What is a very British thing that British people don’t realise is British? – 17 weird ways of life that always confused foreigners
There are certain stereotypes that every British person is aware of, like how emotionally reserved we can be and how we say sorry far too often.
However there are certain quirks and oddities we’re simply far too close to, meaning we can’t see how unusual they are. To give us some perspective, UsamaBhai_101 put the following question to r/AskUK:
‘What is a very British thing that British people don’t realise is British?’
Here are the top replies that will have Brits spitting out their tea in surprise…
1.
‘Our indirect way of communicating is quite typical of Britain and Ireland, and it can be quite a culture shock when speaking to people of other nationalities who tend to speak more directly. It can seem quite rude to us, but really we are the anomaly in this way of communicating I’ve found.’
-BungadinRidesAgain
2.
‘Making light of bad things and making little things massive.
‘You’ve just had an anal bypass, “not too bad”.
‘Just been cut up in a car park, “die you fucking cunt”’
-Jaguarmadillo
3.
‘People think we like queueing. But we’re just good at it.’
-Leucurus
4.
‘I had a professor from Greece tell me that watching me carefully dissect a sandwich and putting crisps inside was “the most English thing” he had ever seen.’
-Hythy
5.
‘Self-deprecating humour. It’s alarming when you work abroad and people start thinking you have self-esteem issues.’
-Sr_Moreno
6.
‘Manners.
‘When you travel abroad you realise just how little manners a LOT of folk have.’
-Trenbolobaby
7.
‘What ‘the other day’ means.’
-HTD_Blog
8.
‘Saying “you alright?” as a greeting. I said it to an American once and he looked concerned and said seriously “yeah why, do I not look alright?” He thought I was implying he looked ill or something. (The expected answer is basically just “yeah good, and you?” – it’s a bit like “how do you do” in that it’s meant as a greeting and not as a genuine enquiry into your wellbeing.)’
-werewolfbutch874
9.
‘Going “Wahey!” when someone drops something in a pub, restaurant, cafeteria, DIY superstore etc (sack the the juggler.)’
-Eddie_Youds