50 Weird Confusing Facts About British Life Culture

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hello everyone and welcome back to

english with lucy today I am very hot

and it’s only 19 degrees we’re gonna

talk about that later today I’m going to

talk to you about 50 weird and random

facts about British culture

now this lessons more of a fun one it’s

going to be great for your listening

practice and if you want to improve your

pronunciation alongside your listening I

highly recommend audible it’s an online

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English right let’s get started with the

video fact number one T is by far the

most popular drink drunk by Brits maybe

you knew this but apparently we drink

165 million cups of tea every single day

bananas I’ve drunk no tea today it’s not

my favorite I don’t hate it

I’ll have it if I’m offered yeah number

two on our main TV channels that’s

channel one and two and quite a few

others they’re run by the BBC and we

don’t have any adverts this is because

we pay a license fee and I think it’s

over 100 pounds a year but basically we

have to pay if we have a TV we have to

pay it even if we don’t want to watch

the BBC now I kind of like it because I

like ad-free TV but I also don’t want

the BBC to tell me whether I can have a

TV or not

number three queues are incredibly

important to us

if you push into a queue if you queue

jump you will be universally hated in

Britain doesn’t make that comment below

if queues are important in your country

because I went to Spain and I lived

there for a while and people did not

expect cues when I lived in Spain I

remember being in a bank and some lady

thought that her problem was more

important than my problem and she just

pushed in and was like sorry this is an

emergency I was like in Britain I would

never happen number four please

sorry and thank you basically dominate

all of our social interactions it’s so

engrained into our brains that we often

bump into things and then apologize to

the inanimate object like I have whacked

my shoulder on a door and said oh sorry

and then felt really stupid and British

at the same time but yeah just a simple

task like passing the salt at a dinner

table sorry please could you pass the

salt

thank you sorry sorry excuse me please

honestly we say about eight times number

five when you greet a friend in the UK

you don’t normally shake their hand you

don’t normally shake their hand normally

you give them one kiss on the cheek if

you’ve recently been in the rest of

Europe then you might give two kisses by

mistake and say oh sorry

I just got back from France and if

you’re feeling very masculine and you

are with another very masculine person

then even though you know them very well

you might still shake their hand but

that’s only a feel very very masculine

number six when the Sun comes out

because it doesn’t come out so often we

make the most of it in 15 degree heat we

will wear sandals miniskirts strappy

tops bikinis and we will get very very

sunburned as well the day after a sunny

day everyone is red it’s terrible also

our houses are not designed to cope with

the heat as I’m experiencing right now

it’s 19 degrees outside and I am

absolutely dying number seven British

cuisine well our most known dish is

probably the Sunday roast or beef and

Yorkshire puddings

however we actually voted for our

national dish and we voted for a chicken

tikka masala which is an Indian dish

number eight if you are on public

transport

it is highly expected that you give up

your seat for an elderly person or a

disabled person and if you don’t do it

people were taught at you this is a very

British thing

we’ll just go but we don’t like to be

too direct

sometimes we muster up enough courage to

say excuse me that person needs that

seat but we’re not going to be too

confrontational about it and if we are

ever confrontational with someone on

public transport we spend the next week

coming down from the adrenaline and

replaying the situation in our head

telling our mates about it it’s a big

deal number nine our humor can be quite

difficult to understand

we love sarcasm we have quite dark sense

of humor we can be quite dry so we can

say things about smiling

I love the British sense of humor but it

can offend people sometimes to be them

number 10 the majority of museums in

London are free and we do actually use

them quite a lot there has been a big

increase in Brits trying to do cultural

things which i think is great hasn’t

quite reached me yet but I did go to the

museum in my village last year so that

was great number 11 if you are invited

to the home of a British person if they

are providing a meal or a party for you

then you are sort of expected to bring

some sort of gift normally a bottle of

wine some flowers or chocolates if you

