‘What’s an everyday thing in the UK you didn’t realise was unique until someone pointed it out?’ – 22 little eccentricities Brits totally take for granted

The UK is renowned for being chock full of eccentrics and weirdos, as anyone who has ever paid even the smallest amount of attention to our Royal Family will know. But what about the smaller, more everyday oddnesses that the population at large take for granted about their country?

They’ve been discussing our penchant for being a bit strange on the AskUK subreddit after user Zealousideal_Hat8578 asked this:

‘What’s one everyday thing in the UK you didn’t realise was unique until someone pointed it out?

‘I was chatting with a friend abroad and they were fascinated by the idea of kettles being standard in almost every UK home. It made me wonder what other little UK quirks do we not notice until someone else points them out?’

And both Brits and non-Brits had thoughts on the little quirks that are a big part of the UK.

1.

‘Prawn crackers with your Chinese takeaway. I was shocked to find this is not universal.’
–boo23boo

2.

‘Christmas crackers. I know Australia has them but trying to explain the toy, bad joke and paper crown to some is bewildering.’
–rox-and-soxs

3.

”Invisible queue’ in a pub or at a bus stop in particular. It doesn’t look like a queue, but everyone knows exactly when its their turn.’
–Icy-Initial2107

4.

‘Toaster. Not toaster oven, just a plain old 2-slice toaster. Not unique, but almost ubiquitous in the UK and rarer outside it.’
–NortonBurns

5.

‘Carrying an umbrella around in your bag ‘just in case’.’
–lostinamuddle

6.

‘Gravy as a concept, you can even buy it in granules.’
–Lizbelizi

7.

‘Saluting magpies.’
–hltlang

8.

‘Girl from Poland came over for university. She was so excited the first time she got a letter through her letterbox. ‘Just like in Harry Potter!’, she screamed. Apparently they don’t have letterboxes in Poland, or her part of Poland at least.’
–sunshinedeadhead

9.

‘I don’t know how common it is, but milk surprised me coming from Spain. There we always buy UHT cartons.’
–AdaronXic

10.

‘Brits are actually way more optimistic than they’re given credit for, they’re usually ribbed by other countries for being negative and depressed, but we are the biggest buyers of convertible cars in Europe, and look at back gardens: luxury patio sets, pools, hot tubs, barbecues galore. Brits would have to be optimistic to spend all the money they do on fair weather toys.’
–Depress-Mode

11.

‘Double decker buses. Not just red ones, any double decker ones as seen in cities across the UK. Very few other places in the world have these at all (apart from for sightseeing) – Dhaka, Singapore and Hong Kong I think are pretty much the only other cities in the world where they’re common.’
–ThreeLionsOnMyShirt

12.

‘Crumpets. Why they don’t dominate the globe I’ll never grasp.’
–trysca