LIST: Things about The UK you wish you had known

[li]Kisses on both cheeks are acceptable and considered normal in the UK - NOT so much in the south of the US I've found[/li]

I don't know about that one.  Maybe it's only in certain circles.  To a lot of people the alternate cheeks thing is very French. 

when in doubt - say thank you.  say thank you to the taxi driver when he puts your bags in the boot, when he understands where you want to go, when he pulls up, when he tells you the total, when you give him money, when he gives you change, and when he's pulling away - when in doubt (with anything) say thank you[/li]

LOL!      Yeah, it does seem that way sometimes, even if you grew up here.  You sit at a table in a cafe.  The waitress brings you a menu.  "Thank you."  Then she takes your order.  "Thank you."  Then she puts silverware, napkins, or whatever on the table.  "Thank you."  Then she removes the menus.  "Thank you."    Then she leaves the salt and pepper.  "Thank you."   And so on....... 

Saying 'sorry' is another thing we do a lot of here. If someone walks into you, even if it was there fault, you must apologise too!

The "classic" is simultaneous apologies when bumping into somebody.   

We were talking about the 'You alright?' thing at our meetup on Saturday.  It took me the longest time after I moved here to figure out why everyone kept asking me if I was alright?  Why?  Don't I look alright?

I've never really felt comfortable with that as a form of greeting.   It seems to be regional though.

We were talking about the 'You alright?' thing at our meetup on Saturday.  It took me the longest time after I moved here to figure out why everyone kept asking me if I was alright?  Why?  Don't I look alright?

My husband is British and he hates this expression! Better yet he hates it when they just narrow it down to "alright?"  He says it's pure laziness and without a care intended.

I have to admit, I found most of the stuff on here quite funny and quite comforting.

• Others mentioned not rinsing dishes and I have to agree, I still don't understand what is up with that, why don't people do this.  Like other, my partner is not allowed to do dishes unless he agrees to rinse.
• Others mentioned the medicine cabinets are missing generally and I have to agree, everything lined up on little shelves.
• Bathroom heaters, I still don't know why they put these on the wall... quite odd
• Heated towel racks are much more common then I ever expected
• Boilers instead of water heaters, and BOIL is what they do, unless of course you have the timer set wrong and all you end up with is cold cold water.
• Invest in a PROPER washer and tumble dryer.  I still remember my partner asking me how dry the dryer was going to get the clothes.  He had never encountered a proper dryer in the UK.
  [li]You will get strange looks if you want your "bangs" cut...  fringe is what you want.
• Someone else said lack of Mexican food (good that is) which is so true... best to teach yourself and import some stuff.  Even the "wraps" at M&S aren't even close to good tortillas and most of the Mexican sauces in the store are loaded with sugar... ICKY...
• It is REALLY ok to tip just 10% or not even tip if the service was average.  That is one of the hardest things for me to give up...  Also watch at a lot of ethnic places (Chinese in particular) will add the service charge in automatically, so if you do tip, you are double paying.
• Good service when dining out is rare... lower your expectations or you will just get frustrated.
• Get used to pints of beer, they don't come bigger and rarely come smaller (1/2 pints), also get used to them filled to the tip top, that is a government regulations.
• Not only are the electrical sockets switched at the socket, but all the plugs have fuses built into them too, when something isn't working, you are going to spend a long time figuring out what is wrong.
• I had a hard time with the first TV I ran across, I spent like 30 minutes figuring out how to turn it on, with the combination of the hard button on the TV, the wall switch, the socket switch and then finally realizing you have to press the up button on the remote only to find out there were only 5 channels of TV to watch!  BAH!
• Some have touched on, but to clarify "all you allright?" or "allright?" or "allright there?" is a common greeting which really means in a public place "How can I help you?"
• "To-go" is "take away" and "sitting in" is "for here" when ordering food.
• When you get outside of London, and especially in Scotland and Northern Ireland, you will see bank notes that are not Bank of England notes and sometimes don't even have the Queen's photograph on them.  Especially NI notes are hard to use in other parts of the UK, even though they are technically legit.

And if no one has touched on this, realize the difference between "English" and "British" and when to use them.  Using "English" in reference to Welsh or the Scots will get you in big trouble, where "British" is usually tolerated.  Also, Great Britian covers everything but Northern Ireland.  It is all quite confusing.

