# Just How British Are You? (Even If You're Not) **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [June 16, 2005, 12:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529 "2005-06-16T12:58:46Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529/41 "2005-06-18T07:29:04Z")
> [@Bippy the Beardless](#): > > Well I think they all are both Catholic and Anglican saints, being pre Henry 8th. :dubious: They are of course, Catholic, as was Henry the 8th. His was not a Protestant reformation but a good Catholic’s divestment of the Roman Heresy. Which you would know if you were truely British 😛 . At any rate I got a 12 and I don’t think it was that stupid. Some things were just cultural, some where the same sort of legal questions we probably ask folks coming to this counry…not a bad idea to know what the requierments for keeping a dogs are if you want to live there (and considering, going back to cultural, dog ownership is practiaclly a matter of law anyway). However I am shocked the rules of cricket were not mentioned. Sad state the Empire’s come to if they let people in who don’t know what’s cricket :). (and I hate to think I learned all that for nothing!) ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2005, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529/42 "2005-06-18T14:26:26Z")
> [@Misnomer](#): > > My guess it that it’s an effort to cut down on impulse marriages; if you marry on a whim, you can’t count on being able to get divorced right away. I’m not sure of the historical reasons for the one-year divorce rule (although you can be confident there was a very good reason, probably to prevent exploitation or fraud). However, the main use for it nowadays is a barrier to sham marriages - somebody couldn’t marry in order to get residence for their partner, then divorce within weeks, then marry a new partner, then divorce, etc. ---
**Author:** ![wolf\_meister](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wolf_meister/32/15202_2.png) [@wolf\_meister](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wolf_meister)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 2:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529/43 "2005-06-19T02:47:40Z")
Eight right That seems to be a popular score here. Oh and I live in Boston, USA ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529/44 "2005-06-19T03:36:57Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > However, the main use for it nowadays is a barrier to sham marriages - somebody couldn’t marry in order to get residence for their partner, then divorce within weeks, then marry a new partner, then divorce, etc. Well, yes, that would make more sense, wouldn’t it? :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529/45 "2005-06-19T04:57:55Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > I’m not sure of the historical reasons for the one-year divorce rule (although you can be confident there was a very good reason, probably to prevent exploitation or fraud). However, the main use for it nowadays is a barrier to sham marriages - somebody couldn’t marry in order to get residence for their partner, then divorce within weeks, then marry a new partner, then divorce, etc. Wouldn’t immigration catch on to that sort of scheme awfully quickly, though? Doesn’t seem like a very foolproof plan. ---
**Author:** ![Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/regallag_the_axe/32/445_2.png) [@Regallag\_The\_Axe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Regallag_The_Axe)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529/46 "2005-06-19T05:02:44Z")
I got 3. But my last British ancesstor left the UK in 1755, so… ---
**Author:** ![betenoir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/258eb7/32.png) [@betenoir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/betenoir)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529/47 "2005-06-19T06:09:07Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Wouldn’t immigration catch on to that sort of scheme awfully quickly, though? Doesn’t seem like a very foolproof plan. But I have a cunning plan…! What? Too British? ---
**Author:** ![Dr.Rieux](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/aeb1de/32.png) [@Dr.Rieux](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr.Rieux)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529/48 "2005-06-19T18:23:47Z")
> [@betenoir](#): > > But I have a cunning plan…! > > What? Too British? Is it so cunning that you could slap a tail on it and call it a weasel? 😃 I too got 8 out of 15. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2005, 6:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529/49 "2005-06-19T18:47:56Z")
> [@Kyla](#): > > Wouldn’t immigration catch on to that sort of scheme awfully quickly, though? Doesn’t seem like a very foolproof plan. No, it wouldn’t be a problem solved by _introducing_ the one year rule - just that it’s a good reason to not do away with it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/just-how-british-are-you-even-if-youre-not/308529.md?page=2)