9 Weird Things British People Do (that they think is normal!)
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- čas přidán 11. 05. 2024
- As a foreigner living in the UK, I've been observing the British people for a long time!! Here's 9 weird things Brits do that they think is normal!
I love learning about British culture and once I think I know everything... something happens that surprises me.
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Hey! I'm Alanna - a twenty-something documenting my life as a Canadian living in England.
I share the ups and downs of an expat living abroad and what it's really like living in the UK. It's not always easy, but there's been so many wonderful experiences, too. I post a CZcams video every Tuesday plus an additional video every Saturday on my Patreon account. I also livestream every Wednesday and Sunday at 5:30pm GMT/BST on Twitch.
Alanna x
thanks so much for the love on this video 🎉 if you wanna support me directly + get a bonus video every week, please consider joining me on CZcams Memberships 🇬🇧 czcams.com/channels/kJrZ_GpGyrbQZ7YtdjKT7Q.htmljoin
Just found your channel and loving it - nice to see our idiosyncrasies from a different perspective :D
I think you would love the west country, where even a complete stranger can say to you "Hello my lover" :)
In fairness to the Morris dancers, all dancing is a bit weird and silly, if you think about it.
They just truly commit to that cause.
Was in a pub once when the barman referred to a female customer as "love". She bridled and told him not to call her "love". "Sorry darling," was his reply.
😝
Ok pet
I live in the West Country, a lot of people say “my lover”, it’s adorable.
I work with a copper haired godess. Babe is fairly safe.
@@johnlochnessyes, I'm from Cornwall and also say my assum.
The first "goodbye" on a phone is really the equivalent of last orders in a pub.
I always find it best to start my goodbyes at the beginning of a conversation.
In a pub, there is an applause or cheer when someone drops a glass. :)
along with a group cry of 'sack the juggler !'
and some wag saying 'don't bother to wash that one!'
Same when a waiter/waitress drops a plate in a restaurant.
Ahahah yeah
@@stephensmith1118 as an ex DJ, I sometimes used to say "Sack the juggler" over the mic........However, now Im dating a lady who manages a pub..........she's told me it makes her want to punch the person that said it as it's extremely annoying LOL
Things British people think are normal:
1. not getting shot at school
2. not going bankrupt when you get sick
3. not having type-2 diabetes
4. fruit and vegetables that actually taste of something
5. not showing up late for wars and claiming all the credit
You forgot not being the loudest person in the restaurant.
sadly #2 is very much on the way out.
I have a Here we go again feeling about no. 5.
She's Canadian not American. She says that right at the start of the video and also during the video.
Mate.
If you're watching Morris dancers and you feel it's time to leave, you can't slap your knees because they'll just think you're joining in! :)
😂
🤣
Nice one, Garry.
Easily sorted, the knee slap can be substituted for an overly obvious intake of breath. “RIGHT!”
I do the opposite…when I want to leave, I tie bells to my shins
I was in Bristol once with my girlfriend and she asked someone the way to where we were going. The guy replied, and instead of 'love' or 'darling' he called her 'sausage'.
Because sausage said in an English accent is one of *the* funniest words. It's virtually impossible for us to say without a smile on our faces.
Was the persons name “Billy”by any chance?, if you don’t get the link then try watching the programme “D.I.Y SOS, THE BIG BUILD” titled “Veterans Street” and see who “Billy” called “Sausage” you might get a laugh out of it, and only that particular “Billy” could get away with it.
Personally I like 'Treacle'.
So the guy wasn’t a Bristolian……or he would have said babber or My love
Or you might even hear 'Moiiii loverrrrr'
The "multiple goodbyes" thing really got me. It reminded me of when we'd go to my grandmother's house. She lived on a street which was one way, and the way back was the other side of a grassy area, and she'd ALWAYS stand on the doorstep, even in the rain or freezing cold, to wave to us again as we drove back past, and we kids would love it and wave back. So sweet.
My Yorkshire son lives in New York and a few years back was walking through Central Park and chatting to us on his mobile phone when he suddenly said "Hang on a minute, there are some morris dancers over there". Being a journalist he had a quick word with them and discovered they were Canadian and, if my memory serves me correctly, from Toronto.
So, yes, there are morris dancers in Canada!
I went to my first Highland Games in Canada.
Not after the RCMP crackdown there won’t be. 🚨Watch out for Operation Broken Stick.
We Brits are worried about Morris. Remember Rowan Atkinson's description (if memory serves): "a bunch of effeminate blacksmiths waving handkerchiefs they've just finished blowing their noses with".
when I lived in the middle of nowhere in northern BC a good 20 years ago, there was a troupe of Morris Dancers active in the very small city I was living in! They were all Canadian.
@@lost_boy
I suppose depending where you happen to be in Canada they could be Maurice Danseurs.
Morris dancing started when one Brit slapped their knees and said. "Right! We best be off." Then another Brit slapped their knees and said. "I should go too, with bells on." Then it just escalated from there.
Some Morris dancers have been trying to leave the same party for over 10 years now.
🤣🤣
So cute! 🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺🕺
Alanna has pointed out knee slapping as a British thing before. I would never have noticed it if she hadn't because it's so normal. Maybe the German equivalent is getting up at 4:30am and having half the day's work done by 9:45.
