that was supposed to be a new thread, not a question for the British bloke. I play the fool as usual.
poop
JB
‘Wally’ is a (rather outdated now) term for a foolish person, if it is derived from the name of a real person, I’m not aware of it, it started in the North of England I believe, I suspect that the real origin is lost in the mists of time, so we’d get a number of equally (un)convincing explanations if we tried.
What you call ‘beer’, we call ‘Lager’, and asking for ‘beer’ in an English pub will just get you a puzzled look, as ‘beer’ is a generic term encompassing a wide range of things.(sorry, that wasn’t your question, but I thought you’d like to know)
In respect of drinking, I’m below average, I like the occasional pint, but unlike most people I know, I rarely keep beer in the house, I don’t have a firm favourite; on a hot summer’s day, a pint of chilled lager goes down well, on a winter night, I might go for a special bitter (ale), at a party, I’ll probably choose Guinness, as the quality is fairly reliable. I’ll try anything once.
What does it mean to “take the piss out of someone” ?
What do you think of badgers?
Firsts v seconds sounds like University degrees. When you graduate, a 1st is best, then comes an Upper 2nd, a Lower 2nd and a 3rd (technically this is a failure!)
Public Schools (I teach in one) are in fact private schools, often registered as educational charities. They charge fees and set entrance exams. Class size is 20 or less. Excellent facilities. Most pupils go on to further education e.g. University (96% at my school).
State Schools (my sister teaches in one) are funded by the Government, receiving less tha one third the money private schools get. Every child goes to one in their local area. Class size is 30 or more. Facilities are poor. Few pupils go on to further education.
There are some schools halfway between these two extremes, but I won’t go into that unless you want.
National exams first come at 15 = GCSE. Bright kids take 10 or more. An A* grade is best, followed by A, then B etc. At my School only a C is considered worthwhile, though State Schools go down to E grades.
They used to classify failures as N = non-classified (!) but I don’t know if that still happens.
Next up is A level at 18. These are the qualification for University. Most pupils take 3. The IB is slowly coming in too.
This goes back a long way. In the Middle Ages, Kings granted their supporters massive areas of land. (Upper Class).
The peasants worked all their lives for these Barons. (Working Class).
There were merchants and artisans, who could make profits for themselves.
(Middle Class).
The Government has always been split between the House of Lords, mainly hereditary titled rich white males (Upper Class) and the House of Commons (Middle Class).
Recently the Government announced reforms and invited everyone ** including the Working Class** to apply. Guess what? Most of the new members are rich white males. (I suppose that’s progress of a sort).
It is true that you can become rich or famous or powerful in Britain with just your own talent. But it’s a lot easier if your parents are wealthy and you go to one of those ‘Public Schools’ described above.
I don’t think that’s terribly widespread. I have seen some people do it on TV, but never in real life.
We did have a tradition of farce, in which men’s trousers fell down.
I think those are all accents. I grew up with a North London accent (= a norf lunnon accen’) myself, but now I speak ‘standard’ English (if there is such a thing - I sound like a TV newsreader).
There are several London accents, several South West accents (e.g. Bristol / Cornwall), several Welsh accents, a Birmingham accent, a Manchester accent, several Scottish accents…
I have absolutely no idea what accent Daphne (from ‘Frasier’) is using. (The show is hilarious, though!).
I think this does exist. Certainly e.g. the French and Italians seem to express themselves much more in public.
We live on a crowded island, so politeness and restraint seem important.
We’ve gone in 100 years from a World Empire to a small island. I suppose this may give us quiet self-confidence and modesty, but I’d need to think more about that.
To make fun of them (I have no idea why this is used, though)
Finally to betenoir and Lsura:
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please stop with the naughty teasing - I’m losing concentration :eek:
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alternatively, emigrate!
It means to ridicule them, as does the politer version: ‘taking the mickey’, I have no idea why.
I’ve never tasted them.
But seriously; they are perhaps our most exotic native mammal, I think they are great and the few encounters I’ve had with them in the wild have been magical.