don’t bring a gift we wouldn’t say

anything about it but we would silently

judge you number 12

we are absolutely obsessed with our

animals here but animals I mean pets we

put our pets before our own children

sometimes we are dog and cat crazy

number 13 as soon as the Sun comes out

we leave work when it’s a good time to

leave work normally five o’clock and we

go straight to a pub garden we don’t go

inside the pub we go straight to the pub

garden or if there’s no direct route to

the garden and then we will march

through the pub directly to the garden

we love a pub garden in fact when I

finish this video I’m going straight

there with my neighbor 14 that brings me

on to our drinking culture it’s quite

bad but it’s getting better it’s very

normal to see some very very drunk

people on Friday and Saturday nights and

Sunday nights if it’s a bank holiday

which means we have the Monday off work

but Millennials are younger Jenner

our drinking less which is a very good

thing and binge drinking cases are going

down number 15 if we hold open a door

for you which we probably will we expect

to thank you however if somebody holds a

door open for us and it’s actually a

really awkward distance so we have to

kind of walk faster and they have to

wait for ages holding the door both

parties hate this situation but we still

say thank you and we still do it because

I don’t know why it’s polite number 16

we are this is divided some of us are

very polite drivers and some of us are

very rude the polite drivers will

probably let you through but they will

expect to thank you we live for that

thank you wave sometimes people just

lift a finger and that’s enough I just

like the acknowledgement I’m a polite

driver polite drivers also love to tut

and shake their head at impolite drivers

who have not thanked you for letting

them pass number 17 in many cultures

around the globe women want to have

lighter skin but in the UK we want to

have darker skin well not all of us but

a lot of us like to use fake tanning

products to make our skin darker I must

admit I’ve got someone today I’m a very

light shade of orange on my knees

particularly and yeah we don’t have much

Sun we don’t get much chance to tan and

having a tanned complexion I think is

always a sign of wealth like you’ve been

on holiday recently I just think I look

healthier with a bit of a tan but you

might not agree number 18 we are very

divided over the royal family some

people think it brings in loads of

tourism and money some people think that

they spend way too much money and

there’s never really been a study to

show whether they bring a profit or loss

to the country so it’s a funny one we

just don’t know number 19

the weather in summer can never be

guaranteed so we don’t actually go on

holiday in our own

that much we do but we can’t guarantee

it’s going to be a sunny beach holiday a

couple of years ago my family and I went

away to Cornwall to a beach resort and

there was not a single day of sunshine

it poured it down the entire time and we

just said never again we will always go

abroad now number 21

we like to thank the bus driver when we

get off the bus in London on the school

bus anywhere it’s pretty normal to say

thank you as we get off my school bus

driver was absolutely amazing he

actually used to buy us all Easter eggs

a whole school bus of children he was

lovely his name was Roger I hope I get

to see him again number 22

dinner is often our biggest meal of the

day I’m talking about evening dinner we

have a fairly heavy breakfast a light

lunch and then a heavy dinner and we

normally have breakfast between 7:00 and

8:00 lunch between 12:00 and 1:00 and

dinner between 6:00 and 7:00 normally

number 23 how are you and your right are

not genuine questions if we say hi

you’re right I don’t actually expect you

to answer saying well actually no I’m

not my goldfish died I just expect you

to say yeah yeah you’re right and that’s

it top quality interaction number 24 our

population is incredibly diverse in

London for example in 2011 when they did

the census that they do every ten years

forty four point nine percent of the

population were white British that means

London as a city is so diverse and it’s

something that a lot of us are really

proud of however if you got to the

northeast ninety three point six percent

of the population were white British so

it’s not evenly distributed number

twenty-five we care a lot about where

you stand on an escalator and we will

touch and shake our heads if you stand

in the wrong place and I always see

tourists do this you have to stand on

the right and you have to leave enough

room for busy rushy people to overtake

you otherwise they won’t say anything

but they’ll stand there and Tut and

maybe even say excuse me excuse me

be just be prepared 26 we drink beer and

cider in pipes sometimes we drink a half

