What’s a very normal British habit that would completely confuse non-Brits? – 17 things that seem absurd to the wider world
There’s lots to like about Britain. Its sense of humour is beloved around the world, and its cultural contributions can’t be underestimated.
However there are plenty of British customs that make no sense if you weren’t born and raised here.
Reddit user JacobPChippy was clearly keen to learn more, as they asked members of r/AskUK to share normal British habits that would confuse a foreigner.
And they even kicked things off with their own suggestion:
‘“Alright” as a greeting is an obvious one!’
Get ready to form an orderly queue, here are the top replies…
1.
‘Our willingness to eat almost anything on toast and call it a meal.’
-Sure-Present-3398
2.
‘Cheering at the sound of smashed glasses/plates’
-Single-Aardvark9330
3.
‘Pantos. Totally incomprehensible to anyone outside the UK. (And cricket, to anyone outside the Commonwealth.)’
-paolog
4.
‘Bonfire night is the typical one, having a holiday where we celebrate the burning of a Catholic’
-dbxp
5.
‘Saying “oh, sorry” when a stranger bumps into you.’
-hazps
6.
‘Putting a Christmas Cracker in front of someone. Then everyone on the table crosses arms in some sort of ritual with loud pops. This is then completed with a paper hat, bad jokes, and a kinder surprise toy.’
-shambling_mound
7.
‘I find it weird when you are on a train and the person next to you needs to get off. They will start touching their bags more and more expecting you to get the hint and move out of the way, rather than to inconvenience you by asking you to let them out.’
-znv142
8.
‘Moaning about poor public services, but also moaning about any suggestion of tax rises to fund better public services.’
-DeltaPapaWhisky
9.
‘Being polite and thanking the waitress in a restaurant freaked my Dutch friend the fuck out. He was literally cringing over it and asked us WTF was wrong with us and why were we being so obsequious
‘Apparently in the Netherlands everyone accepts that being table staff is a shit job, you pay respect by getting everything over as soon as possible with as little human interaction as possible. But we Brits aren’t as bad as Americans at least, according to him ’
-Thraell