They are under a lot of persecution as they are thought to be carriers of bovine tuberculosis, although I understand the scientific basis of this is very shaky and that BT is more likely caused by intensive farming methods. (some bloody self-righteous git is bound to lynch me for saying that)
[QUOTE]
*Originally posted by glee *
**
I can’t help it. It just seems to happen whenever I think about British accents.
Shoot, I’d emigrate-but that means I’d have to find an accounting job. What’s the job situation like over there?
Exactly; the continentals seem to thrive on kissing, touching and hugging relative strangers on the street, people keep telling me that the British are too ‘British’, but we are what we are, I don’t particularly want all that public emotion; it’s embarrassing and unneccesary; the British person says what he/she means, it doesn’t need backing up with a whole load of touchy-feely stuff…
CoughMcDonaldsCough
LOL
Another thing about this; our climate is such that there is no such thing as bare earth - if you plough a field and leave it, within a few weeks it will be green again, even if nothing is sown (except maybe in the hottest, driest part of summer), a year later it will be thick grass and wild flowers, two years later it will be dense shrubby vegetation and five years or so on it will be beginning to turn into woodland.
Makes for very interesting and intensive gardening.
Ok I have a question:
Pulling (Who came up with this idea, and why is it enjoyable to run around, sticking your tongue in strange pub-hopping mouths, not knowing where it was 5 minutes before. Seems pretty popular in Liverpool from what I gather, What is the appeal, better yet, what is the POINT??)
Thank me ex scouse boyfriend for revolting me to this custom
Thanks for answering my question.
For glee: Daphne, on the TV show Frasier, is supposedly using a Manchester accent. I would have no idea if she’s nailing it or not.
Even though she’s British, it doesn’t sound like any accent I’ve heard!
Can you tell that Marty is British?
Um, okay. Now how about answering if Yank is the polite form of Septic or the abbreviated form of Yankee?
Gut feel for what percentage is the Septic or Yankee usage?
I have met various people from the UK over the years ranging from working class to students to yuppie professionals to one Sandhurst upper class prat who all considered septic baiting to be the epitome of piss taking. Why is this?
Well, the economy seems in good shape at present. (I suppose bankruptcy specialists do well when it isn’t, though!).
I’m sure accountants are always in demand. I found:
http://www.monster.co.uk
Curiously there doesn’t seem to be a British on-line equivalent, but there are plenty of individual companies you could look at.
Do Brits generally mind being referred to as “Brits?” I’ve used the term for years but was recently informed by a rather crusty gentleman that “British” was the preferred term. If it makes a difference he was a bit older, around 65 I’d guess.
Also, a perception I’ve picked up from friends is that many Brits consider the Yanks to be wealthy. Well, it certainly isn’t true in my case, but where did this idea come from?
On a less serious note, where can I get copies of the old Fawlty Towers, and Monty Python skits; and does anyone archive the PAGE 3 nudes? S
Thanks.
Testy.
Page 3 girls can be found on the website of one of the main UK tabloid “newspapers”, which I’m sure the mods wouldn’t appreciate me linking to. Let’s just say that you’d need to find the site for The Daily Star (and no, it’s not as obvious as that).
Personally, I’ve never minded being described as a Brit.
As for septic/Yank. As I’m sure was said before, Yank is short for Yankee (as far as I know). Septic/septic tank/Yank is rhyming slang. So septic has nothing to do with the origin of Yank.
I personally don’t have a problem with the term ‘Brit’, it’s not offensive, so I suppose it’s OK.
The perception that Americans are more Materially wealthy may have some basis in fact; I think goods, land and property are more expensive (in ‘real’ terms) over here, so, for example, the average suburban house/garden in America is probably larger than it’s equivalent in the UK.
Be careful with the Fawlty towers vids to make sure you get the right TV format (NTSC?) - if you bought it over here, it would be PAL. - have you tried Ebay?
There seems no shortage of nudity on the net; what did you find particularly special about the page 3 girls?