🤣🤣
🤣😂
The knee slap only applies when one is sitting. For standing, both hands are firmly clasped together with a slight rubbing motion of the palms while saying “right then”. Not only is this the signal that one is leaving but also warms the hands a little so the following handshake is not too clammy.
So true 😂
This is so true - the hand rub is the correct procedure when standing. I would imagine it is in Debrett's
Thank you. I was wondering about that.
Right, then!
Lol. 100% true
@@mikepalmer8 Surely it is, it goes back to Anglo-Saxon times.
I'm Greek. I lived in York for 5 years back in the late 90s studying. It was really heartwarming when old ladies were calling me 'pet' or 'love'. When it comes to the knee-patting thingy, it's not uncommon in my country also, and as far as I've seen, the germans do it too, so possibly it's quite common this side of the pond...
Rigth? I am French and I slap my thighs too but never realised I was doing it until this video. But I also been living in the UK for 20 years. So I can't remember if I always done it or if I picked it up from the Brits😂
French also
The thing that many of the Americans struggled with when visiting the UK on business, is the concept of humour being permissible in a formal setting, and even business meetings, That really threw them when they first came across it. There is almost nothing that we won't joke about, and if it is in questionable taste, so much the better. A good example of this was, I was at my cousin's funeral. She had died quite young, from 'an overactive knife and fork' and was probably as wide as she was tall. After the service, my brother and I were standing outside looking at the flower arrangements, in the middle of which was a huge purple wreath. I nudged him in the ribs and nodded toward it and said 'Cadbury's' (Cadbury's chocolate has a purple wrapper, and I was inferring that they sent it to a 'loyal customer).
My family are all aware that when I go, my choice of music for when I'm lowered out of sight is I Want To Break Free by queen, followed by I'm a Firestarter 😅😅😅
@@obi-ron Good choices. When I lived in Braintree, I used to see Keith Flint in town quite regularly. He only lived about a quarter of a mile from me.
British humour at its finest, not meant offensively at all
@@obi-ron ‘I’m still standing’ by Elton John for me.😁
You were implying it was from Cadbury's.
Oh I never realised that Morris dancing was as modern as 1448, I had assumed it was an old tradition.
That's the first record of it, but it was obviously well established by then. It's not only a mere 600 years old. 😂
Yeah, it takes a lot longer than 600 years to make it an "Old tradition"...! (That's our British sarcasm....!)
You do realise that the USA is only officially 250 years old & was only discovered by the Europeans 700 years ago.., but I'm sure there are many things they would consider "Old traditions" there.
😂
It's one of them new fads! It won't last!
It isn't really. There're records of types of folk dances going back that far & further, but the current form of Morris Dancing is mostly a late 19th century affectaion.
No. 7 is down to the fact that irony/sarcasm is so fundamental to the British psyche that we're not even conscious of it half the time. So we say the most horrible things to the people we think the most of because it's programmed into us that it's being done ironically.
I think it's the true divide in the English-speaking world. Brits, Aussies and Kiwis all take the piss out of those they like whilst Americans and Canadians tend to be a bit more straightforward in their affections.
Humour is woven in to the fabric of the British culture. An Englishman, Welshman, Scotsmans and Irishman walk into a Pub, you see how much we we need a sense of humour!
@@Roskellan hahahahaha the pub part is true 😅
An Englishman an Irishman a Scotsman a Welshman a Bishop and an actress walk into a pub and the barman says" is this some kind of joke? "
Kipling wrote a poem about the British being polite - Et dona ferentes - which ends with "beware my country when my country grows polite".
Its not so much what you say, but how, when and where you said it that frames the intent and meaning behind it for us Commonwealth citizens... when you cant recognize those borders it can be confusing.
In the UK people love to queue and are terrified of jumping the queue. I recently went into an empty fish & chip shop and immediately gave my order at the counter. I then walked away several feet, turned around to stare out of the window. A woman came in and said: "Sorry, are you in the queue?" I thought what queue? She was terrified of the remote possibility that I hadn't been served first!
probably a legacy from all the queueing during rationing in WW11
Not terrified, just considerate
The saying is "Sun's out, guns out" (not actual guns, the guys arms)
Yes, people in the UK are polite like that. Unfortunately, people in some cultures aren't taught that basic way to be to be polite.
@@fae44526
World War Eleven?
I worked in a blind school in the UK for a few years. We once went on a school trip because a member of staff had taught the kids to play football by putting bells inside the ball. I was ushered back to the coach at the services, there were panicked people and crying. The kids had set upon a coach load of Morris Dancers and were kicking the c.... out of them!
Yeah my brother's mate's cousin's dentist had exactly the same thing happen.
@@greenaum It's an old joke.
@@MrMassivefavour I know!
If you walk into a pub that you haven't been in in ages and someone leaning against the bar says "Oh my god, look what the cat dragged in!", odds are that they are about to buy you a nice warm pint (of scrumpy if you're lucky).
