Britain and British Culture

ghosthorse Lols, it's just a South African pet peeve.

Bert's eyebrow:

ghosthorse Lols, it's just a South African pet peeve.

I totally understand. I'm from the southern half of the US, and almost any "Texan" (or southern in general) accent you hear on tv is ridiculous and exaggerated.

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^ lols don't you just get frustrated? It's like 'Dude! You have to tone it down a bit.'

The one thing that pisses me off the most in terms of stereotypes of British people is "bad teeth". This is mainly because it just doesn't seem to have any evidence.

I'm British, have lived here all my life, and I have seen far more people with decent teeth than not. And the people who do have bad teeth have, on the whole, done it to themselves by either eating too much sugar or smoking too much. I can't see that it's a racial aspect of people at all.

Where the hell does the idea come from?

Alex; oxytocin.:

The one thing that pisses me off the most in terms of stereotypes of British people is "bad teeth". This is mainly because it just doesn't seem to have any evidence.

I'm British, have lived here all my life, and I have seen far more people with decent teeth than not. And the people who do have bad teeth have, on the whole, done it to themselves by either eating too much sugar or smoking too much. I can't see that it's a racial aspect of people at all.

Where the hell does the idea come from?

From what I've heard, dental care was extremely expensive somewhere around 30+ years ago which lead to a lot of people having crooked and spaced teeth as opposed to straight and tight teeth. I don't know how true that is, seeing as I'm not from Britain, but it's the only thing I've heard that actually sounds reasonable. It's really just an old stereotype that can't hold up unless the person saying it lives under a rock.

Alex; oxytocin.:

The one thing that pisses me off the most in terms of stereotypes of British people is "bad teeth". This is mainly because it just doesn't seem to have any evidence.

I'm British, have lived here all my life, and I have seen far more people with decent teeth than not. And the people who do have bad teeth have, on the whole, done it to themselves by either eating too much sugar or smoking too much. I can't see that it's a racial aspect of people at all.

Where the hell does the idea come from?

As far as I can tell, Ireland and the UK have vastly different standards of orthodontia than the US; the "bad teeth" thing is more about crooked teeth than rotten teen (I think at the moment Britain is actually a leader in oral hygiene). And obviously there's a lot of hyperbolizing about the whole thing, but I think the crooked teeth thing has some basis in reality. I live in the US and had braces and a retainer to fix a slight overbite; I seriously doubt I would've been referred to an orthodontist at all in Ireland or the UK, because I have cousins who grew up over there with similar teeth to mine (or rather, what mine used to be) who never had braces.

And as odd as it sounds, when I guess if someone is British/Irish or American solely by looking at their mouth, I'm usually right. I think it's just a cultural thing: Americans are very uptight about having perfectly straight teeth and (again, in my own limited experience) British people aren't.

I love Britain, its one of my favorite countries that I dream of visiting. I haven't really read much about it's culture , but I studied some plays for great writers such as the greatest of the great Shakespear. I also studied a punch of poems written by some British poets. So , this is what I like about the British culture. Adding to that , British people are so decent and reserved and I definitely like that about them. As for what I dislike is that they always keep a straight face " No offense " .

Ann Orton:

As for what I dislike is that they always keep a straight face " No offense " .

What do you mean?

Alex; oxytocin.:

What do you mean?

I've never been to Britain before , but I've heard that they have commercials to make British people smile because they usually don't , that's what I meant

That's the first I've heard of it, and I am British. We smile a lot. Well, whenever smiling is appropriate, of course.

Alex; oxytocin.:

That's the first I've heard of it, and I am British. We smile a lot. Well, whenever smiling is appropriate, of course.

Lol , it's good to know that

I can see why you would think that though. A lot of adverts do try and be mental: especially the Compare the Market which has made meerkats a huge craze.

But you do get the ones that are...stylish and crap. Like the M&S sexy food ads or that...

river song.:

I can see why you would think that though. A lot of adverts do try and be mental: especially the Compare the Market which has made meerkats a huge craze.

But you do get the ones that are...stylish and crap. Like the M&S sexy food ads or that...