pint and our beer is sometimes served

warm not lagers but our British Isles we

serve them at room temperature and that

can be shocking for some people 27 we

are terrified of wasps the most serious

straight-laced person is likely to cause

a massive flap ago if a wasp comes I was

in a church watching a wedding ceremony

the other day and a wasp came and it was

absolute carnage and of course all the

women had flower decorations in their

hair which just made it all the more

hilarious I just observed and thought

I’m gonna purpose in a video number 28

our winters are really dark in the peak

of winter the Sun doesn’t come up till

past 9:00 and it goes and it goes down

just after 3:00 it means that you can go

into the office and leave the office

without seeing sunlight it is really

quite intense 29 carpets are a key

feature in our houses and I’m not sure

how I feel about this carpets in a

bedroom okay but in a lot of

old-fashioned houses we have carpets in

the bathroom which I don’t think is

hygienic and it shocks quite a lot of

people when they come over here we also

have carpets on the stairs which are

really really hard to clean I know that

when I design my own house I won’t be

having so much carpet in it number 30

our plugs are different we have a

three-pronged plug which is different to

the European plugs so make sure you

bring an adaptor with you let me see if

I have a plug

what I’m saying oh yeah this is our plug

it’s a three-pronged plug and this is an

earth prong Tom Scott has got a really

good video on this this is going to be

this one of two times that I recommend

his videos in this video I think he’s

got a video explaining that and it’s a

really good one so I’ll link it down

below I am gonna mention another of his

videos later on thirty-one our society

really doesn’t prioritize religion

church attendance and membership numbers

have been falling drastically in the

1930s church membership was at 30% and

now it is at 10% or lower a lot of

people just go to church on really

important events like weddings Christmas

and maybe Easter number 32 we often have

separate taps or faucets as you might

call them for hot and cold water

especially in old-fashioned houses this

is where I talked about Scott Scott this

is where I talked about Tom Scott’s

video he’s got a really really good

video explaining why this is because

I’ve always wondered because I’ve always

grown up with having to choose between

boiling hot water on my face

or freezing cold water on my face and

just thinking why part we just mix them

we do have mixer taps now but it was

something to do with the tanks that

stored hot water

they couldn’t legally be mixed with

drinking water hence why hot in one cold

drinking water in another again it’s

something I have in my house right now

but when I move into my own house I will

be making sure that all taps are mixed

taps number 33 we drive on the left but

we walk on the right so you must drive

on the left-hand side of the road

but you must got the escalator on the

right number 34 when something is in

fashion all women end up wearing the

same thing even if it doesn’t suit them

I’ve had so many friends come over from

abroad and say oh my god everyone is

wearing the same thing and I hadn’t

noticed it before but it is true I

remember there was a fashion of like

quite see-through black leggings and

they just they didn’t look good on

anyone but everyone seemed to wear them

with the wrong colour and underwear

underneath number 35 when we’re 18 we

all sort of expect

by our parents to move out and start our

lives in a lot of countries people will

stay with their parents till they’re

well in their 30s here we just want to

get out as soon as possible and our

parents want us out as soon as possible

if we go to university we go at 18 and

we normally go to a university that’s

quite far from our own home however if

we’re going to start a job straight away

then yes we might stay with our parents

a bit longer it is becoming more common

to move back in with your parents

after you finish University that is

something that I did for six ish months

when I was starting my business after

graduating number 36 our university fees

are high very very high for UK residents

nine grand a year grandis pounds

thousand pounds nine thousand pounds a

year and for international students it

can be much much higher number 37 we

have ice cream trucks that drive around

our villages playing a tune like a

little dingy belching and it’s the most

exciting sound as a child I never had X

I lived in a rural village but when I

went to the park or to see friends I

remember hearing this noise comparing

like oh the ice-cream man I think my

friends mum told her that the ice-cream

man only played this tune when he’d run

out of ice-cream which i think is the

meanest thing ever