If I'd known you were coming out, I'd have stayed at home (or gone somewhere else)
I'm 73 and I have never drunk anything warm in any pub in the UK. Proper UK cask-conditioned beer (i.e. real ale) is served at 12-14ºC [54-58ºF], which is very far from being 'warm'. We drink it at that temperature to enjoy all the best characteristics of its flavour. This is something that cannot be achieved when you attempt to drink a liquid (euphemistically labelled as 'beer') that has been chilled sufficiently to kill all flavour and numb the tongue. This is why real ale lovers wouldn't touch lager (a.k.a frozen cat's pee) with a bargepole.
I was going to say exactly the same thing.🍺🍺🍺
Back when I was a kid, no joke, we used to have sugar sandwiches. Whenever someone pointed out that it was a bit weird my Mum would just say "its just a jam sandwich without the fruit ..." 🤣. They sound rank but if you get the right mix of butter to sugar they're actually pretty tasty ... if you are 10 years old anyway
Totally wrecked my teeth though. 🤠
I never had a sugar sandwich as a child, but I did have buttered toast sprinkled with sugar. Also used to cut an orange in half and press 4 sugar lumps into it! Thank goodness I grew out of that.
Yes, I had sugar sandwiches when I was a kid.
But that was about 70 years ago, just after WW2, so not much good food or treats available.
No oranges or bananas.
(I do recall canned meats, like Spam -- great fried -- and Snook -- whale meat, but not tasty.)
@@beverleyrankin3482 yeah, I had sugar toast too.
@@harrybarrow6222 I had them back in the ‘80s, so I guess I didn’t really have an excuse 😂
Number 5, sun’s out: guns out is probably a vitamin D deficiency, we get so few of those golden rays, that some of us stock up for the winter
how many times do I say goodbye. about a million times when on the phone with my mum, you can say bye and 10 mins your still talking, it's as if goodbye means, what else you want to talk about. but I still love her
That's nice
A chip butty is the food equivalent of a cup of tea. It simply works for almost any situation. Even Brits think Morris dancing is weird.
Morris dancing is more of a localised thing as well. Doubt you will see any Morris dancers anywhere up north for instance and not in the city.
@@caphowdy666 That's very true, it's definitely only practiced in certain, more southernly areas.
I can't stand tea .
When I was a child, sugar sandwiches were a thing. White bread, white sugar.....
@@wessexdruid7598 Had to be lemon curd when I was a child. Haven't eaten lemon curd for 40 years.
I agree that if someone is being icily polite, they hate you. You can only insult people that you like & are friends with.
Sqaddie banter has to be heard to be believed
@@davefrench3608 lol I joke folk try to insult me I spent my 20s around Squaddies n Bikers I been called the worst things by folk who literally take a bullet for me
I never waste a good insult on someone I dislike!
"You can only insult people that you like & are friends with."
That's where I've been going wrong then..
@@buggs9950 why everyone thinks we so nice N polite
I can’t find the comment now but whoever said that they ate sugar sandwiches as a kid - that’s the funniest thing. I’ve seen this week!!!! Love it! We had mushy pea sandwiches for tea on Sunday!
Morris dancing is worth studying. There's the 'skim the surface' tradition, but the deeper you go, it's part of the martial tradition, when local militias would parade with weapons and mock-fight, with the meaning, we're here to collect taxes / tribute / your young men, and they worked for whomever wished to police the area, normally in the style of a gang, rather than as police.
The author Terry Pratchett did something with his books that had an influence.
When his books touched upon deep myth ('Hogfather', 'Lords and Ladies' and others), he would include the true meaning of the mid-winter festival, or the idea of the 'fey' or 'fair folk', and yes, even Morris dancing. Worth a read.
The early books read like comedy fantasy, the later ones take one aspect and study it until the face cracks off and the skull beneath shows.
Sometimes actually scary, sometimes, like the idea that those with their wits about them lead (any story about witches), quite rational, to a near-scary level.
A British trait is deliberate understatement. We find it amusing, and we can also use it to insult people in such subtle ways that they won't even realise they've been insulted until hours later.
"It's not ideal...."
@@dominicskelton3031 "It's not ideal" means something truly awful has happened, such as a house burning down. When we say "It's a complete disaster" we mean something along the lines of a cake that didn't rise *quite* as much as we were hoping it would.
Exactly.
@@Hayleymoso true 😂
@@Hayleymo "How are you doing?" "Could be better" - anything from a cold to being trapped under a boulder and chopping your leg off with a teaspoon.
I think it's hilarious how they announce election results with all the candidates lined up and you have the Prime Minister standing near Lord Buckethead or a guy in an Elmo suit.
Yes!! I totally forgot!!
And it’s impossible to tell which is the joke candidate! 😉
Ah yes, and Screaming Lord Sutch in the Monster Raving Looney Party, The news channels would have to in the interest of 'fairness' have to mention them when they did reports on the election. Lol
You just have to listen to a few minutes of PMQs to know how appropriate that is. Especially since it seems people are touting Liz Truss making a comeback, probably in order to make Boris look like a reasonable alternative.
Might as well just get a kazoo orchestra to play Entrance of the Gladiators for half an hour tbh.
@@f0rth3l0v30fchr15t 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣👍👍
Slapping the knees 😂😂 OMG we do! Never thought about it before. I agree with you, men should keep shirts on in town.
Crisp Sanwiches are my favourite! As I don’t live in England anymore, your list was a great little trip down memory lane….
