Originally posted by saintnickThis is how I know it America was once ruled by the British and we wanted our own country but they said could not have one and we got in a big war THE END.
Hmmm, I think I'm starting to understand. Basically, GB is the places that were under control of the Britiish Empire then UK includes everywhere else that is in the geographical region but wasn't in the British Empire. Now the different countires of GB are similar to the other parts of the British Empire (like Australia) where they have their own govern ...[text shortened]... l family. Am I getting there?? This is more confusing than converting milliliters to quarts. 🙄
And the funniest of all American girl says to the American taxi driver:
"can I grab a ride"
American taxi driver replies- sure where you at?
American girl says to the English taxi driver:
"can I grab a ride"
English taxi driver blushes and says:
"what instead of paying ma'love"
Originally posted by obliterationAre you making fun of us?
And the funniest of all American girl says to the American taxi driver:
"can I grab a ride"
American taxi driver replies- sure where you at?
American girl says to the English taxi driver:
"can I grab a ride"
English taxi driver blushes and says:
"what instead of paying ma'love"
Great Britain is the name of the largest island in the group of islands that comprise the British Isles. It is thus a geographical term. Northern Ireland is also part of the United Kingdom. Thus the formal name for this country is 'The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland'.
There is much misuse of terms, as historically 'England' was seen as being synonymous with 'Britain', 'Great Britain' and 'The United Kingdom'.
The British Empire was something different (additional, if you will) to the United Kingdom, but that's a story for another time...
Regarding measurement systems, the UK lives in two worlds - formally we have adopted the metric system, but ask anyone how tall they are, how much they weigh, how far away something is etc., and you will receive a reply in the old Imperial measures.
The main difference between Brits and Yanks appears to me to be that Americans are far more polite and conservative in nature. The British (God bless 'em) are aggressive, coarse, vulgar and drunken. Not that I would want to make any sweeping generalisations, of course.
Originally posted by obliteration🙂, yeah.....just like if you went into a shop here (GB) and asked for pants....they would show to the underwear section.
And the funniest of all American girl says to the American taxi driver:
"can I grab a ride"
American taxi driver replies- sure where you at?
American girl says to the English taxi driver:
"can I grab a ride"
English taxi driver blushes and says:
"what instead of paying ma'love"
Originally posted by player420More little known differences:
The differences are many and humourous.
Why do we call it gas and in England they call it petrol? That is pretty silly.
Why do we park in our driveways and drive on our parkways?
And the way we write the date is completely back-asswards.
Oh yeah; and PAY TOILETS. That's the stupidest thing I ever heard. What do you mean I gotta pay to take a piss? There's a perfectly good sidewalk right here!
Americans' bum's are sideways- the cheeks are one on top of the other.
The British have no navels.
British women wear knickers.
American women don't :-)
British walk sideways like crabs
Americans never walk anywhere
it's been my experience that the Yanks are more friendly and polite up front than the Brits. But, IMHO, the friendly front you receieve in the US is often fake/forced and often transparent; however if they like you then it becomes real. The Brits are ruder up front, but then if they like you will become more friendly, meaning that we as long as you are liked both sets end up at the same place.
The main difference between Brits and Yanks appears to me to be that Americans are far more polite and conservative in nature. The British (God bless 'em) are aggressive, coarse, vulgar and drunken. Not that I would want to make any sweeping generalisations, of course.
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I prefer the Brit approach, probably because I'm more used to it and I know where I stand - if they don't like you then you'll know about it. For example, in the UK if you are trying to chat up a waitress and she doesn't like it then she'll tell you where to go, or at least walk away. In the US they'll stand there and smile regardless.
Remember, none of this is true for Londoners, who are just rude all the time 😉
An unbelieveable difference I heard between us & our cousins was when a collegue explaind that because he'd been working for the company for 10 years he now got 15 days holiday instead of 10. He seemed quite happy with this amount too; I got 25 days from the start. ANyway, the unbelievable part was when he said that he probably wouldn't take the extra days because 'it might look bad'!!! Aparently this is a common sentiment too!
Some rather broad-brush perceptions I have:
Relatively few people in the UK regularly go to church, even though most of the population is at least nominally Christian.
