Which Pastimes Are Most Popular In England?

An American tourist in London is asking for directions to the British Museum from a local, He doesn’t understand the local and says, “Sorry, You just have a really strong accent.” The local stares at the American with a smirk and says, “I speak perfect English Mate, You’re the one with a funny accent.”

Slightly wrong about hot water. When hot water came along the water tank heated by a coal fire or an electric immersion heater tank was mostly fed from a cold water storage tank in the attic and not by a direct line from the mains. This attic storage tank was not hermetic and so the water could be contaminated by all sorts of things from dust to insects to rats so drinking water from the hot tap was deemed unsafe. Hence two separate taps. This has largely been sorted out except in very old systems. Also the metric system was introduced in 1971, so no one under 50 would know the true imperial system, not 70. Tiny little errors like this are rather annoying.

I was born in the ’50s and live in Singapore and my family still must have a cuppa every afternoon at 4 pm! My parents came from Borneo and learnt English from teachers from the UK. They also picked up some English habits along the way which have been passed down. English marmalade on toast is my fave (yay to M&S) but nope to Marmite LOL! So a lot of British habits and mannerisms are not foreign to me.

The Union Flag (Union Jack when flown on a ship) can be hung four different ways, three of which are wrong, this allowed the Royal Navy to identify foreign ships sailing under a false flag in our waters, it also allowed our merchant ships to call for assistance because by turning the flag they knew any navy ship in sight would come to investigate and offer aid. One flag but multiple uses, exactly what you expect from a slave nation that fought for and won it’s freedom, who then went on to fight for everyone else’s. God Bless England the one and only country that created the modern world.

What is missing from this list is “What is the expected etiquette in a pub”. Having visited England, Wales and Scotland each a dozen times, it has been and always will be absolutely mysterious what you are supposed to do, how you are supposed to behave, and what you are under no circumstances supposed to do, to simply order a beer, and receive it without any complications.

Puerto Rico uses both metric and Imperial. For example I buy gasoline in liters but milk in quarts. I drive in mph but the roads are measured in km. My house is measured in square ft but the land is in square meters. Nails by the pound but sand in cubic meters. And yes it makes sense and easier when traveling .

Marmite never made it into the prisoner of war camps however, Vegemite did. 😛 However, at least Vegemite wasnt developed by the enemy, that being a German scientist 😀 And as an Australian, baked beans on toast of the morning, nothing wrong with it. Of course my family are England/Scottish descent so it wasnt really that out of place.

Before I even watch this, I can tell you that my most confusing thing about the British are the many, MANY dialects, even just within London, let alone those found across the rest of England. The rest probably won’t surprise me because I have been doing years of UK research and may have seen much of it.

The reason Wales does not have a specific element on the flag is because after the Welsh Henry Tudor (Henry VII) defeated the English king Richard III and claimed the crown of England by right of conquest, his son Henry VIII decided in 1538 and 1542 to pass Acts to amalgamate England and Wales under the laws of England and effectively become a single political state governed by the same civil and criminal laws and abandoning the laws of Hywell Da in Wales. When the Crown of England &Wales was inherited by the Scottish King James VI, House of Stewart, he came up with the brand ‘Britain’ and designed the union flag. At this time the crowns were held in personal union and each country retained it’s own laws and legal system…which is still the case today, after the legal Act of Union in 1707 which was put in place by the last Scots Stewart monarch, his great grand daughter Queen Anne.

I’m someone, from the US, who has never had the opportunity to try marmite or vegemite. It just sounds like jam made of salt and yeast. How is a school a charity? I think anyone capable of fluently speaking Welsh should be considered a genius. A measurement like a pint is a different amount in the US and the UK, FYI. Americans have a problem with baked beans on toast because it’s not the same thing. American baked beans are sweet and smokey, not tomatoey. There is a product which has beans that are like UK baked beans, but they also have pork in them, but that’s the closest you’ll get without having to pay a crazy price to get them shipped from the UK.

Years ago in England l ordered a meal which came with potatoes prepared in either 3 or 4 different ways (long ago), never seen anything like that before or since. Also in the middle of London a gentleman walked up to my friend and l, noticing that we were tourists, asked us if could help us with any directions. Never have had that happen before or since either.

Marmite is an acquired taste, I found it in a grocery store here in New Jersey and we’ll get it on occasion because it’s quite expensive here. And even though it was born here in America, there is a part of me that’s very British I am very much number 8 🤣 then again ethnically I am half British, and extremely proud of it. I’ve only been to those beautiful Islands once in my life, but hope to once again as soon as I am able to

You’ve got things at bit wrong about the metric system. In 1965 I was 10 yrs old and obviously at school. We DID NOT use the metric system then. We learned using the imperial system. The Decimal system came into being in 1971 I believe and that is when the metric system also came into being, after I had left school. What on earth are you talking about with plugs in the bathroom? We always had plugs for the sink and for the bath. We didn’t wash our hands under running water. We had separate taps for hot and cold and you filled the bath or the basin with hot water using both and with a PLUG. God’s sake! Get your facts right.

