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What does it mean to be British?
One of the British national daily newspapers asked readers "What does it mean to be British?" Some of the emails were hilarious but this one from a chap in Switzerland stood out;
“Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, and then traveling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV.
And the most British thing of all?
Suspicion of anything foreign."
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/ravi
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You liked it?
Tell that to the cretin who reports my posts as spam.
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Yes, I thought it was funny.
/ravi
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Thanks.
The aforementioned cretin, who probably hasn't yet figured out how to wipe his butt after using the pot, has already marked my comment on this weeks survey as spam.
Most likely, this will also go into the Spam bin before it gets reviewed and posted.
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I suppose that last sentence in your OP hit a nerve.
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That's funny. It describes a lot of Americans suburbanites, substitute the VW for Honda or Toyoda, unless they are single, then it German luxury all the way.
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jgakenhe wrote: unless they are single, then it German luxury all the way.
Guilty as charged. 
/ravi
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That's about right!
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That joke is older than me.
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I can see the potential for this thread to go to soapbox material, at anytime.
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He forgot drinking tea!
Rules for the FOSW ![ ^]
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else
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HobbyProggy wrote: He forgot drinking Chinese tea!
FTFY! 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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No, No, No, learn your history STOLEN Chinese tea grown in India, by the East India Company! 
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Of course those curries we eat are actually very British, and we have plenty of fantastic beer now, and yes tea, lots of it.
We can't afford our own 'British' cars.
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Top selling cars in the UK: Ford Fiesta, Vauxhall Corsa, Ford Focus.
Irish pubs are a worldwide thing, and we don't have many of them over here, and we certainly don't get through much Belgian beer. Proper beer is increasingly popular, but the most popular is Carling and has been for about 35 years.
And you will struggle to find Indian curry served publicly anywhere, what we eat is very much a British invention.
No-one sits on anything from Ikea, not whilst the DFS sale is on - and it has been for longer than Sweden has been invented now.
Most of our TVs are Korean, and we mostly watch whatever Simon Cowell tells us to, before he then sells the format to America.
Aside from that, flawless.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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Geez, somebody seems to have taken offense there... I think it was mostly a joke... 
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
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I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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No offense taken, and I know it was a joke, albeit a very, very old one.
I just wondered if there was any truth in it, or ever had been, cos I don't recognise any of it, so did a bit of googling.
Jokes playing on stereotypes need to have some truth to the stereotype to work.
Although the punch line was accurate.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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chriselst wrote: No offense taken
Did you mean "offence"? 
You have just been Sharapova'd.
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I thought I did, but the spell-checker objected and the post I was replying to agreed with it so I went meekly along with the consensus.
Some men are born mediocre, some men achieve mediocrity, and some men have mediocrity thrust upon them.
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Yeah, you're both right, just blame me and Microsoft...
http://grammarist.com/spelling/offence-offense/[^]
Anything that is unrelated to elephants is irrelephant
Anonymous
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The problem with quotes on the internet is that you can never tell if they're genuine
Winston Churchill, 1944
-
I'd just like a chance to prove that money can't make me happy.
Me, all the time
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I moved to London 2.5 years ago. My opinion might disappoint you. From a Londoners perspective being British is similar to being Swiss ( I lived there for 5 years so I can judge ).
Fore-mostly it is about being incredibly polite. Without people ever noticing. For example you plan your pedestrian path 10 meters (,pardon ... 32.8 feet) ahead at rush hour. Then you execute it like a deer, you do not bump into anyone, you do not block anyone's path; and nobody even knows how skilfully you did it.
Then it is about Friday pubbing. No other nation does it quite so consistently as the British.
Then it's about the culture. London's red mail and phone boxes, cabs, cityscape, queens guard, The Beatles...are all very strong and recognizable cultural influence.
For the rebel Americ Unitedstatians it is about the accent which sounds like someone not actually trying to swallow a chewing gum while speaking. And a lot of classy words such as autumn instead of peasants fall. Or arriving instead of coming (but not during sex).
All in all Britain is a very nice and open place. And we should not trash British just because they are proud on their language, culture, habbits, industries, history - because they have something to be proud of.
There.
That is what being British means.
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Apparently you politely forgot:
on a positive note:
Bad teeth
A stubborn caste system all its own.
Bad Abysmal native cuisine
Atrocious approximation of the English Language*
Pathetic envy of Dick van Dyke's portrayal of the local vernacular.
* Indeed! One of the world's truly great oxymorons.
Quite Spot-On. Cheereo, Pip Pip.
| "The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein | | "As far as we know, our computer has never had an undetected error." - Weisert | | "If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you are seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010 |
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Quote: Bad teeth
This is a myth supported by such films as Austin Powers and all the other cheap-shot films and comedians.
Quote: A stubborn caste system all its own.
Which country does not have a caste system of some sort. The US certainly does! I don't think I need to go into details.
Quote: Atrocious approximation of the English Language
We invented and developed it therefore we can speak it however we like and we are automatically correct - it is impossible for it to be an "approximation" of any kind.
Quote: Pathetic envy of Dick van Dyke's portrayal of the local vernacular.
A brilliant comic - we laugh at his accent because it was meant to be laughed at.
- I would love to change the world, but they won’t give me the source code.
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