If you say 'Asian' to an American, he'll imagine someone of Chinese appearance. If you say the same to a Brit, he'll be thinking of an Indian.
England has an established church, but if the PM or any politician makes speeches involving God or praying, they'll get made fun of. In the words of Alistair Campbell, "we don't do God over here."
In the UK, any attempt to privatise government assets is met with strong opposition. In the US there's little consensus that anything is best run by the (federal) government, except for the army.
In the UK it's common for discussion among friends to consist of 'banter' in which the friends light-heartedly make fun of each other. I don't know how much the case this is in the US.
Braces and corrective oral surgery are much less popular in the UK than in the US. Apparently this has led to a stereotype in the States that the British have bad teeth.
One popular image of Britain is of lots of little villages in rolling countryside. While these do exist, the UK is one of the most urbanised countries in the world, with about 90% of the population living in towns or cities. The US one the other hand still has a significant proportion of its population living in 'small towns' (which would be 'villages' by any British standard).
The UK's cities are said to be plagued by 'townies', young people identified by their fondness for sports gear, foul language, drunkenness and tendency to hit people - if they don't grow out of this lifestyle, they tend to become football hooligans or BNP supporters. The US's cities are said to be plagued by well-armed gangs who virtually control some of the more unfortunate neighbourhoods.
Originally posted by StarValleyWyBoth the British and the Americans think that the other country's media are hopelessly biased. This may be simply because we don't agree with what is said by people in the other country!
This might be too "edgy" for the General forums... The leaders of "Brittain" have deliberately obfuscated the issue so that you all think you are "sort of" independent. You are not. You don't even have a "free press" or the right to watch "free telly". Everything is controled, but you are so busy trying to figure out what "Brittain" is that ...[text shortened]... our" and "Honour".
Sorry. Didn't mean to bring Uncle George Orwell into it. (Yes I did!)
Could you be more specific: if we are not free or independent, what can we not do that we otherwise would do?
Originally posted by Acolytewe call them neds (non-educated delinquints 😉) or bams. and both terms are now in the oxford dictionary!!!
The UK's cities are said to be plagued by 'townies', young people identified by their fondness for sports gear, foul language, drunkenness and tendency to hit people - if they don't grow out of this lifestyle, they tend to become football hooligans or BNP supporters. The US's cities are said to be plagued by well-armed gangs who virtually control some of the more unfortunate neighbourhoods.
Originally posted by AcolyteThis is possibly way off base, but based on my experiences applying to university in both countries the American education system seems to highly value hard work and little else, while the British system seems a bit more lax on work ethic but seems to care about what one is interested in.
Some rather broad-brush perceptions I have:
Relatively few people in the UK regularly go to church, even though most of the population is at least nominally Christian.
If you say 'Asian' to an American, he'll imagine someone of Chinese appearance. If you say the same to a Brit, he'll be thinking of an Indian.
England has an established church, ...[text shortened]... e plagued by well-armed gangs who virtually control some of the more unfortunate neighbourhoods.
This impression comes from the fact that I receieved offers from all six universities in the UK to which I applied while being rejected from both American ones (University of California at Berkeley and Boston University). This is consistent with my academic record (near perfect SATs/SAT IIs and 5s on four APs and a few college courses, but regular grades being in many cases only just passing, and a miserable fail in one or two).
Originally posted by geniusI remember seeing a list of words for these people. It's getting as long as the list of words for 'drunk'. I've heard of neds, scallies, chavs and pikeys, but not bams. At my school we called them 'shellies' after Shelthorpe, a local council estate.
we call them neds (non-educated delinquints 😉) or bams. and both terms are now in the oxford dictionary!!!
I do find it worrying, though, when people talk about townies etc to mean the entire population of an area, and then talk about 'townie clothes' etc as if everyone in those areas is like that. It seems to be the modern version of middle-class people being snobbish about the 'peasants'. The most extreme example I've heard is when someone called me a chav, because I didn't go to one of the Shrewsbury list schools (ie Harrow, Eton, Westminister etc)! Why use a word like that to describe 99.9% of the population?