I'm a Northerner and we use "love" quite a bit but not as much as the WW2 generation did. I was on holiday in Somerset many years ago and a lady shop assistant called me "my lovely". I really liked it as it warmly executed.
I'm from Nottingham. We use "Eh up me duck".
Bristolians say "My luvver" or "My luvs"
@@Wlechija "My lover" is, or used to be, general throughout the West Country, not just in Bristol, which is on the northern edge of western civilisation.
My wife is a Geordie from New Castle but she never says love in the 15 years I've known her. She's been here in the US for 12 years and lived in England for her first 40+ years.
@@riogrande5761 I can only speak for what I have experienced in the North West area. I can't speak for the North East.
I haven’t seen anything here that is not perfectly normal 😁
The use of pet names also helps you determine what part of the country you are in. Think of it as early rustic GPS
Yeah, if you hear "pet" you're in North East England.
“Yes my lover” means you’re in the West Country
"hen" for Scotland
My sister used to laugh when I called my husband "pet".
"duck" is Midlands
I love that you've picked up that when we are very polite to someone we hate them. It's not always true, as in when we are polite to someone senior that we respect. There aren't many of them around though.
I interpret 'sun's out shirts off' behaviour as 'well it could be pissing with rain tomorrow in fact it probably will be so best make the most of it' 😂
The sun is so unpredictable here that people rush to make the most of it because we don't know when we'll see it again. I've seen people walking around in shorts and flip flops on sunny days in winter when it's like 9°C
Exactly this!
True - especially in the North.
I recently lived with a non-English person and he'd never heard of "warming the plates". After using the oven put the plates in for 20 seconds or so, then serve the food on the hot plate. Plates get cold in the cupboard so heat them up a bit and dinner will stay hotter for longer - great if you are a slow or delicate eater :)
Seems many people in Europe thing we are crazy for putting our plates into a hot oven 😀Probably something to do with many of them having better insulation, so not cold and damp like the UK.
I put our plates in the hot oven for 5 minutes not seconds!
Or put them under the grill because the heat from the oven rises, but doesn't (usually) make the plates too hot to hold. I put them under the grill when the oven has got to the temperature it needs to be for what I'm cooking, then take them out to use when I switch off the oven. There's just enough room under our grill pan to fit two plates, one each for me and my other half.
I microwave the plates now, put the stack in and 30 seconds per plate, lovely :)
We teach our caregivers who also serve the meals at our USA assisted living facility to set the oven on low (170F) and put the stack of ceramic plates in about 5 minutes before serving the meal. Hot plates for hot food; cold plates for cold food (salads etc).
Left England 52 years ago and I still have to get the last ‘bye’ in.
Worth noting that the 'suns out shirts off' thing isnt really classed as socially acceptable by the majority of Brits. Usually demonstrated by men you wouldnt want to sit next to at a dinner party.
Ooh, mater! Off you go and polish your coronet.
Stephen Cobert once interviewed Bono on his show, and upon learning that a "chip butty" was one of the rockstar's favourite foods, said "that is one of the most IRISH things I've ever heard of".
Bless.
35 years ago 😳 I lived briefly in California. I tried explaining a chip butty to my American work colleagues… “you eat a carbohydrate wrapped in another carbohydrate?”
best with a load of fat (butter) and one of your 5 a day (lashings of ketchup)
Imagine trying to explain a Wigan Kebab to an American
Nah, we eat carbohydrate and fat wrapped in another carbohydrate. 😂
You missed offering every visitor to the house a cup of tea. 😅
Nice. I like tea. :-)
Oh go on then, milk no sugar!
I don't think that's weird
I remember getting scolded as an adolescent for not offering a visitor a cup of tea within the first five minutes
That crops up in another of her vids. Very odd. Applies to tradespeople (i.e. complete strangers you are employing). Carried to its logical conclusion we English would take flasks of tea into cafes to offer salespeople when buying a cup of tea.
Chip butties: good butter is important, pepper and salt perhaps, the famous brown sauce is also nice.
An absolute carbohydrate bomb, which can put you to sleep like Christmas Turkey, but very filling and satisfying.
Hi. Just discovered your channel today. What astute and lovely observations. Not stereotypes. Not done in a mocking way. Highly accurate. Generously presented and your appreciation of our little foibles comes across loud and clear. Good for you ... Pet. 😂😂😂
When something as intuitive as the ‘knee slap’ is explained back to me, it’s amazing how mental it sounds!
I never knew how strange these things were until now! However the men who walk around with their shirts off is nothing but gross. I don't know any woman that thinks that is okay. It's not a British thing it's a matter of manners.
Germans do the same.
Fish finger sandwich? Now we’re talking! I enjoy the fact that you’re so spot on with your observations, but clearly in such an affectionate way (except, perhaps, the shirt bit). It sort of makes me feel proud of all these British quirks that I’d always taken for granted and never really taken the time to appreciate before. Thanks!
The best hangover cure!
Lashings of mayonnaise or tomato sauce.
If being used as a hangover cure l think ketchup is best because of the tomatoes giving vit. C…
Be rude not to indulge in this x
Fish finger sandwich with tomato ketchup and beetroot for me!
Slapping the knees made me chuckle! I do it all the time, it is a visual sign to my other half to stop waffling and get ready to leave!
