LIST: Things that the Brits think we're nuts for..

The whole excuse me versus the I'm sorry thing... I mean hate those looks when you tell them excuse me when you bump into someone..

What???  I don't know what you're talking about and I ALWAYS say excuse me!  ACK.  I didn't think I was being rude... ohhhhhhh... that'll take a long time to beat out of me, I'm so used to saying it automatically!!  :-(

Just when you think you've got a grasp....


I can't complain too much about the knife and fork thing... I also use a knife and fork to eat pizza ... it's too hot for me otherwise.  But the two that slay me are:  
1)  Eating chips with a knife and fork
2)  Eating certain types of meats-on-the-bone with a knife and fork.... like a drumstick or a rack of ribs!

I always use my fingers for those!!  I'm so uncouth.  ;-)

-Lisa-

Collington... if you say 'excuse me' in Britain, it's implied that the other person is doing something wrong.  For example, if you bump into someone, and you say 'excuse me' , they might think you're rude cos in their eyes you are implying that they have bumped you, or that they should not be standing there.  (And in many cases, they shouldn't be!   )   Try saying 'sorry' instead... that's the usual local response!

I guess I've been here so long now that (apart from my accent) I've lost any tendencies toward Americanisms that stand out.  Some Canadians have moved in near my in-laws, and my FIL complains about them bitterly... the strange words they use, etc; and then he says "Badger doesn't say things like that", and "Badger doesn't do it that way".  

Oh... and NOON always means 12, no matter what side of the Atlantic you're on... honest!  

((Leah, LOVE these rabbits!))

.... But the two that slay me are:  ..... 2)  Eating certain types of meats-on-the-bone with a knife and fork.... like a drumstick or a rack of ribs!

Yeah I do that, it saves getting my fingers and half my face covered in grease and bbq sauce.  

It amuses my wife that I use a knife and fork for chicken and ribs, and I think even more so because I can, and leave the bones barer than she can using teeth and fingers.  

....US: I'll meet you at noon. .... aargh!  or is this just my siginificant other??

Nope again, I think that its just your significant other.  I think that most Brits know that noon is noon.    

... BTW It drives me nuts here in the US that midday, or noon, is written as 12.00 PM.  Noon and midnight have neither AM nor PM, they are right there in the middle, the dead center, neither before nor after the meridian!  Grrr!

The way they eat pizza with a knife and fork is just about the goofiest thing I've ever seen.  

:laughs: i have to agree.
although i find myself attempting this from time to time

Goofy?  Hm... thanks for that!  
I eat pizza with knife and fork cos it's cleaner and neater.

... BTW It drives me nuts here in the US that midday, or noon, is written as 12.00 PM.  Noon and midnight have neither AM nor PM, they are right there in the middle, the dead center, neither before nor after the meridian!  Grrr!

Could not agree more...always confusing anyway.. much prefer 1200 hours and 2400 hours myself...though comes across as being a bit odd outside of military circles!

Wench, he is half Scottish and English so... not sure ..I am still inclined to think he is odd.   Would not be married to him otherwise!

Hey what's up with the sneaker thing?  Don't they know it's bad to walk in high heels to work?  Just one word of advice...trying to walk on old cobbletstones is high heels of any sort is very very hard...think we should take the trend of sneakers over there.

Finally, eating pizza with a fork and knife is one thing... but shrimp?!?!  Husband thought I was nuts when we had our first shrimp and crab experience on St. Simon's island.  Talk about uncivilized...use your fingers to eat alomst everything AND throw it in the bucket in the middle of the table!  Lord have mercy!  

...think we should take the trend of sneakers over there.

No, no... dignity is more important.  You cant possibly feel any dignity wearing trainers with a dress or suit!  

And here I was thinking that my hubby was the ONLY one who doesn't rinse the dishes!  I've pretty much given up on pointing this out to him.  My mother-in-law does the same thing.  He just shakes his head at me when I do the dishes.  And the other thing that I get odd looks for is not using a knife everytime.  Come on!  The fork can cut things just as easily yah know!

Could not agree more...always confusing anyway.. much prefer 1200 hours and 2400 hours myself...

.... which is fine until somebody couples "2400 hrs" with a date, leaving the question as to which 2400hrs they mean - the one at the start or the one at the end?  I went to catch a charter coach once, for a vacation, and was left, with the rest of the party, waiting for four hours while the bus company found a substitute driver because the local bus depot had assumed, without bothering to check (though the schedule actually said "0000" which to me implies the start of the day) that the scheduled pick-up was at the end of the day, not the start.  

...... I am still inclined to think he is odd.  Would not be married to him otherwise!

or him to you!  

Hey what's up with the sneaker thing?  Don't they know it's bad to walk in high heels to work?  

I agree, and though, of course, I don't wear heels, I used to pay £20+ every 10-12 weeks to get my shoes re-heeled and soled.  Now I have a pair of "postal walkers", plain black ones that cost me $40 from Landsend 4-5 years ago, that I wear to and from work, and I get my shoes fixed every two years.  

My postal walkers have paid for themselves many times over, they are waaay more comfortable for commuting both by public transportation (London and NY) and when driving (NC), when it rains I have a dry pair of shoes to change into at work, and when it snows I can trade the postal walkers for boots.  Win, win, win, and win again!  

We're forgetting the big one-leftovers!
Had to laugh-I was perusing Brit-net (don't ask, I've no excuse)  and they were discussing left-overs like they're a new invention.  

Oh, I'll have to go and look at that one!  

all of these posts where a riot!!
i thought that my husband was the only brit that didn't rinse the dishes!!!!  i about fell of my chair when i read how many people shared the same experience!!

and the whole knife and fork thing...when my husband came to america for the first time we went for mexican food, he ordered a burrito and ate it with his knife and fork!  made me laugh the rest of the day...

 I put my new suit on, got my coat out of the closet, and then........laced up my sneakers (guddies).  He just said, as calmly as he could without laughing, "Why are you wearing those shoes with that outfit?"  Apparently, the whole "It's easier to walk to work in these rather than heals" thing doesn't apply over there.  

:laughs: me and my other half were out for a pub meal last night and i was telling him about this thread in the forum, and i brought up your entry here, and he looked me, & laughing asked if you were sacked straight away? silly boy....

this forum does definitely give me things to smile about..knowing that im not alone sometimes in my thoughts & weird ideas and whatnots.

I had forgotten about the dishes, we have a dishwasher now so it's not a common issue anymore. Funny that their dishwashers rinse then?

Leftovers, well, they didn't have a lot of room for them previously in these tiny fridges, I avoid leftovers if I can help it.