I moved to England back in 1995 so my list of "British-isms" comes from a list I wrote to my sister in December 1995, 1996, 1998 and a letter to my best friend when I was about to return to the US in 2004 of things I would miss.
They are:
*Very few drive thru's of anything
*Actual working hours of 9-5pm and 37.5 hour work week
*Stores closing at 1pm on a Wednesday, "early closing hours" and staying "late" to 6pm on Thursday
*Lower Earley, Berkshire ASDA had the very first 24 hour opening store in the country in 1996-ish. It was weird that it was 24 hours Monday through Friday but closed early on Saturday and Sunday. I felt it was silly and defeated the purpose. But that was then and I wouldn't mind it now.
*The ASDA's "international" food section was only 4'x4' and only had a few pastas, pasta sauces, a sad Old El Paso taco shells and some curry sauces and the freezer section only contained frozen fish, chicken and beef, vegetables, some ice cream and gateaux. I discovered that it was gateaux and not cake. It's like vol-au-vents. Just call them appetizers, for goodness sake. So, it was before the massive advent of ready-meals, if you can believe it!
*My father-in-law actually receiving a "pay packet" with his wages calculated on an envelope in ink and was paid in cash
*We lived in a neighborhood without ability to have cable tv so it was BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 only. Channel 5 came in 1997.
*I loved and still love "Prime Minister's Questions".
*It was interesting to meet my then MP: John Redwood at his "surgery" at Rose Street in Wokingham. I don't think I've ever had the opportunity to even meet the mayor of the small town I currently live in, never mind an MP.
*One of the jobs I worked at, Reading Evening News in 1997-1998, we still had "elevenses" and break at 3pm. We actually had a "tea lady" who had a trolly and would make a drink to your specification at 11am and again at 3pm. It was a break for about 15 minutes. That was truly lovely.
*I loved and still miss BBC Radio 2
*I especially loved how you had RDS radio so you can drive from Reading to Durham and still listen to your radio station without having to re-tune it
*This was 1995 so the particular ring of the telephone (loud double ring) always reminded me that I was not in the US.
*I was instructed to answer the phone not with "hello" but "0734 655315" our phone number
*There was a "phONE" day where many cities around the UK changed their numbers to add 1 to their phone number. Reading changed theirs in 1996. It was significant to me because my husband helped create the tool to change millions of numbers in the UK. Btw, London used to be (071) & (081). He also created the tool to have the change in the phone number for many cities in the UK, including London & Reading, to it's current numbers 0171, 0181 and 0118 9. I found all the changes a bit fascinating.
*I'm from Texas so trains will always be a favorite. I especially loved having the tea trolly person selling all sorts of things up and down the aisles
*My bus to work was a Routemaster with a ticket seller on board
*The big deal made about a Christmas Number 1 song
*The fact that Mr Blobby, Bob the Builder and the Teletubbies all have a Number 1 song on the charts. Mr Blobby had a Christmas Number 1 in 1993 and Bob the Builder in 2000. Seriously?! lol
*I don't think it's Christmas unless my husband blares out Slade, Wizzard, Chris Rea and that bliking Paul McCartney song. I hate them and love them in equal measures. I simply HATE that Pogues & Kirsty McColl song. You know that horror!
*My father-in-law and his obsession about the "immersion heater". What the hell is that?
*The British and their many, many panel shows. Admittedly, I loved "Never Mind the Buzzcocks" and "Have I Got News for You" but there can be too much of a good thing
*There were very few US shows to watch (apart from Oprah) so you pretty much watched UK tv shows both old and new and they were a great way to have something to talk about with other people so I missed out on "Sex in the City" or "Will & Grace" and countless other shows.
*My children's school was a religious-affiliation school and it didn't cost anything at all. I only had to prove my children were baptized and we went to church. If we were in the US, we would pay private school tuition.
*The kid's primary and junior school were in the same building and could fit all the children in the "assembly hall" every morning. There were approximately 225 students in total from reception to year 5. That's a big change to my grand-daughter's elementary school that is considered small but has 890 students.
*I lived in a house in 1995 that only had a bathtub and no shower. What the actual...? I hate baths. When we were in the market to buy a home, many homebuilders actually told us a shower and an outside tap was an "add on, subject to extra fees". I went with a builder who had those as standard and not extras. Seriously
That's what I can remember from all those years ago. Remember these were the dark ages before the internet.
I was in England earlier this year and I'm astounded that it's so Americanized now. I can kinda understand why the English are bothered by how much things have changed. But it will be okay for me when we return sometime in a year or two.
Btw, TeamTollie, they used to have "pound notes" until 1984. Adam of Adam and the Ants sang these words in his hit song, "Goody Two Shoes" in 1982
"If the words unspoken
Get stuck in your throat
Send a treasure token, token
Write it on a pound note, pound note".
*sigh* I'm old
FYI--the 2 pound coin was introduced in 1999