number 38 we don’t use our car horns

that often they are for angry

emergencies or just emergencies not

necessarily angry ones I went to Bali

last year or the year before and they

just use them all the time to say hello

and nudge people no over here

car horns are quite a big deal and if

someone beats their horn at you you

spend the rest of the car too and you’re

getting hope I’ve had one car horn ruin

my entire day 39 car drivers hate

cyclists and cyclists hate car drivers

it’s a war on the road at the moment

cycling has increased massively in

popularity and car drivers are not happy

about it 40 our supermarkets are very

big and they have a huge range of

pre-prepared food so ready meals to cook

in the microwave I’ve been to lots of

other

trees and I’ve never seen the range that

we have apart from perhaps in America

41 if we live in a city we tend to

totally mind our own business we don’t

talk to our neighbors we may be

stretched to a Hello sometimes and you

really don’t get to know people outside

of your own friend group and you know

your social activities and work in a

village however it’s completely

different and you have quite a hard time

protecting your business if you tell a

secret to someone the whole village will

know I kind of like it though

number 42 we find it incredibly rude if

somebody talks on their phone loudly on

public transport and the best example of

this is the train going to and from

Luton Airport and Gatwick Airport you

can see before it arrives to Gatwick

everyone’s just sitting in silence and

then as soon as you come past it it’s

just filled with tourists that don’t

know you know our society rules just

talking really really loudly to their

mum say that they’ve arrived safely and

all of the British people looking like

talking loudly on public transport what

do we do

forty-three our tabloid gossip

newspapers are disgusting they are

terrible they lie so much but we all

secretly read them I can’t say all of us

but many of us will secretly read the

Daily Mail 44 in the countryside

especially we have milk delivered to our

doorstep in bottles and it’s something

that I’m very passionate about I’m

really passionate about supporting our

local milkman and supporting our local

dairy farmers I get my milk delivered on

Monday and Thursday and I love it it’s

amazing we always have fresh milk at the

door 45 we generally tip 10% in

restaurants and we prefer to tip it in

cash because then we know it goes

directly to the waiter or waitress

however some restaurants especially

London restaurants or chain restaurants

will already add a service charge to

your bill which is normally a 12.5

percent and some of us will get very

angry about this and we’ll ask for that

to be taken off and will instead give

cash directly to the waiter or waitress

because we know that they are not on the

best wages and those tips form a big

part of what they earn and yes yes I do

that 46

we’re very indirect instead of saying I

don’t like it we would say well I don’t

hate it or it’s not my cup of tea

yeah we just hate being straight to the

point we don’t like funding people but

it can be very very confusing for people

who aren’t from here 47 most Sundays we

have a meal called a Sunday roast we

normally have it in a pub or our mum

will cook it for us and ah it’s the best

meal in the world and everyone’s

favourite Sunday roast is their mum

Sunday roast and that mum Sunday roast

is supposedly better than any other

Sunday roast everyone says that but my

mum’s genuinely is the best 48

although fish and chips are really

famous here I would say that chart going

out for Chinese and going out for a

curry are way more popular we do that

way more often fish and chips I probably

have it once every two years

fish and chip shops have declined in

quality number 49 we will do literally

everything in our power to avoid the

most minor awkward situation I was

walking with my friend the other day she

is quite awkward and she had a plastic

bag full of shopping she saw someone she

knew the bag broke and emptied out but

instead of stopping to pick it up which

would mean she would have to talk to

this person she just carried on walking

with an empty and I just thought that is

peak British there number 50 women

seriously under dress for the weather or

nights out or New Year’s Eve you will

see women in like bikini tops and tiny

dresses bare legs strappy heels but they

don’t necessarily get cold and this is a

phenomenon we like to call the beer

blanket once you have enough beer in you

you can’t feel the cold right

those are my 50 random weird and just a

bit quirky facts about British culture

and British life I hope you enjoyed them

don’t forget to check out audible you

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for another lesson

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