You don't have morris dancing in Canada or the US, but you do have native American/Canadian dances which I would think are much the same principle! Thanks for the absolutely accurate insights into the quirks of our proud British culture!
I'm glad you brought up the knee-slap thing because now I am suddenly aware of it and it's hilarious. It was there all the time, hiding in plain sight.
Thanks so much for watching!
How strange we never noticed that .. but yeah, we do 😆
Just knee-slap and "right" - it doesn't need an actual sentence, everything that needs to be said is understood implicitly....
@@dominicskelton3031 😂 it's true 😂
I’ve never done the knee slap.
Reminds me of a quote from Fawlty Towers: 'Goodness! A satisfied customer! We should get them framed' 😂
Stuffed.
Stuffed, not framed!
I wouldn't take my shirt off unless on the beach or by a pool. I'm older and though I am in favour of personal freedom I prefer not to see it in shops, pubs, etc (regardless of physique).
Hello Alanna! Thank you for the entertaining take on Brit social differences! It was ever thus . . . . My late mother would tell of diplomatic receptions back in the 1930s where an old school British Ambassador would meet (say) an Italian ambassador - but any Latin or Mediterranean ambassador would probably do,
The Brit is comfortable to stand and chat from a couple of feet away, but a 'stereotypical Italian' is more comfy at a couple of inches - or so it seems to the Brit. Remember that senior diplomats represent their nation, and that they will represent national characteristics more emphatically than the general population - so the Brit politely reverses away, and the Italian politely closes the gap, and they continue to chat diplomatically whilst moving discreetly around the reception room!
She encouraged me to look out for this sort of activity at parties! We would make a game of it, trying to guess who was thinking what... whether they would zig or zag next ...
Our family is scattered all over the planet, we have relatives in much of Europe, S Africa, New Zealand, Australia and indeed Canada! Two of my Anglo-French Cousins emigrated to Quebec from Marseille, a long time ago now. They liked it there!
Have you tried Devon and Cornwall yet? Do not be startled if you are addressed as "My Lover" down there!
Another very Brit thing is the standard UK joke format . . . "An Englishman, a Scotsman, and an Irishman walk into a bar . . . "
Very few men in the UK do the 'sun's out - shirt's off' thing. Those that do stand out precisely for that reason.
Clearly you have never worked in public transport
I agree in my 13 years in this great country only have I ever seen approximately 100 men with their shirts off not including the odd middle schoolers at the park and yes I still have a 3 tier school system.
The local supermarket used to have notices on the door saying "Shirts must be worn on the premises". Any old T shirt would be fine.
Related, the British love convertible cars to make the most of the four weeks a year when you can put the top down.
You've never walked down the main street in an Irish rural town either, you'll see the lads out in the depths of winter wearing a hoodie and shorts as well especially if the sun's out from behind the rain clouds
In Newcastle they don't even wait for the sun!
A Scot here. When I first visited my sister in Leicester, I found being called "me duck " weird. As in "alright me duck?".
But in Scotland a female can be called 'hen'. In Ireland my friend's mother used the term 'chicken' - for example, 'here you go, chicken.' And for point 5, in Scotland when the sun is out, while the men may have shirts off, the ladies can be seen sitting on grass with skirts raised to catch sun rays.
Going to university in Exeter it was startling to be called 'moi luvverr' by all and sundry. (Except other students, of course.)
@@WVislandia taps aff....
@@WVislandia As an American living in Scotland, I love being called "hen", but "pal" was one that took me a while to get used to -- in the US, it's used mostly between men in a vaguely aggressive manner or by adults to children.
Duck is very much an East Midlands thing especially around Nottingham
"My bus has been late, not surprising" lol
I have a 'chip and pea' sandwich sometimes. 4 chips around the edge, peas in the centre, fold and eat. So nice.
Re: #3: in Newfoundland we do this all the time! Love, duck, ducky, darling...I once had a waitress call me "my lover," and my then-boyfriend (from Toronto) looked bug-eyed. I couldn't stop laughing long enough to explain that it wasn't what he thought.
Quite a lot of these endearments are localised in Britain. "My lover" is largely confined to the West Country, just as "m' duck" is an East Midlands expression.
@@davidjones332 Marra it is in Cumbria, have a look at Korean Billy (CZcams channel) on the Cumbrian Dialect
I'm Australian, living in Australia (I lived in the UK for 18 mths). We do the knee-slap thing here too when it's time to go. Also with the politness vs name-calling thing... that's also a thing that happens here. e.g. someone you don't like is "a bit of a bastard" but your best friend is "a total bastard".
@circleofleaves2676: A friend who used to visit his mother in Sydney (from the UK) told me that bastard was a term of endearment in Australia, except when it wasn't. 😁😁
I thought you guys called your best friend a total c**t, i worked with an Aussie he used to call everyone a c**t. He went back to Oz, i miss him dearly, he was such a sweet old man.
@@silverknight4886 "except when it wasn't" you nailed it
I got addressed as a "Pommie bastard" when i was over ( oz) there at the same time as the Rugby.
@@Pat14922 that means we think you're ok
And don't forget the all time favorite "sausage". The slapping of the knees, I have been told, is symbolic of waking up the legs. A gesture of having stayed too long.