What’s weirdest about Marmite, I think, is the wholesale adoption of the “love it or hate it” thing. It used to be “My Mate Marmite” (as seen briefly in the ad clips), and was sold as something good – same as every other advertising campaign. Some people despise it – and it’s a very strong flavour, so, if not spread very thinly, even those who might not otherwise care either way end up really not liking it – and that’s something the Marmite folks can’t fix. If you hate it, that’s pretty much that – same as hating anything else. Blue cheese, grapefruit…whatever. So, very shrewdly, they convinced everyone that it was mandatory to have strong feelings about it. If not a hater, you’re a lover. Ambivalence is not an option. And it’s A Thing. Divisive things are “a bit Marmite”. If you don’t really mind it, that’s something you have to declare. Being “meh” about it is culturally off-piste. That’s what’s weird. Everyone has simply accepted this invented piece of marketing as absolute truth: fire is hot, gravity attracts, you either love or hate Marmite.

Interesting about imperial and metric. I’ve used both pretty much all my life as a native born Brit. The only day to issue that I struggle with is converting miles to km. I know that 1km is 0.6 miles. Try working out 483km to miles. 400km is easy. That’s 240 miles. But it’s then working out miles from km of any number between the nearest hundred and zero. Pain in my head.

We did actually change over to metric just as I started work as an apprentice industrial electrician. It was a nightmare as I had to know both systems and be able to seemlessly switch from one to the other. Then there was the hardware, all sorts of threaded adaptors were required so that metric glands, couplings, bushings etc. Could be used with older equipment threaded to take imperial sized fittings. Then of course there were the different screw threads and of the need for an extra set of spanners, drills, taps, dies etc. The imperial measurements for food and particularly alcohol where retained for cultural reasons and I suspect to keep the public happy as the government was at an advanced stage in its application to join what was then known as the Common Market which even then was a devicive topic. I actually prefer the metric system, much more simple to work things out, except for buying beer of course.

That’s funny. Although I’m a Franco-Quebecer, most of those are familiar to me because we were colonized by the Brits a long time ago and it became part of my culture. We do eat beans at breakfast simply because it was a simple inexpensive way to feed the lumberjacks in camps during the winter. And now, it is a staple of every brunch menu in Quebec. Incidentally, while buying my groceries lately, I discovered that my supermarket has Marmite now. I’m really tempted to try it…

I’d agree with seven of these but would argue that three have fallen into steep decline in the 21st century. The very unique British way of mildly insulting a person as a term of endearment and friendship has fallen into rapid decline in the last ten years as political correctness has blurred the lines of what is and isn’t acceptable behaviour. Brits, in workplaces and clubs, have become very guarded of what they now say to work colleagues for fear of getting into trouble with human resources. Individual hot and cold taps began getting replaced with mixers as far back as the 1980s. Most people I know have mixer taps in their bathrooms and kitchens today. Although I personally still love my cuppa, a survey in 2018 found it was in steep decline in the UK. The Brits are now a nation of Coffee drinkers with tea becoming increasingly unpopular among gen Zs. Regarding the metric thing, in the last couple of years I’ve noticed teenagers starting to measure their height in cms and weight in kgs, suggesting there is a gradual shift towards a total metric system. The demise of the milkman saw a switch from the pint of milk to the 1, 2, 3 litre supermarket carton. And in the last few years more trendy bars have started putting beer on their menus in 300ml (bottled) and 500ml (draught) rather than a pint of.

MISSING FACTS #11 & #12: Mojo and most Brits don’t know which way Up to hang the ‘Union Flag’ (‘Jack’ when flying on a warship.!) 🇬🇧 Opening clips: the flag is upside down. The last clip on the Halyard Flagpole, the flag is upright. Aaaand the the group of mini flag-wavers have a mix of up and down. 🤍 God save the King 🙏

In the early 80’s you didn’t even HAVE tea bags! I know, an American living there, I ‘introduced’ tea bags to my local brass band and the ladies, God bless them, just tossed them, unopened, into the pot. I had to show them how to unwarp the paper. Good to see you’ve moved on from leaf. 😉 P.S. learned many clefs in that brass band. Oh, you’re “unique” phrases? Getting “knocked up” in the morning. “Keep your pecker up” song. Love Ya Brits! 🙂

Well that’s bullshit from the get go. Anglo Australians and Kiwis absolutely get British culture, customs and sensibilities. Don’t want to speak for the Canadians but I would assume them too, also, probably Anglo South Africans and even Anglo Indians but Aussies and Kiwis for sure. The Dutch, Germans and French just by proximity and highly interwoven histories. If you didn’t know this I say it’s you who lack a fundamental understanding of British culture, mate.

