# What do UK Dopers think about July 4th? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 15, 2007, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134 "2007-06-15T17:13:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134/61 "2007-06-17T16:26:14Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] Alfred and the cakes? I think I missed that lesson. [/QUOTE] Dear me, how could you LIVE? šŸ˜ƒ No matter, as itā€™s just a very non-urban legend anyway, a bit like Bruce and the spider. And like George Washington and his cherry tree, I suppose. > **[King Alfred's cakes reduced to crumbs](https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/mar/13/britishidentity.research)** > > One of Britain's best-loved patriotic tales has been debunked as a borrowed piece of enemy propaganda, it was revealed today. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 4:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134/62 "2007-06-17T16:58:08Z")
We eat barbecued [del]aliens[/del] hot dogs and hamburgers, typically, though thatā€™s not so much a matter of tradition as it is just the popular practice. Since itā€™s summer, itā€™s a great excuse to hang out outside with your friends and get a little tipsy. Traditionally thereā€™s a fireworks show. People are less insistent on that part in California than in Maryland (which borders Washington, DC), though, Iā€™ve noticed. When I was a kid we went to the fireworks show at the Naval Academy in Annapolis every year as a matter of course. Then again, we were a military family. BTW, didnā€™t mean to show you up, **glee**. I couldnā€™t tell you much about the traditions associated with English holidaysā€¦ Edit: How on earth do you use strikeout? ---
**Author:** ![Frank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/3d9bf3/32.png) [@Frank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frank)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 5:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134/63 "2007-06-17T17:42:45Z")
[QUOTE=fetus] Edit: How on earth do you use strikeout? [/QUOTE] [del]You mean this?[/del] del and /del, inside brackets of course. ---
**Author:** ![Hostile\_Dialect](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e495f1/32.png) [@Hostile\_Dialect](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hostile_Dialect)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134/64 "2007-06-17T17:45:24Z")
Thanks. Not knowing that, ruined my alien jokeā€¦ ---
**Author:** ![Moriarty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/moriarty/32/49_2.png) [@Moriarty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moriarty)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 6:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134/65 "2007-06-17T18:43:38Z")
In my experience as a kid, the 4th of July was an excuse to play with matches and various explosives bought from a stand on the side of the road. As we got older, alcohol was added to the mix. On a good night, you only sustained minor burns. But I did hear about this one time that someone lost a fingerā€¦ (Independence? Yeah, something about that, too). ---
**Author:** ![Quartz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/quartz/32/267_2.png) [@Quartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Quartz)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134/66 "2007-06-17T19:49:18Z")
[QUOTE=manx] Also, Guy Fawkes (which I think is more commonly called Bonfire Night in the UK) celebrates an attempt to blow up parliament [/quote] Not quite: it celebrates the **foiling** of the attempt. ---
**Author:** ![Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/e79b87/32.png) [@Boulter\_s\_Canary](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Boulter_s_Canary)\ **Post date:** [June 17, 2007, 8:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134/67 "2007-06-17T20:25:00Z")
[QUOTE=gigi] While youā€™re at it, can you take back this Katie & Peter crap too? Iā€™m getting tired of avoiding them on E! [/QUOTE] And weā€™ve got a used Prime Minister available soon, if youā€™re interested. Only slightly shop-soiled. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 1:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134/68 "2007-06-18T13:09:00Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] No offenseā€¦July 4th is more of an outdoorsy holiday, with barbecues and fireworks and visits to the beach. No one wants to be stuck inside all day roasting a turkey. [/QUOTE] Although if you feel compelled, you could always deep-fry a turkey out by the grill. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [June 18, 2007, 1:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134/69 "2007-06-18T13:37:25Z")
[QUOTE=ivylass] Thanksgiving dates back to the Mayflower landing. Supposedly the new settlers were starving, and kindly Indians came and brought them food so they would survive the winter. Since then, itā€™s been an excuse for family get-togethers to eat as much as is humanely possible and watch football games. [/QUOTE] Any truth in the supposition that the Indians also have a name for this day, which translates very approximately as ā€œStupid Fucking Ancestors!ā€ Day? šŸ˜› [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-uk-dopers-think-about-july-4th/408134.md?page=3)