I thought (German, contintental here) that the stereotype is that - as part of the larger stereotype about how all Brits/ English are Gentleman, well-behaved to the extreme and with stiff upper lip - that the Brits will queue by
forming an ** orderly** line, not a wild mob
waiting peacefully until their turn comes, not pushing, shoving, line-jumping.
It’s usually brought up to contrast the (considered shameful) behaviour of other (contintental?) countries where people shove and form ragged lines.
Although in the last decades, british writers lament the loss of manners and the start of pushing and line-jumping there, too.
The stereotype is that British culture is so polite, gentlemanly and deferring that British people instinctively queue for everything. The stereotypical jokes usually involve things like British people seeing a queue and joining it even though they don’t know what it’s for; forming a queue that doesn’t go anywhere; or queuing in absurd situations, like the rioters queuing up to loot a shop in the picture I posted above. I think the word “queue” itself is part of the humor because as far as I can tell other English-speaking countries don’t seem to use that term.
The generally perceived image of Londoners waiting for the bus is a nice orderly queue, while in North America it is more typical to mill or shuffle about in the general area of the bus stop until bus arrives, and then push on willy-nilly. Some people may feel obliged to hang back and let people who have been waiting longer get on first, but there’s no line for it.
To be fair the bad teeth one is most likely rooted (no pun intended) in fact - up to around 20 years ago dentistry in the UK was funded by the public purse and standards were based on cost and not appearance. It was cheaper to pull all of the teeth than cosmetic surgery so this was the usual procedure in the event of damage, especially if the patient was over the age where it wouldn’t do psychologically harm.
Mangetout mentions rationing during and after WWII; rationing of food even after the war (when supplies lines could open again) was kept going cite because farming in Europe had been bombed out and austerity kicked in hard - this could be a reason for the bad food stereotype.
I’ve never heard of the British queuing without a reason, but have heard of the Soviets doing this. In times past British politics had close links with Communism so maybe this was why the connection was blurred?
This is the first time I’m hearing about this stereotype. If you’da asked me a few minutes ago which country is known for its queues, I would’ve said Venezuela.
Five. There are five vowels. “Queue”, on the other hand, is the longest word still pronounced like its first letter. “Bee”, “pea/pee” and “tee/tea” are in a close tie second, while I and A get credit for showing up. “Sea” tried to sneak in on a technicality, but the judges wouldn’t allow it.
ETA: The longest consonant string I can think of in a one-syllable word is “angsts”. Can anyone beat five?
I’ve definitely heard the stereotype, although I think the queuing without purpose thing is more of a joke based one the stereotype. Really, it’s the idea of lining up patiently instead of all clustering around. As a point of reference, the same stereotype exists in Hong Kong - mainland China tends to be a lot more chaotic, but Hong Kong inherited the British bus queues. It’s actually a note of pride for Hong Kong residents, that they’re more ‘civilized’ than the mainlanders.
True, but (at the risk of being rapidly refuted) I think the stereotype is just one Americans have about the british. It’s not a stereotype I’ve ever heard non-americans reference.
Ditto the effeminate stereotype. Although in this case it’s not just a stereotype Americans have of the British, it seems to be one they have of men in pretty much every other developed nation…
There’s also a bit in The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy where they have to wait in a queue to deal with some Vogon paperwork, and Arthur eagerly contributes his talents: “I’m British, I can deal with this”.
I’ve basically seen it happen before. A couple of people are standing by, say, a door or an ATM, other people assume they’re queuing, and before anyone realizes you’ve suddenly got 5 or 6 people queuing for no reason.
We’ve had this before and cracked has an article about it. The real reason is that Americans have a very different standard of beauty for teeth compared to the Brits: the Brits like teeth that look natural, which is off-white (cream) and uneven (in length, not crooked! Brits do have braces); Americans like teeth that have been whitened and evened to a line (although that is majorly bad for tooth health!) to look like a Hollywood star.
This kind of smile that flashes like 500 Watt lamp and looks like a piece of plastic was put over the teeth looks rather frighteningly artificial to Brits and also to Europeans - uncanny valley stuff.
The bad food stereotype goes way back beyond WWII. The stereotype is not so much that the food is bad, but bland. Think of the stereotype grounded in reality of how American cooking was like in the 50s: bland, veggies cooked to mush, no spices, no herbs, no experiments, just meat, potatoes and veggies without taste to fill the belly.
I don’t know how much that is historical enmity with the French and therefore doing it differently from their “fancy stuff” or general xenophobic reactions to anything foreign, or whether there are other reasons.
Huh? What links did Britain have with communism? Dude, lay off whatever you’re smoking. Just because Brits (like many other Europeans) have social parties or parties with “socalist” in the name, or because a few intellectuals praised communism when it was an idea has nothing to do with ties to the Soviet communism.
And the stereotype of Brits queuing orderly because they are well-behaved and polite comes from a different reason than people in Soviet Russia or Eastern bloc countries queuing for everything because supplies were limited.
Here in the Midwest we use “wait on” and “wait for” somewhat interchangeably. “Wait on” has a negative connotation, implying the person you’re waiting on is taking too long.
