People Reveal What They Have Always Wanted To Ask A British Person

People Reveal What They Have Always Wanted To Ask A British Person
Nerivill/Pixabay

Curiosity about life in another country is a reasonable thing, and enough British pop culture has spread throughout the world to pique many people's interest.


Reddit user u/-Chris-P-Bacon- asked:

"What's something you always wanted to ask a British person?"

20.

Do you really have washing machines in the kitchen?

-candiedangel

Yes. Plumbed in near the sink usually. England is a small country, we don't have room for massive houses and extra rooms just for laundry. Unsure of why basements never took off here though, I'd love a basement. Too damp maybe?

-Elaquore

19.

Can you live without drinking tea

-ververa14

Can you live without water? Air? We have had wars over Tea! Our tanks have a hot water boiler in then to make tea. Something good happens? Tea Someone dies? Tea Just been in an accident? Tea

You can tell a lot about someone how they make/take their tea.

NEVER underestimate tea!

-just_jason89

18.

How do you feel about Americans hijacking the name "Football" for a game that is clearly not football?

-femisbermin

Slightly irksome, however, knowing the rest of the world names it correctly I get a small smug smile when I think about it.

-Squidgytv

17.

Yeah yeah yeah, we all love our Doctor Who and Coronation Street...what are the crappy TV shows that don't make it overseas?

-originalchaosinabox

Wait, they show Coronation Street in the US?

-londxbsl

Corrie is the crap tv...

-Stevey854

16.

As a British person: why do people put plastic tubs in the sink? I can't think of any reason why someone would do it.

EDIT: Apparently I was unclear, I am British. A bunch of people saying I'm American, even the British think the British are weird.

-EvilPenguin1080

I've asked this before and started a war. Here you go:

They don't often have double sinks or 1 1/2 sinks like in the US, Aus/NZ so you put the dishes in the plastic tub maybe with water - and you can still run water (eg: for rinsing) without it going into the dishes water.

Leaves the sink free to pour cold tea down (either the most British reason or the most sacreligious reason)

To save water, back when basins were massive concrete things or porcelain you saved water filling up a smaller bowl.

It protects the porcelain sink from the cutlery.

It protects the glass from the metal sink.

If you suddenly need your sink you can pull the whole plastic tub out and voila! Sink is free!

Honestly, I got so many answers it exhausted me. Most of them were like WHY WOULDNT YOU??

-WEstefan

15.

Is my fake British accent as bad as hearing Brits talk "American"?

-pagedotcom

Almost certainly worse.

-Lestes

14.

What's the reason for the stereotype of the British having bad teeth?

-Lj_Babb101

AFAIK It's to do with different perceptions over here and across the pond. Here we don't really care what our teeth look like so long as they work, but from what I've seen the States are all about that dazzling Colgate white sheen.

So if it ain't twinkling it's considered unhealthy, hence the stereotype. There are probs other explanations but this is the only one I've heard.

-Scorch_Dat_Earth

13.

List every example of a word you've shortened like brolly and uni.

-Kuli24

Welly

Butty

Cuppa

Telly

-easterbunni

12.

Are there any British slang words that are too fucking British even for you?

-Thopterthallid

C*ckwomble. My ex's boyfriend tried to threaten me when I blocked her having split up with her but he called me a c*ckwomble and I almost pissed myself laughing.

-Joseph_c03

11.

What's an appropriate fish for fish & chips?

-Broketographer


Haddock is a personal fav, but cod and plaice are good too

-Pigeoncake1

10.

What is the appropriate response to "Youalright?"


I moved to London about 18 months ago and I still can't figure out how to respond other than making a vaguely positive guttural noise.

-smellyt

The correct interaction is

'Alright.'

'Alright.'

Neither is actually a question, it's just a greeting.

-nousernameusername

9.

What British stereotype bothers you the most?

-swishcheese

The idea we're obsessed with tea. I only have 4 cups a day, bathe in it once a week, have like TWO shrines in my bedroom, that hardly constitutes an obsession...

-Exverius

Your tanks had to be outfitted with tea kettles to stop soldiers from messing stuff up trying to make tea.

Much like the Galil had to be outfitted with a bottle opener to stop soldiers from breaking their magazines opening beer bottles.

-scroom38

We had to make another power station to cope with the fact that we all get up and make a cup of tea at the exact same times

-Exverius

8.

You claim to be all about the metric system, but when I visited you everything was in "miles", "stone", and "pints". Why do you lie?

-ShrekTheHallz

We started the change over but it was really boring so we gave up halfway

-chineseandscottish

7.

Is it true that there's like five sunny days a year?

