’m still laughing about Elouera wondering if the Owls in the pie were wild or farmed.

@OmgThereAreNoPlanes

What do you mean, the windows open out. Don't all windows open out (unless they are sliders?)

forkfun do you find the smell of bacon awful or specifically the smell of bacon in bread? Does it smell any different from just bacon?

Great thread.

YY to not rinsing the detergent off dishes - this gives me dodgy tummy

Sending cards for everything and making a huge deal about it.

Only ever filling someone's glass part way even though there's loads in the jug.

Not drinking very much liquid of any kind, especially at meals - are they not thirsty?

Brits not wearing shoes indoors - where I grew up, everyone wore shoes all time

hard placemats

Sorry
-Saying 'sorry' all the time - often this is when the Brit thinks the other person should say 'sorry'.
-Those announcements on platforms when the recorded voice says, 'I'm very sorry to announce ...'
-Using the clumsy phrase 'say sorry' rather than apologize. In the US, an entity at fault would (formally) apologize. 'Saying sorry' sounds childish and sarcastic to my non-Brit ears.

Insisting that 'British' spelling and pronunciation (which does vary across the UK) is the only correct way when, actually, both have changed considerably over time. Words like color and honor are Latin words and are correctly spelled without -u-. Check the Americanisms-bashing-thread for more examples.

And, despite those Americanism-bashing-threads, pretending that they don't understand flashlight, sidewalk, etc.

Routinely making unkind comments about the US President (even if he is an idiot).

I’ve never used a washing up bowl, surely after washing one thing, everything else in the bowl is just covered in whatever was on the first thing? Seems counterproductive and rinsing after wouldn’t clean things properly.

Would always eat cake at a party.

Don’t like bacon sandwiches.

Don’t drink tea!

I think I must belong somewhere else 😂

Anything and everything between two slices of bread makes a sandwich! Chips, crisps, fish fingers, banana..

You should have taken her to a good northern chippy - told her it was a bit like what the French call haute cuisine only a lot more genteel and exclusive.

I imagine a lot of forriners find it odd that we have lunch on Christmas Day and give presents then, not Christmas Eve...

One British trait I've become aware of since becoming good friends with an American, is "good natured ribbing" of people that we actually like.

I used to work with a Romanian woman who couldn’t understand why Brits would be incredibly polite to people we weren’t that keen on, but would be ‘very rude’ to our friends. She got to the stage where she believed that if someone was being polite to her, they disliked her. (They didn’t, she was lovely).