That's my advice...

And if no one has touched on this, realize the difference between "English" and "British" and when to use them.  Using "English" in reference to Welsh or the Scots will get you in big trouble, where "British" is usually tolerated.  Also, Great Britian covers everything but Northern Ireland.  It is all quite confusing.

Yeah, well, I'll get more particular about that one when they stop calling me a Yankee. I did an all-body bristle the first time.

I have not moved yet but my bf did just spend 3 months in the States - we had several moments of confusion:
The fanny thing...
He insisted that I could not put water from the hot water tap in the kettle for tea - when I asked why?  he could not tell me - just not done!
The first time he went for a pack of cigarettes, he asked for a 10 and the lady at Walgreen's gave him 10 packs! 
I do not bristle at the "Yank" comments anymore - I just fire back with the Brit comments

I am looking forward to moving there - sure I will step on more than one toe...bf's comment was that Americans are much friendlier such as in the stores, etc...I figure a smile helps any situation

He insisted that I could not put water from the hot water tap in the kettle for tea - when I asked why?  he could not tell me - just not done!

I can help explain this one! Water from the cold tap comes directly from the water mains. Water from hot tap has often been sitting around in a tank or boiler, and is therefore not as fresh.

Thanks Belinda!  I have to say that the differences are usually funny and I get a kick out of them!

there are so many posts to read i can't do it so i'll add my own without reading


we've lived in two cottages and niether has a dishwasher.  Those are for "rich people" i was told

people stare at me a lot when i walk around, i must have an American look to me

small town life consists of getting pissed at the pub, and that's it

i miss grape jelly

they call jelly jam and they call jell-o jelly....huh?

that's all i can think of right now.

i miss grape jelly

I miss grape jelly so much!!  I found something remotely similar...it's called Damson jelly...whatever a damson is?  I'm not sure.  It's not too bad though.  It's a hundred X's better than all this blackcurrant stuff!!  YUCK!!

I can help explain this one! Water from the cold tap comes directly from the water mains. Water from hot tap has often been sitting around in a tank or boiler, and is therefore not as fresh.

See here for more about British plumbing:

http://talk.uk-yankee.com/index.php?topic=14213.0

I miss grape jelly so much!!  I found something remotely similar...it's called Damson jelly...whatever a damson is?  I'm not sure.  It's not too bad though.  It's a hundred X's better than all this blackcurrant stuff!!  YUCK!!

Type of plum.

and reeses cups.  I hear you can get them in London, but up north, nobody has heard of them.  What's that about?

Storm you don't have to be rich to afford a dishwasher!  Borrow my husband!   

Actually though if you have the space you could always purchase your own.. Argos are quite cheap or even at a second hand place perhaps?

The staring may just be that if you do indeed live in a small town you are new to them.  It would happen in any small place.  I lived in a smallish town in VA and always felt a bit of an outsider... it takes time.

Can't help you on the Reeses though!  Good news is that Kit Kat is doing the peanut butter one so maybe we can win over the UK to the thrills of peanut butter and chocolate sooner than you think! 

Yes, I'm not so sure the dishwasher thing is a 'rich people' thing either.  One thing I've noticed, and this may be purely from my husband's (and/or his family's) point of view -- with appliances like clothes dryers and dishwashers here, there's more a sense that it's a waste of resources (energy/electricity and water).  Do you think people here (generally, though I know one shouldn't generalise) are more aware or concerned (either environmentally or in a cost-conscious mode) about the cost of dishwashers, clothes dryers, etc?  Either that, or people just don't have the space in their house/flat for these appliances?

Incidentally, our house has a dishwasher -- but it doesn't work.  DH says we are 'going to see if it works' (someday?) -- the lady we bought the house from said it didn't work but of course didn't bother to remove it.  The unit doesn't look like any dishwasher I've ever used, I'm not sure if it's even plugged in and/or plumbed...so I've been waiting for DH to get around to 'seeing if it works'.  LOL  However, if we got rid of the thing, then we'd have room to put the washing machine in its spot, which would free up room for having a clothes dryer where the washing machine is now!

and reeses cups.  I hear you can get them in London, but up north, nobody has heard of them.  What's that about?

Where "up north" are you? I'm in NW England (Carlisle) and have no trouble finding them. Asda carries them and so does Woolworths. Try those places if you haven't already.