# English Trailer Trash
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
**Created:** [April 3, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726 "2012-04-03T19:54:29Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@Inigo\_Montoya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Inigo_Montoya)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2012, 7:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/1 "2012-04-03T19:54:29Z")
Being an American, I was stunned a few years back to hear there were people who were not American. This was a particularly eye-opening event because I learned a few other facts as well:
–Some people live in a place they call “England.” They claim to have invented the American language (although they seriously mispronounce everything and their spelling is atrocious). I honestly thought they all went extinct in some war against some other prehistorics a few hundred years ago when movies were all black and white. Apparently they still cling to life, however.
–They sometimes have tornadoes in England. Full stop, no shit–actual tornadoes that pick up stuff and throw it back down.
–They have trailer parks there, too. And the tornadoes sometimes strike the trailer parks, just like here.
This all led me to wonder, after some time spend pondering…what would the stereotypical English trailer trash be like? Are their teeth all, like, white and straight? Do they all drink and smoke too much and vote for Republicans?
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### Author:  [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2012, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/2 "2012-04-03T19:58:16Z")
I assume they are all filled with Pikeys who speak funny and are awesome at bare-knuckle boxing.
I’ve never heard of a tornado in the UK though.
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### Author:  [@DCnDC](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DCnDC)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/3 "2012-04-03T20:07:04Z")
Watch a few clips of [this show](http://tlc.howstuffworks.com/tv/my-big-fat-gypsy-wedding) and you’ll recognize all the classic trailer trash traits almost immediately.
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### Author:  [@Tapioca\_Dextrin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tapioca_Dextrin)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2012, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/4 "2012-04-03T20:41:57Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> I’ve never heard of a tornado in the UK though.
[Proper British Tornado](http://www.britishpathe.com/video/birmingham-struck-by-a-tornado)
[British Trailer Trash Tornado](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLjANAVnz54)
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### Author:  [@Jackmannii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Jackmannii)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2012, 8:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/5 "2012-04-03T20:50:59Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#):
>
> Being an American, I was stunned a few years back to hear there were people who were not American.
Cite?
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### Author:  [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2012, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/6 "2012-04-03T22:10:38Z")
When you account for land area, tornadoes are actually more common in the UK than in the US as a whole. (Tornado alley in the US is balanced by huge areas, including pretty much everywhere west of the Rocky Mountains, where tornadoes are extremely rare.)
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### Author:  [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)
#### Post date: [April 3, 2012, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/7 "2012-04-03T22:36:23Z")
Dangit, scooped by post #2. Though it should have referenced its source, the documentary _Snatch_.
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### Author:  [@Savannah](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Savannah)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2012, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/8 "2012-04-04T03:40:06Z")
Ah, [Chavs?](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chav)
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### Author:  [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2012, 7:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/9 "2012-04-04T07:28:07Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> I’ve never heard of a tornado in the UK though.
We’ve a fair few of [these](http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace/media/galleries/images/87089/500x400/raf-panavia-tornado-gr4-zg750-128.jpg) Tornadoes too.
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### Author:  [@SciFiSam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SciFiSam)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2012, 3:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/10 "2012-04-04T15:32:00Z")
[Shameless](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hhW-rUwO50Q&feature=related&noredirect=1) is the best example of British trailer trash- the UK version, of course, not the American copy. A very few people do live in trailers - caravans - but they’re Gypsies and Travellers, distinct ethnic groups, not ordinary white trailer trash, who live in perfectly ordinary if rather run-down houses and flats. Most of our trailer parks are for holidays, not permanent residence.
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### Author:  [@Mk\_VII](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mk_VII)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2012, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/11 "2012-04-04T19:25:29Z")
There are trailer parks here, and not just for pikeys. It’s not a popular mode of living though, even for poor people - probably because it’s cold and damp in winter.
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### Author:  [@armedmonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/armedmonkey)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2012, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/12 "2012-04-04T20:47:21Z")
> [@Jackmannii](#):
>
> Cite?
It was an April fools day prank. There is no place called “England”. It’s as mythical as Bigoot, elves, and Australians.