-iTeoti

Six if youre lucky

-Exverius

Wow, we usually only get 2 in my town... although one is questionable

-LilySeverson

6.

If I go to the UK (I'm American) will people like my accent or think I sound stupid? I have a very basic American accent, not anything crazy like a southern accent or a Boston accent

Edit: When I say basic American accent, I guess that's my opinion. Just sounds very not special to me. I have a New England (Massachusetts) accent, but not a Boston one.

-TrooperDave

You’re louder than you think. It’s the volume not the accent.

-WhoriaE

5.

Does anyone actually like Piers Morgan?

-plant_based_fatty

Not even a little bit

-CardboardandCornflakes

4.

What does the UK think of America. Are we just war obsessed maniacs with eating problems?

-Tatertot-h

The general stereotype of Americans is self-absorbed, delusions of grandeur, thinking their country is the best on earth, etc. The US political system is also very close-minded and skewed; what you would consider 'leftist', everyone else considers centrist.

-HerbivoreTheGoat

3.

Why isn't cricket popular in England? Even though the world cup has started British media doesn't seem to be covering much about it

-achu28

because it went behind Sky's paywall

No coverage on free-to-air tv = Collapse in (youth) interest / viewership

-somersettler

2.

What blend of tea do you drink the most? As a tea lover from the US (proper tea, not southern sweet tea) I'm also curious what the most popular over there is.

-IronJoker33

Everyone is saying brands (Yorkshire Tea is the best one btw) but in terms of blends we tend to prefer black tea, especially as our 'general' tea is usually a blend of Kenyan, Ceylon, Assam, Darjeeling etc

-Adcro

1.

How's the health situation over there in reality? Do you pay for anything out of pocket? Ever have trouble getting medical attention when you need it?

-robthky123

NHS is free (well tax but ya know).

Don't pay for anything on the NHS apart from prescriptions (it's something like £8 for literally anything you are prescribed, a set price).

No trouble when you compare it to other countries.

-run_fast_eat

Depends what you mean by medical attention. Getting an appointment with your local GP might take a few days, if you happen to live in an area that is underserved. But if you need an ambulance it's going to show up for free as soon as humanly possible.

-kindafunnylookin

Companies That Shamelessly Make Terrible Products

Reddit user ricinonthecake asked: 'what companies shamelessly make sh*t products, year after year?'

Be it for clothes, household appliances, or food, sometimes you know you can be one hundred percent confident with certain brands or companies when shopping that you will be getting a quality product.

Unfortunately, this goes both ways.

Some companies have a reputation for exclusively selling and manufacturing low-quality products.

One would think that these companies might reflect on poor sales and bad customer feedback, and attempt to improve their brand with each passing year.

Unfortunately, even if they still get items on the shelf, reviews on Amazon and elsewhere still seem to remain at two stars or less.

Keep reading...Show less

The paranormal is among us at all times.

The ghosts, the spirits, they "live" in their death.

Sometimes a coincidence or a phenomenon is something more.

Leftover essences have been seen and recorded.

Now not everybody is cool with every encounter.

I still have shivers depending on the mood.

But when will we all be on the same page and start living 'Beetlejuice?'

Day-OH!

That could help with the spookiness of it all.

Keep reading...Show less
white police car in wall
Photo by Conor Samuel on Unsplash

Everyone does stupid things, and it's not limited to when you're young either.

When I was 10, my best friend and I snuck out of her house in the middle of the night and hitchhiked to Tukery Hill for ice cream. I can't even count all the ways that could've gone wrong.

Eight years later, my friend and I drove his new car on the sheets of ice on our college campus, trying to see how fast we could go.

The tires skidded on the ice several times, and back then, we thought it was fun.

The stupidity spurred on by impulsivity doesn't ever truly go away.

Redditors can attest to that, as they are sharing what may be the stupidest things they've ever done.

Keep reading...Show less

Customer service jobs are not for the faint of heart.

Dealing with people at their angriest and rudest does not breed a positive work environment.

Customer service can be a downright toxic job.

And if it's not the customers setting your spirit on fire, it's the companies themselves.

Some companies seem to revel in creating discontent.

That's why these types of jobs have such high turnover.

Redditor Psychological-Name15 wanted the customer service reps out there to give us some truths, so they asked:

"Customer service workers of Reddit, what secret can you reveal from your former company?"

I want to know about the inner workings of Comcast!!

I loathe them!

Oh Dear

Jennifer Lopez Smh GIF by American IdolGiphy

I used to work in tech support for Citi Bank. The people working there are not intelligent. My favorite interaction went like this..."

"Banker - How do I type the upside down I?"