I'm 71 and never heard of Colin the caterpillar cake 😂😂
You haven't lived!! Its a cake that every child has had at some birthday party for the past 30 years or so and all the adults are waiting around like vultures to pick on the leftovers
It's just overpriced M&S food for posh people, or those who have "aspirations". 🙂
@@katewragg5646 I've never heard of Colin the Caterpillar Cake.
Cuthbert the caterpillar also available
Or, indeed, Colin the caterpillar! I'm 70, BTW.
I'd never heard of Colin the Caterpillar until I started seeing CZcamsrs telling me that everyone in Britain knows who he is!
Yeah, that caterpillar cake, I always thought it was to do with 'the very hungry caterpillar ' book.
you missed the bun-fight a couple of years back, when Marks and Spencer - the original Colin the Caterpillar seller - went at Aldi in the courts for selling a "knock off" or copy of Colin whom Aldi named Cuthbert! ;o)
@@dianewyatt7617 Same here! And this is also the first time I'm hearing that his name is Colin.
I’ve come across it once, as a child, but certainly never thought of it as a ‘normal’ or common thing until seeing mention of it 30 years later, on CZcams. Having tasted it, I can verify that it tastes of absolutely nothing, other than sugar, and would not recommend it.
@@letsrock1729 And note for Americans; it's pronounced "coll-in", not coe-lin".
Another favourite from my childhood is the banana sandwich.
A quick snack my mother would make, from her experience as a child during WW2 rationing, was a brown sauce sandwich! It tastes surprisingly good; not dissimilar to bread dipped in olive oil and balsamic vinegar - just not so posh.
Yum. As as kid I loved them
Also a crisp sandwich is delicious salt and vinegar is best for me
I still have both to this day☺
@@robertcreighton4635 I put them in a salad sandwich, adds crunch and flavour
We were quite poor as kids, so we had sugar sandwiches in place of sweets.
I used to love mashed potato sandwiches as well. Still have one now and then.
I love the knee slap thing, 32 years and I've never consciously noted that.
+ Genuinely excellent impression to finish off on.
My favourite quick meal - Bean n Cheese Butties.
7 Slices of wholemeal bread. A 420g tin of baked beans. A 'healthy' chunk of mature of vintage cheddar, diced into 'bean sized' pieces. A squirt of brown sauce.
Heat the beans, throw in the diced cheese and stir, add the squirt of brown sauce and stir, pop the beans into a bowl.
Take a single slice of bread, spoon a couple of spoons of beans into a line across the middle of the bread, fold and eat. Repeat 6 more times, and if you judge it right the last one uses all of the mix. Job's a good'un.
(This started out as beans on toast... but I'm not very good at remembering stuff left under the grill.... so this gives me more food from less bread, and avoids the stank of burnt toast).
Delicious, super simple, filling and nutritious. 10/10 will eat today.
#3 - if you come to the deep south of the U.S., you'll get used to pet names all the time. Yesterday I was on the phone with a woman from a pest control business and she called me "sweetie", "babe" and "honey" within 1 minute. Thanks for the video.
I was going to say that. In Nashville I get called pet names all the time.
I'm a Brit and live in Monaco, I'm used to the English lack of formality when speaking to strangers. I occasionally call strangers in France (in French) darling or sweetheart, as I do in the UK.
The look of horror on the face of a French woman is a delight. So glad that English doesn't have the vous and tu nonsense.
Although in the south, if some nice lady says "bless your little heart" it is NOT an endearment.
Isn't the deep south the most english part? I think I was told that's why they have afternoon tea and call each other sir and ma'am.
Hot tea is not as popular here as iced tea, but people in some circles drink it. Sir and ma'am were mandatory for me as a child whenever I addressed authority figures or anyone old enough to be my parent (my grandfather had a military background, besides, and he was a big believer in showing respect.)
A crisp sandwich, a slice of Colin cake all washed down with the mandatory quick cuppa tea all whilst having a little natter with your mates, what could be more British than that Alanna. Right time for me to do the offski, I'll see you laters. 😊
A crisp and raspberry jam butty - oooooh 🤤
Ahhh, crisp sandwiches. Memories. Sort of a twenty first century equivalent of Proust's madeleines.
Cheese and onion crisp with ham sandwich. Also Banana sandwich.
As if none of these things happen in other countries. Not exactly unique to Britain.
We have both crisps (potato chips) and chips (fries) in sandwiches! 🙂
As a Brit I really enjoyed your observations, what a great vlog ! Your shirt comment I certainly agree about, and the knee slap I hadn't even realised was a 'thing' ! For me (I'm in my 70s) the really insulting banter is something that has crept in during the last couple of decades or so. Thanks for a seriously good laugh.
My mates and I used to insult each other back in the 1960s so it's hardly just "crept in".
Enjoyed these. Nice to hear something good said about our country/culture for a change (as the country slowly descends into chaos). Colin was my fav 😁
Thanks for making me smile this morning. You say you find Morris dancing strange, I used to work with a Morris Man and he would regularly practice his dance steps in our lab area.
I was in a pub once with my parents and a bare-chested young man went up to the bar. The barmaid said "I'm not serving you until you put your shirt on." We congratulated her for standing up to loutishness.
