British Drinking Etiquette Question

I don't keep friends who would pressure me to binge so it's never been a personal issue. Working colleagues on the other hand think I am a bit anti social because I've declined to cone out after the aforementioned antics were witnessed on a previous occation. Of course with the pregnancy it's now a moot point.

At work events I would usually stay for a couple of hours or so to make  showing then leave.

I think going to the pub in the UK is very different from going to a bar in the US as pubs are often the hub of the local social scene - particularly in villages. I go to the pub probably 5 or 6 times a week, sometimes to eat, sometimes for the quiz night but usually for a drink - especially weekends    
Certainly moving into a new village recently i have found it a great way to get to know people.
If I'm not out to drink i will usually not get into buying rounds.

Jewls, where you live sounds like my kinda town...lol

I really like the idea of breaking down alcoholic beverages in units, but I think using the word 'binge' for 4-5 drinks in a session is a mistake.

I'm not going over to dictionary.com for an exact definition, but I believe it's safe the say that the word has connotations with lacking of control or excessive and dangerous behavior.

They (whoever they are)   should have chosen another more neutral word.  It makes me suspect that they chose 'binge' FOR its negative associations, in order to associate excess with danger.  (my opinion, of course)  Obviously, a person who has a few glasses of wine with a meal isn't in danger of being a 'binger'.  I wouldn't even say that a person who has a few glasses of wine daily is 'binging' either - but they are of course putting a stress on their body that could put them at risk for health problems.

The reason I like the unit designation is because it makes me think of all alcohol in the same way - whereas before a 'lovely glass of wine' or 'refreshing beer' seemed much more benign than a 'stiff drink'.  And before 'a few beers a couple of times a week' seemed rather harmless as opposed to a daily or weekly tally that can stop to make me think.

Mostly, I think that the units and limit definitions aren't meant to deter the occassional drinker, they are meant for the hardcore drinkers and especially to educate young people, that alcohol in all forms has the same effect on the body.

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The problem when you boil down to it though is that Britain as a country chronically overdrinks. We all know it's bad, yet we all do it nonetheless because as long as we're not a chav getting bottled on a Friday night and then passing on the favour to a nurse we think we're "not that bad". It's silly really. I can't exactly remember, but it's something like Britain's absolute alcohol-related deaths were two thirds of the US total, despite the population being less than one sixth of the US's, not to mention the US's far higher drink-driving fatalities.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1238395/The-drinking-violence-way-life-young-Britons-reaches-shocking-climax-Black-Eye-Friday.html

I don't normally like the Daily Mail, but this is relatively typical of many A&Es...

It's all very sad really, because in my personal life I quite like the British drinking culture - I go to the pub a lot, I like having a few drinks when I want but I know in the US people would raise their eyebrows at how much I drink, even though no-one would even find it at all problematic here. And yet the chaos it causes still shocks me, even after it being normality for all my life.

Nail on head peterm. I can remember Reading an editorial in a Brussels online paper ranking british holidaymakers as one of the worst in the world for holidaying in Europe for the exact reason of binge drinking.

Indeed, and yet it's so dependent on where you ask that question! If you ask in places like Japan, Bordeaux, Tuscany or, basically, the sorts of places lager louts and stag parties don't go to, we're regarded as pretty good guests to have... Polite, relatively good tippers, culturally aware (perhaps even sycophantic) and not prone to unfair complaint.

Prague and stag do's made me want to forget I spoke English sometimes.  Then again I've had that with Americans on the binge as well in other countries.  

We like our beer and occasional wine, more than once in the US, DH and I have received some very disapproving looks from people at places when we've ordered a beer or drink for lunch.  I think it's increased since we've had our son.  Like showing him what responsible alcohol consumption is is damning us straight to hell.  

Wow. I'm glad I live where I do because I don't see all the disapproving looks and people looking down on you for drinking. Unless of course you do get fall down drunk and do inappropriate things to make an ass of yourself and make others uncomfortable. Other than that, around here it's pretty much a live and let live kind of place.

When I worked in Luxembourg, a glass of wine was available in the cafeteria at lunchtimes.