‘What’s something really normal in the UK that visitors find completely baffling?’ – 23 very British oddities

There’s no doubt that Britain is a unique place. From morris dancing to hun culture to places with names like Bishop’s Itchington, we have a wealth of weirdnesses to be proud of.

However, to an outsider it can be understandably confusing, even the things that to us natives seem incredibly banal. Over on the AskUK subreddit, user Potatoslicer89 asked ‘What’s something really normal in the UK that visitors find completely baffling?’ and added this:

I had a friend from Canada visit and he couldn’t get over how we don’t have plug sockets in bathrooms. What other stuff throws other countries for a loop?

And Brits and non-Brits were lining up with examples of how odd life on this little collection of islands can be.

1.

‘Roundabouts. I worked for a US company in the UK, so we occasionally had US colleagues visit. The UK staff, who mostly had cars, used to regularly give them lifts to their hotels. We soon found that roundabouts were totally alien to them, they mostly came from Atlanta.

Once we discovered this, it was great fun to scare the shit out if them by pulling out into the smallest gaps, ideally in front of a truck or bus.’
–SingerFirm1090

2.

‘I had some Dutch friends stay over and they were aghast when I proceeded to make myself a crisp sandwich. But they absolutely screamed when I put vinegar on my chips.’
-HaloJonez

3.

‘How tiny homes in the UK are. A friend of mine from the Netherlands was aghast, after visiting a friend who is a professor in Oxford that ‘this man, who is at the top of his field and teaching at one of the most prestigious institutions in the world lives in a tiny, mouldy home’.’
–Vitalgori

4.

‘I have known a lot of people be a bit confused/surprised by drinking in public, i.e. Standing outside a pub with a pint in the Summer, or drinking in a park, etc. Apparently still a big social no-no in the US or Australia, where if you drink alcohol in public for any reason, someone will probably tell you off and/or call the police.’
–BobBobBobBobBobDave

5.

‘My answer to this periodically-asked question is always the same:

The washing up bowl in the sink.‘
–tmstms

6.

‘Been here three years and all the gambling advertisements absolutely creep me out.’
–Herne_KZN

7.

‘Had some of my Australian relatives visit – their kids couldn’t get over houses with stairs in them (pretty much every house in their region is a bungalow).’
–steveakacrush

8.

‘An American guest was really annoyed because my mum didn’t have a tumble dryer. I think they tumble dry everything and air drying is a foreign concept to them.’
–luala

9.

‘Some beaches I went to were composed of pebbles, not sand. Crunchy!’
–TheWholeMoon

10.

‘My Canadian SIL can’t understand why the British are so ill-prepared for poor weather (both suitable clothes and infrastructure-wise) despite it raining for 8 months of the year.’
–PJC83

11.

‘Picked some friends from the US up from the airport and was driving them to our house. At the start it was very jolly, then they got a bit quiet, I then realised something was up and turned to ask what was up. They were all white faced clutching the handholds.

None of them had ever experienced one of our country lanes before, they were utterly terrified and appalled that doing 40-odd down a single track road was even possible let alone normal. I was a bit shocked as this was far from the narrowest road we could have taken.’
–dervish666

12.

‘Having washing machines in the kitchen seems to blow American minds. This is the only place with adequate plumbing and drainage, we don’t have space for laundry rooms, for the most part.’
–arashi256