Alicia: “Babe, can I get some silverware?”
Stephen: “You mean cutlery?”
Alicia: “I am wearing pants today!”
Stephen: “Nope, you are wearing trousers, duh!”
Alicia: “I’ll take the elevator”
Stephen: “Forget it, I will take the lift”
Alicia: “Z for Zeeebra”
Stephen: “ Z is for Zebra. God, why do you stretch with the eeee?”
Well, well.
If you talk like Stephen, you are the most British thing ever!
But it is not always about the accent and words. Even the British spellings differ-remember COLOR being written as COLOUR? Apparently, the Brits like the extra U.
The British have left a long-lasting impression across the global culture, language, mannerisms, stories and cinema, food and clothing, politics …..the list is long. Today, we are pointing out the ‘Things that are British’ that were probably never paid close attention to.
Be seated fellas as now we are going for a ride across the Thames right at the comfort of your homes! WHAAAEYY!
The British Affair: Stories and Cinema
Britain has given us some really cool fantasy characters.
Sir Arthur Doyle invented the detective genius of Sherlock Holmes to get us SHER’LOCKED’ every time. The impact of this character’s brilliance is so overwhelming that being called a ‘local Sherlock’, no matter in which part of the world, is taken as a compliment.
If this was not enough, we have Harry Potter with his land of magic called Hogwarts running the entire generation of kids worldwide in a frenzy. Thanks to the British writer J.K. Rowling, authors actually began receiving the recognition and the money they deserved.
Oh. Did I miss that Shakespeare was English too?
Not only the stories but British movies and actors are also widely liked. Well, children love Tom Hiddleston as Loki in every Marvel movie or Tom Holland in every SpiderMan one. Benedict Cumberbatch as Doctor Strange(and also Sherlock) cannot be overlooked either. Come on, we understand that these Brits don’t possess the ‘upper lip’ but they certainly know their craft.
Gasping over their handsome faces? I haven’t touched Game of Thrones yet.
Sigh!
The Food and the Cuisine
The British devour their Shepherd’s pie and the Beef Wellington. They even love their cakes and puddings. But did you know that the tradition of cutting a cake and blowing candles came to India due to the British? In fact, tea culture was also founded in India by the British as they take their tea very seriously-morning, afternoon, evening, or night. A nice cup of tea solves all their problems apparently!
The British way of ‘toast’ing involves a lot of beans and they can splash ketchup on literally everything. They even call their food with strange names like a mess(Eton Mess) and dick(Spotted dick)!
But one CANNOT deny that the British can eat fish and chips all day.
Oops. It is called crisps.
The Monarchy and Politics
“God save the queen!” –a phrase that can be heard in every nook and corner of Britain. The British not only colonized major parts of the world to form a Commonwealth but they are also the flag-bearers of one of the longest-running monarchies in the world. Queen Elizabeth II and the successors, along with their magnificent palaces-Buckingham, Kensington, Holyroodhouse, Windsor castle, etc. emanate the British extravagance and make up a lot of the sight-seeing destinations.
We have all peeked through the lives of the Queen, thanks to so many articles on the ‘royal rulebook’ and Netflix’s ‘The Crown’. It won’t be wrong to say that the royal family adds a sense of pride to British history (even though the British themselves don’t deny loving to hate the royal family) Ahem!
From the scandals to the charities and international travel, the royal family has done it all. The Queen takes pride in having good relations with most of her Prime Ministers, notably Winston Churchill-The Pride of Britain throughout her tenure that goes beyond 60 years now.
Despite the Queen being a ‘silent’ Head of the State and the royal family being mostly politically neutral, they are very much in the picture, making them one of the costliest yet most popular British things. Oooh?
The British Way of Doing It
It won’t be wrong to say that the Brits are usually polite people. Their etiquette and manners precede them in not just a ‘sorry’ or a ‘thankyou’ but even in basics like using the best table manners, tipping at restaurants, queuing at public places, etc. In fact, they are pros at over apologizing “I am so sorry to hear that you are ill. I am sorry it had to be you. Oh dear, that was a bad sneeze. Poor thing”
They cannot make a noise while eating, do not discuss anyone’s salary, crib about the weather(talking about the weather is an icebreaker, though), they like their beer warm, they dump their ‘cookies’ in their tea, they write the date in dd/mm/yyyy format and the list goes on. The best part is- they get 5 weeks of paid holidays and they know how to take and enjoy ‘em!
Their humor is more sarcastic and dry, mostly like-“I am on a whiskey diet and I have already lost three days!” (that didn’t make me laugh honestly)
Notable Mentions
While the above were just a few of ‘The British Things’, there are some special mentions as well:
The Big Ben: The Clock Tower (with confusion about why it carries that nickname).
British Broadcasting Corporation(BBC): The world-renowned news agency obsessed with making documentaries about anything and everything.
The Red Phone Booth: Unfortunately, does not carry anyone to the ‘Ministry of Magic’
Lords: The paradise of cricket. Yes, the iconic cricket ground where India won its first World Cup in 1984 and Saurav Ganguly removed his T-shirt in 2001(Not a late reaction, just different matches)
In the End
Hey Jude!
The UK or Great Britain is truly great in its offerings to the world; some good, some not so good. But like the British band Beatles said “Take a sad song and make it better”, their contribution to the world is definitely making the world a better place.
P.S. Jokes apart. The UK has also given a new strain of the coronavirus which is more transmissible. Be careful and be safe.