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### Author:  [@control-z](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/control-z)
#### Post date: [April 4, 2012, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/13 "2012-04-04T21:00:02Z")
I think the American view of England is skewed because if you see someone from the UK on American TV or movies they are usually a charming charmer, an evil genius, or a sarcastic wit.
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### Author:  [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2012, 7:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/14 "2012-04-05T07:27:37Z")
> [@Inigo\_Montoya](#):
>
> This all led me to wonder, after some time spend pondering…what would the stereotypical English trailer trash be like? Are their teeth all, like, white and straight? Do they all drink and smoke too much and vote for Republicans?
My family are from England’s equivalent of the deep south (Hartlepool - the frozen north).
All four of my grandparents had lost all of their teeth before they turned 30.
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### Author:  [@Becky2844](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Becky2844)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2012, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/15 "2012-04-05T07:58:45Z")
Dammit to hell, the SDMB has rurnt me. My first reaction was Wait a minute…if they’re in England there ARE no Republicans and Democrats!
Right?
You all have totally messed with my Suspension of Disbelief/Appreciation of Humor.
But say there were some…nope, you’ve got it all wrong. The dude, who would preferably be"staying there," not paying rent, would be a Democrat fer sure. Because if we can’t all share the crumbs we’ve been fighting for, what’s the point?
I don’t think England has tornados. I think it has thick fog-like farts, which is why all royalty look like they smell somthing…
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### Author:  [@Slithy\_Tove](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slithy_Tove)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2012, 12:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/16 "2012-04-05T12:08:25Z")
Re-watching **Scandal** recently, I noticed that Christine Keeler came from a trailer park. Maybe the UK’s TT component isn’t smaller proportionately than the US’s, but more concentrated; and has the power to bring down governments.
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### Author:  [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2012, 12:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/17 "2012-04-05T12:35:01Z")
> [@msmith537](#):
>
> I’ve never heard of a tornado in the UK though.
> **[Tornado](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tornado)**
>
> A tornado is a violently rotating column of air that is in contact with the surface of Earth and a cumulonimbus cloud or, in rare cases, the base of a cumulus cloud. It is often referred to as a twister, whirlwind or cyclone, although the word cyclone is used in meteorology to name a weather system with a low-pressure area in the center around which, from an observer looking down toward the surface of the Earth, winds blow counterclockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and clockwise in the South...
> [@](#):
>
> The United States averages about 1,200 tornadoes per year. The Netherlands has the highest average number of recorded tornadoes per area of any country (more than 20, or 0.0013 per sq mi (0.00048 per km2), annually), followed by the UK (around 33, or 0.00035 per sq mi (0.00013 per km2), per year),[65][66] but most are small and cause minor damage. In absolute number of events, ignoring area, the UK experiences more tornadoes than any other European country, excluding waterspouts.
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### Author:  [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2012, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/18 "2012-04-05T12:36:03Z")
> [@Slithy\_Tove](#):
>
> Re-watching **Scandal** recently, I noticed that Christine Keeler came from a trailer park. Maybe the UK’s TT component isn’t smaller proportionately than the US’s, but more concentrated; and has the power to bring down governments.
They’re more likely to be called “caravan parks”:
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### Author:  [@Count\_Blucher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Count_Blucher)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2012, 1:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/19 "2012-04-05T13:06:12Z")
> [@Quartz](#):
>
> We’ve a fair few of [these](http://www.flightglobal.com/airspace/media/galleries/images/87089/500x400/raf-panavia-tornado-gr4-zg750-128.jpg) Tornadoes too.
I’d have thought they’d be well rid of those trailer parks by now then. #ignorancefought
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### Author:  [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)
#### Post date: [April 5, 2012, 1:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/english-trailer-trash/617726/20 "2012-04-05T13:11:59Z")
> [@control-z](#):
>
> I think the American view of England is skewed because if you see someone from the UK on American TV or movies they are usually a charming charmer, an evil genius, or a sarcastic wit.
Not always.
Sometimes they’re wizards.
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