Finally , sum1 is getting my point here

river song.:

I can see why you would think that though. A lot of adverts do try and be mental: especially the Compare the Market which has made meerkats a huge craze.

So much love for that advert!

Quote

But you do get the ones that are...stylish and crap. Like the M&S sexy food ads or that...

Yeah, there's that. But I don't see a link between that and constantly keeping a straight face.

I have a toy meerkat at home. It's a cheap copy but I have nothing to insure to get a proper one.

I think there's a stereotype about British people - in general - that we're all posh and yeah. Like in some American things, the British characters always seem very emotionally distant.

Unless you're a cockerney or Scottish like moi. The apparent stereotype seems to be loud, patriotic and a bit drunk (not so much as the stereotype of Irish folk but yeah)

river song.:

I have a toy meerkat at home. It's a cheap copy but I have nothing to insure to get a proper one.

I think there's a stereotype about British people - in general - that we're all posh and yeah. Like in some American things, the British characters always seem very emotionally distant.

Unless you're a cockerney or Scottish like moi. The apparent stereotype seems to be loud, patriotic and a bit drunk (not so much as the stereotype of Irish folk but yeah)

Hate the Irish stereotype ._.

river song.:

I think there's a stereotype about British people - in general - that we're all posh and yeah. Like in some American things, the British characters always seem very emotionally distant.

I fucking hate those stereotypes, particularly. I can't stand it. I mean, I was born in Grimsby, for Christ's sake; take an American who reckons all Brits are posh there and they'd have the shock of their lives.

river song.:

I have a toy meerkat at home. It's a cheap copy but I have nothing to insure to get a proper one.

I think there's a stereotype about British people - in general - that we're all posh and yeah. Like in some American things, the British characters always seem very emotionally distant.

Unless you're a cockerney or Scottish like moi. The apparent stereotype seems to be loud, patriotic and a bit drunk (not so much as the stereotype of Irish folk but yeah)

I'm Scottish too and could echo this all.

I think Scottish culture is so ridiculously far from the general perception of British people abroad.

Some things I love about my country are really mundane when it comes down to it. When I've been in a foreign country for a while, I miss the simple things, like our green and blue road signs, and the speed signs being in mph, and stuff like that. I love it when I get into Dover off a ferry and everything is all British again.

I could literally go on forever about the things I like about GB. Sense of humour (whether it's contemporary or goes back to things like Allo Allo ), politeness (which, yes, I still believe to exist ), heritage, etc. There's just something that feels right when I'm spending pounds rather than euros, and eating fish and chips instead of McDonalds... stuff like that. And watching BBC (and Dave! ). Incidentally, those make me feel way more British than ITV or anything else does.

I suppose the same kind of things could be said by anyone of their own culture.

battalions:

As far as I can tell, Ireland and the UK have vastly different standards of orthodontia than the US; the "bad teeth" thing is more about crooked teeth than rotten teen (I think at the moment Britain is actually a leader in oral hygiene). And obviously there's a lot of hyperbolizing about the whole thing, but I think the crooked teeth thing has some basis in reality. I live in the US and had braces and a retainer to fix a slight overbite; I seriously doubt I would've been referred to an orthodontist at all in Ireland or the UK, because I have cousins who grew up over there with similar teeth to mine (or rather, what mine used to be) who never had braces.

Well, I had terrible teeth and when I was eleven I got referred to an orthodontist and have had braces twice (it didn't work the first time because I was a bratty kid that hated doing anything with my teeth) again when I was thirteen. My bestfriend is really paranoid about her teeth she uses whitener and has these retainers she wears at night even though she doesn't need them, which cost a small fortune. And my boyfriend uses whitening tooth paste. Basically everyone I know apart from my dad (because he hates dentists) are super serious about dental care, my boyfriend even tells me off for not brushing my teeth before bed time.
Also about ten of the kids in my last year of school had braces, dentists will refer you to a nhs orthodontist even if you're not sure because it is free for children in full time education under the age of 19.

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On a different note, NHS bashing gets on my nerves, without it me and Stephen Hawking would both be dead. I love the NHS.