"Me - Ma'am, that's an exclamation point."

slappy_mcslapenstein

The Crappy People

"In every CS job I’ve ever had: we will bend over backward to help a nice person. We will expedite any complaint, give maximum compensation, and harass other areas of the business for you."

"We will do the absolute bare minimum to help a shi**y person and if you’re really bad, we will do everything in our power to make sure you get nothing but what you’re legally entitled to and it will be a process to get that."

11catsinahumansuit

"I don’t work in CS but 100% the same for us in IT a nice person will get new stuff while a shi**y person will get questionable secondhand crap that will take 12 months to fix! I will make sure that you wait as long as humanely possible to have anything fixed!"

Sharp-Demand-6614

Go to Holiday Inn

"If you ask for a supervisor calling Marriott you will just get another person who is not a supervisor, but say they are."

cryptnificent

"Yep. I've seen this done numerous times across multiple industries. Usually, it only involves an actual sup if it's a genuine problem or if they want to make a point."

"The last job I had was in towing junk cars. Two of the inside buyers, one male, and one female, would bounce that sup card around constantly. Idk how no one ever put it together. We'd get repeat callers and repeat sellers so I don't know."

ItsBobFromLumbridge

Heartless

"Worked at a contracted call center for Centrelink. The manager told us to deny as many emergency payments as possible and they would back us no matter what. They were actively working towards a culture that despised the callers and churned staff to get heartless right-wingers who hated the poor."

Rizza1122

"I feel ya. My best mate is a quadriplegic. Centrelink denied his disability pension because he wasn’t disabled enough."

Less-Storage

Go to Home Depot

You Are Dumb Patrick Star GIF by SpongeBob SquarePantsGiphy

"I worked at Lowes. I didn't know anything about anything in the electrical department yet that's where they put me without any training."

Eattherich187

Not training people is not just a Lowes thing.

There are too many unqualified people doing too many things.

Switcharoo

Drag Race What GIF by TAZOGiphy

"Can confirm it's an unwritten policy for deli departments in Coles Supermarkets to change the written expiry dates on their tickets so they can sell out-of-code products at full price."

REDDIT

A Little Sunshine

"I worked at a call center for the billing department of a major internet and cable service provider. We were authorized to give up to $90 credit per customer on their bill but only as a last resort. Always remember to be nice to all customer service workers. You never know just how much they can help with a friendly attitude."

Axel_Dunce

"Former call center employee here. Highly accurate. Use your manners, and well fix your issue. Anything else, just makes us want to take longer, and you won't get a credit. Just because we are authorized, doesn't mean you'll get the credit for being an a**hat. haha. I've been verbally abused a few times for asking them not to swear at me. Lol."

Ok-Ad-7247

LELU

"I worked for a major telco company for many years in something called a ‘LELU’ which stands for Law Enforcement Liaison Unit. This 'unit' is pretty self-explanatory, but it essentially is a team who worked directly with the police/FEDS to monitor people's information for things such as obtaining communications history of call logs, SMS loss, etc."

"However, most importantly, the software we used, we as agents could directly see all your SMS texts, including MMS and their explicit imagery of whatever you were sending. This would include sexting, naked images, family photos, and everything. There were instances where people abused this position by stalking or 'monitoring' their SO’s comings and going’s."

MidniteMischief

Cookies!!

"I worked at a cafe chain called 'The Cookie Man,' 95% of their cookies arrived in cardboard boxes layered with bubble wrap. The last 5% arrived as pre-made dough that we would bake on-site to make the place smell like fresh cookies."

"I also worked at a cupcake shop. It's literally just packet mix that you add eggs and oil to before baking/piping pre-made icing onto. Don't waste your money on these places, 90% of these chain shops are the same and most are severely underpaying their workers (this is for Australia btw). Just purchase some packet mix from the supermarket and call it a day."

Frequent-Selection91

Look in the Back

"I was a Store Manager for a very large grocery chain and I can tell you that 95% of the time when customers complain to the manager, we may be professional and show empathy, and even resolve the problem."

"But then we usually just make fun of or talk crap about the person who complained to the other employees. And when a customer is really rude when we go 'look in the back' for something, we legit just stand around and talk to other employees, and make zero effort to look for the item."

A_Womans_Thoughts

From the Box

Kaitlin Olson Brunch GIF by The MickGiphy

"I once worked at 'the area's premiere day spa'; the mimosas were made with Sunny D and not real orange juice, and the wines came out of a box."

SailorVenus23

Sunny D and champagne?!?!

What in the name of Lucifer?

Who does that?!

Do you have anything to add? Let us know in the comments below.