The bar was inside, that's the distinction.
It's the downside of Summer, beer bellies out. It puts you off your chip butty.
@@linpollitt8950 Speak for yourself... mines not a beer belly it's a full size keg. lol.
You sound like a right posho 😂
I was in the supermarket and the same thing happened, he was complaining about not being served and so the security had to escort him out
A 12 inch HIGH sandwich in Pittsburg took me by surprise. Definitely superior to a fish finger sandwich but more difficult to eat daintily.
Oh my god… the being polite to someone you hate is SO TRUE!!! We definitely do that.
If we are polite to someone, we don't always hate that person , But it's for that person to work it out :P hehe Most of the time it is genuine kindness. The banter among friends is so true though.
Good things about this video that deserve some praise: the purple underlighting of the background; the stylish font listing the pet names; Alanna's toussled-yet-styled hair; how well lit Alanna is, yet her glasses don't reflect the light; the content (duh).
The light not on Alanna's glasses would show the purple light is used as a back lighter. Vary nice 🙂
offensive humor are for friends and politeness is for strangers unless they really lean into it and become sickly polite, then yes they probably hate you.
Formality is cold here, whereas informality is warm. I'm so used to that I was offended when somebody said thank you rather than thanks, ta, or cheers. I'm used to thank you being either FINALLY!!! or eff off. Of course they were like what??? Because they weren't from the UK
I am years off this update, but im sat here with my wife watching this in the UK. The morris dancing comes up and we saw one last summer and we saw the fertility dance...yup. funny convo, this brings back fun memories. Thanks! Keep it up my wife says let's connect. 🎉
I live in Whitby we have a couple of Folk weeks a year - I love to see them dancing in the town and the folk music they bring to the pubs
When the sun's out my shorts are on and I'm out in my garden on my sun lounger 😎☀️ if someone wants to feel the sun on their backs let them we only live once 👍
Me and my best mates insult each other all the time - it's how we communicate 👍
I must admit you had me laughing Allana at the good byes I do that 😂 and basically the Morris Dancer's appear from the 1st of May to bring in the Summer and say hello at last to the warm weather. Goodbye now, bye, bye, byebye, bye now!😉
I have to say, for the past 25+ years, (nearly) every Pot Noodle I've eaten has been Chicken and Mushroom, and into that Pot Noodle, when ready to eat, I empty a crunched up packet of cheese & onion crisps (25-30g) and mix well. I would love to think someone else does this, but I'm not aware
You're giving me ideas. Thanks! :)
A gourmet pot noodle!
Pot noodle sandwich! Never! Not ever in my Northern life time 😂
The knee slap is a good one because I genuinely wouldn’t know how to instigate a polite way to leave someone’s company any other way 😂 look them right in the eye and say “I have to go now”? That seems so raw.
😂
Surely, looking at ones watch/phone "Oh my gosh is that the time I need ..... insert your own excuse"
@@tommul6078 I don’t have a wrist watch so it doesn’t feel as natural to look at a phone and say that. To me anyway.
@@danowen79 Just look at your wrist and say "the hairs on my wrist say it's time to go". Job done!
Canadian here, but born in UK with British family. I do the knee slap (just something I picked up from family) and when I use it with others they just don't get that I'm trying to leave! 😂😂🤣🤣
Thank you understand that British very well we've got low we had loads of milk on the basis I know they were soldiers but we didn't think they were weird and I don't think they thought we were weird I think it's just that you're weird
One of my family members didn’t want to spend loads of money on a wedding cake only some people would eat - the solution was Colin the caterpillar!
Morris dancing is weird to many Brits too. Men dressed in white, with bells attached to their knees dancing together and slapping each others with pigs bladders on a stick…
I’m glad I have just seen this. I had a substantial early pub lunch with friends today and was just thinking about having something else. A fish finger sandwich with tomato ketchup will fit the bill.. Easy to do and yet you feel you have “cooked” something for yourself.
ketchup is the devil's work.
Fish Finger sandwich with salad cream, can't stand ketchup.
That's me triggered.
Truly, though the last relative I had that was born in England was about 300 years ago, it is amazing how many idiosyncratic things we still do in the U.S. that are directly source from England. Especially in the Deep South, hearing someone called sweetie, darling, or honey by a waitress is oddly common. I have relatives that do the knee slap! Contributing to a “ kitty” would be generally understood. The separation by a common language is less accurate than one would expect.
Britain is internally one country divided by a common language. ;) I think we have more dialect divisions in this little island than in the whole of the USA. Maybe culture too.
For the shirt off thing - we get about 10 good days in a year, so getting as much sun as possible is essential for our Vitamin D to last us the Winter
Ironic that Alanna comes from a country where poutine is a normal dish but finds chip butties weird.
Poutine- Fries with cheese curds and gravy.
Love your channel, Duck.
Bye. Got to go now. Byee. See you later. Take care. Ta-ta. Don't forget to phone. Bye. Love you.
Never forget the final "Love you".
I like the weird, the odd, the fringe dwellers, they make life interesting.