#10. Marmite is only made in the UK. Wrong, we make and eat marmite here in New Zealand. But it is a love or hate. You’re either marmite (blessed by the gods) or vegimite (Satan’s diorrea. Mind you 90% of this applies to New Zealand as well lol, even the actor on the thumbnail is Karl Urban, who is a kiwi (new zealander)

I normally phone up my mate Slinger and introduce myself with “You alright bastard!” I then get a mouthful of abuse back. Well we were in the Navy in the same mess. I would get suspicious if he said anything nice. However his 4 year old has now learned how to answer the phone. Now his Mum says I’m not welcome at the house. Slinger says give her time… she’ll come round.

I disagree on your no one under 70 grew up under the imperial system statement especially when you said we adopted the metric system in 1965. I started school some years after 1965 and was taught the imperial way for a number of years and When I started work in 1981 can you guess what system we used? Yep Imperial and I’m still using it in this century for lots of things. Luckily I was taught both systems so it’s not a problem for me. In my opinion Imperial is better for day to day things but metric is easier for precision things that’s probably why we still walk for miles, drink pints and eat 1/4lb burgers. But I am defiantly not over 70 🙂

I can only speak from having lived in the US, but US baked beans are very different from those consumed in the U.K., even if they are of the same brand. US beans have lots of sugar and corn syrup and may also contain pork/bacon fat. They are not something you’d want with a full English or as a snack with toast.

Baked beans are only any good if caramelized with onions & or garlic on a pan with a good helping of cracked black pepper. How most Brit or people eat baked beans on a hob or microwaved is depressing. I like caramelized baked beans with a Frikadellen, Hash browns & an egg or 2 fried in butter. Oh & if the beans aren’t like molten like larva you cacked it up some how.

I’m not English and most of these things are perfectly understandable. Young people and professionals use the metric system (like the rest of the world, except maybe one or two slower countries) Agree that Marmite is an aqcuired taste. I will try to explain the separate tap story. In the old days (pre 1970’s) a geyser was a very temperamental thing. If you needed hot water, you ran a sink/bath of hot water and it would take hours to reheat. Even if you just filled a jug from the hot water tap, the geyser would fill with cold water and then use a lot of electricity to bring the geyser back to heat again. If you kept washing your hands from the hot water tap, it would ultimately mean your geyser is filling the whole time and be switched on and off. This means a strain on the geyser as well as expensive in electricity. So if you needed small amounts of water like washing your hands or having tea, you save stress on the geyser by using the cold water which doesn’t feed through the geyser. Geysers today are more reliable and are better insulated so a mixed tap doesn’t make that much impact on the life of the geyser or the cost of the electricity. Sorry, hope that made sense.

The Turks drink more tea per person and don’t pollute it with milk. Carpets in bathrooms are just disgusting dirt and mould traps. There is nothing less humorous than being “proud” of how humorous one is. Teasing people is often a way of abusing them with the excuse that “it’s just a joke”. This is all trivial stuff which doesn’t really matter – after all tea hasn’t been around for ever, nor indoor bathroom nor Marmite – it could all disappear and the people wouldn’t be any less what they are.

If you understand the basics of evoution, you understand why there are so many accents within Britain. Just as the place you will find the most genetic diversity between groups of humans is in Africa, where our species began, the Britain has the most diversity of English accents because that’s where the language originated. The same is true of French, there are many French accents within France itself, but many fewer in it’s former colonies.

That public schools thing makes absolutely no sense… They’re not public schools… they’re not for the public they’re for the rich. It makes even less sense when you also say Private school… state school is fine it gets the point across but using public and private meaning the same exact thing is really stupid. If they were close in original meaning sure, but public and private are two very different things in meaning.

A public school is where children of the general public can get an education, and it was a great social development at the time. Otherwise, only the rich can afford to educate their children by hiring tutors. Of course, fees must be paid to the public schools, and that’s much cheaper than hiring your own tutors. Free education at schools funded by government only came in the past 200 years.

“For such a small place…”. It amuses me that the unit of dimension used to work out how varied we expect the accents in a country to be, is the mile, not the century. It’s not size that gives the UK it’s variation of accents, it’s time and conflict. Large-scale eradication, displacement and the inter-socialisation and breeding of the victors and the remaining citizens of the conquered will all have a stronger effect on the accent than will the distance between two towns.

You forgot the humble plastic washing up bowl. Americans really do find the existence of such an item to be an oddity. P.S As an Englishman you confused me momentarily in the section on hot and cold taps when you said non Brits are confused by the lack of plugs. I was struck with confusion because every sink or basin I have ever seen in all my life was fitted with a plug indeed a sink or basin would be pretty useless without one then I realised you meant electrical plug sockets. The confusion arose firstly due to your inartful use of language and secondly because the section was on hot and cold taps which are not exclusive to the bathroom and are found elsewhere in the home where electrical outlets are present such as the kitchen.