AIBVB - Am I being very British (lighthearted thread)

[Wills]

I want to know situations where you think to yourself "No other culture would do this! I'm sooo British"
So for me we have 4 kids and despite warning them that it's their planet and could they turn off lights as well as energy bills are going up etc they fail consistently. So Dh has lost it and changed the worst offending light switches to ones that react to Alexa so that we can go to bed and basically say "Alexa turn off all lights". The thing is that whenever I give Alexa a command and it does it I always say thank you. I'm responding to a computer with politeness, enough so that my younger kids are doing the same and the older ones just laugh. Anyone else have similar examples of being very British.?

This is going to go well…

Sorry I havent got ant examples, sorry....sorry

🤣🤣🤣

No, I’M sorry

Please PP you go first

😉

This is the definition of Britishness :-D

I knew before I clicked on this thread that it would be about manners. I don't understand where the idea that manners are British came from - other countries and cultures have manners too!

😂😂

Superb, however whilst it does capture a lot of British Lad culture I'm sort of after the more 'gentile' version. The oaps obviously short changed and furious but still say thank you at the end of their rant!

Yes, but Brits kind of moved it to another level. Especially the "sorry" 😁
When I visit my native country, while we are polite, people still take piss out of the amount of "sorry" "thank you" and "please" I now say

Very British Problems are great to follow on SM

Absolutely they do. But understanding British cultural manners means that it's funny to us because the British public can laugh at themselves as long as the humour is 'British'. I adore the likes of Spike Milligan, Billy Connelly, Jack Dee etc (showing my age here). Equally it's fascinating to observe ourselves from other culture's perspectives. So I have a lot of US friends and they struggle to understand the traditional British humour, but sometimes a comedian can cross the pond and they find it hilarious. This includes Ricky Gervais, John Cleese and Steve Coogan. I find it fascinating who can amuse the US and who can't. But I'm digressing. What, for you, was the moment that you felt the most British - I'm not asking for the moment you felt extremely patriotic (I get those whenever I see a spitfire etc), rather the moment where you realise that your behaviour would not be understood in another culture. My example is that what other culture regularly turns around to their Alexa object and says thank you.

I say please and thank you to Alexa and I think about how I can get Alexa to say ‘you’re welcome’ after I say thank you

Mine says it. 😁

Yep that's me! So glad to have company. Just wanting to know if there are any other examples

If I bump into a table, I apologise.

And when I Google I put in commas and.make paper questions

And in supermarkets when I use self service, it often says thank you and I reply, youre welcome.

My mum thanks the cash machine

Omg 😂

I actually didn’t realize British people had a reputation for over-apologizing (although I now see that it does appear to be the case). From the Anglosphere, I thought that Canadians had cornered the market on that stereotype.

I always say please when ordering anything (like a coffee) but notice others just say I’ll have a xxxxxx (no please or thanks) also always thank the bus driver when getting off the bus & give a hand up thanks if crossing the road - my kids have learned from me and also do it but I see less of it from other people (especially in London)

Some nations say things like ´thank you, please’, ´ my name is … please’. I think nations the British will seek more polite than other countries because some European countries are rather ‘tough’.

I do say thank you to Alexa but i don’t think it’s because if my Britishness. It’ll probably take more effort to omit it then leave it included, as my default.

The most British thing I can think about it the queuing for no reason thing. Then again plenty of queue jun ping goes on too

Whilst in a department store in another country I formed orderly queue for changing rooms. It was obvious to me that I was in a queue and was first but other person barged in when space became available and didn't ask me if I was in the queue

I always say thank you when I go through an unmanned toll - obviously I say thank you at manned ones as well!