They sure do! It would be boring if we were all the same
"The fringe dwellers"...good name for a band
What a fab video relate to so much of that as a Brit. My nana, a lifetime Kentish lady (other than war years) would always call people duckie, it was so sweet. In Scotland women are quite often called hen which I think is kind of similar. Morris dancing is a strange one, when younger \i always thought it a joke but as you get older you kind of appreciate the tradition of it and now am glad that its still going. Bye cya later bye.
Suns out shirts off is my favorite. The Brits are obsessed with the sun. Hence Stonehenge. Im a Yank and I lived in London and my friends would prepare for their holidays weeks in advance by going to tanning salons and other rituals then they would head off to Spain. Meanwhile I would get sun in my back garden in Putney. When they returned a week or two later I would be golden brown and they would be rosy pink.
Wow! I'm British and never noticed the knee slapping till you just said!! I'm going to looking out for that now - and probably stopping my hands midway towards my knees 🤣🤣. Thank you 😊👍🏼 or should I say Cheers Love 😁 xx
Great video Alanna! We have some strange pet names in the South West. You can regularly hear "me handsome" and "my lover" 😂
Love that!
I can definitely testify to “my lover”, but you have to do it in the most Jethro accent you can muster.
Yes. I’m from London and I was on holiday in Cornwall and a lady called me ‘my handsome’. I was chuffed because I thought she meant it but my dad who had been evacuated to there during the war told me that they say it to everybody 😕
I was very disappointed on a trip to Torquay - not only were Cornish accents very rare (it's very touristy) but only got one "my lover" in a proper accent once. That made my day.
@@avaggdu1 Torquay is also very much in Devon rather than Cornwall, which also explains the lack of Cornish 😁
I love, that after a whole seven years we Brits still manage to surprise and delight you
Morris Dancing is actually a form of unarmed combat.
In which their opponents die laughing!
They are sometimes armed with sticks.
I used to make a caterpillar cake before Colin had ever been thought of. I used a long Swiss roll that used to be readily available in most supermarkets, along with my own coloured buttercream and sweets. I used the same Swiss roll and chocolate buttercream, placed on Cadbury's mini chocolate rolls, sweets (especially liquorice) to make a train cake. Then butter tubs covered in foil and filled with sweets for the carriages or trucks being pulled by the train. They're such an easy birthday cake to make!
You invented Colin the Caterpillar! Someone pinched your idea.
A few years ago , there was an exceptionally warm day in late February - about 15 deg C. A bunch of young men walked up past the farm - and they had their shirts off. This in the West of Scotland , at 55 deg North. I really laughed and had to post about it hence I know it was 26th Feb 2019.
Known as 'taps aff'.
It might seem odd but to us Northerners (I'm a Highlander), the sun shining in December can be pretty warm compared to the darker hours, so T-shirts, when the ground is covered in snow or frost is very common. It has to be a bit warmer for shirts off though, it does happen.
I'm pretty sure that was the same February there was a hand written sign in a cafe that said something along the lines of "Could men please refrain from taking their shirts off just outside the cafe as it was losing them business." It was worded in a much more humourous way, but the message was serious. It probably was the same February. We had a mini heatwave in February. I think it was around 13°C which is really hot for February. This was in Newcastle.
The last warm day in the UK, or so it seems just now.
@@robertnewell5057 That's an odd view to have. England broke 38 and a bit degrees in July 2019 setting a new record and then broke 40 Degrees C in July 2022. Scotland set a monthly record high for the UK in Jan 2024.
This is the first video I've seen on of this channel and I'm suprised about this content. I normally expect a less dinamic kind of video when it's an "informational"-ish topic, but this one surpassed all my expectations. You could make more variety of topics without changing anything on the editing and way of explaining things. You could explain anything and still be engaging like many big channels. Congrats and keep it up.
Hiya Eric, I liked Alanna when she compared Salt and Vinegar crisps
Auto correct kicks in, dynamic.
@@barriehull7076 sorry, I’m not a native english speaker
Wait til you see her cooking. Or testing alcohol... 😀
Thanks for the knee slap one. Never consciously noticed it, but you are right!
Loved this. Made me really laugh. I definitely do all of these and hadn’t even thought that they maybe odd!
I used to work in an office with about 15 other people and 3 of us had the same birthday. The amount of cakes and sweets that we brought it were enough to put everyone into a diabetic coma for the rest of the week...
A few years later I worked in a different office and rather than bring in cakes etc on my birthday I bought several extra large pizzas for everyone to tuck into for lunch. If I'm being honest I did that more as an excuse to eat the amazing BBQ Meat Feast pizza a local pizza place did as it was my only opportunity to eat one 😁
Ahhh that's awesome! To be honest I'd prefer pizza to cake 😂
I recall at school in England, for a midnight feast my dorm mates and I might make crisp butties or even Demarara sugar sandwiches (using thick, freshly sliced sliced bread and oodles of butter which we'd begged, fawn-eyed from Cook, of course!). In the West Country, a common pet name would go, "and how be thee, my lover?". You mentioned a while ago the custom of greeting by saying "Y'alright". This is a more informal version of the custom in my childhood of responding to being introduced to a stranger by saying, "How do you do?".
Boarding school posh boy with your Demerara sugar and fresh bread!
I live in The North East and postmen or delivery men will often call me pet, or Flower...I agree hearing a pet name is heartwarming.