American Reacts to 10 Ways Brits and Americans Use Numbers Very Differently

[@trevorcook4439]

The date thing isn’t Britain using numbers differently. It’s the US with the odd date format to everyone else!

[@MattWhite-vh6xh]

I was going to write the same thing. It should be said that we can *say* dates in the US format (Like November the fifth) without any problem; we just wouldn't think of writing them that way, because it's completely illogical.

[@trevorcook4439]

@ I must confess I’ve started to deliberately say the date with the day first now. Always written it that way but I won’t say Christmas is on December 25th anymore. I’ll. say Christmas is the 25th December. Childish? Maybe. I see it as balance.

[@leohickey4953]

The only thing about date format that confounds me is when I hear stories from visitors to the US who are asked to show ID at some point, and the authority *refuses to accept* the license, card, passport or whatever because they don't like the date. "That must be fake because there aren't seventeenth months." they say, "I know that, we just write the date in dd/mm/yyyy order." comes the reply, "Well you can't because that's illegal." etc.

[@57bananaman]

Not really ... in much of Central and Northern Europe (Germany, Sweden and Hungary as examples) dates are written year/month/day so today (22nd January 2025 in The UK or January 22nd 2025 in The USA) would be written 2025/01/22. The thing about the British way of writing dates is that The French also use it (one of the few things that we manage to agree on 😁) so it became the internationally accepted way of writing dates, for example in aviation.

[@helenbailey8419]

​@@57bananamanso does Australia and New Zealand.On digital forms it wouldn't accept the other ways

[@archiebald4717]

As Sir Winston Churchill said; "The Americans can always be relied upon to do the right thing, after they have tried everything else".

[@Fiona-zc6oz]

LOL

[@lumpyfishgravy]

Except when it comes to the Metric System.

[@hannahb950]

​@@lumpyfishgravyRe adopting metric system, give the US time ... Brits used imperial system for many centuries... Perhaps when US Empire starts crumbling the metric system will be adopted. Metric is better except IMO in home cooking - cups, teaspoons etc are so simple to use/visualise and esp useful to teach kids/adults away from Mom for 1st time to cook from scratch.

[@jeanthomas8872]

Winston Churchill was not a nice person. He called the people of India a despicable race. So I wouldn't pay too much attention to most of what he said.

[@SOPARA862k]

The 07 thing on mobile numbers is very handy, it means you know that its a mobile number instantly.

[@StewedFishProductions]

Exactly!

[@LuvNickynGina4ever]

In ireland it's 08

[@pvdppvdp6638]

In Belgium it's 04. And the 3rd number defines the provider. 049 = Mobistar, 048 = Orange, 047 = Proximus

[@stephenlee5929]

Mobile phones are (das) Handy in Germany.

[@fcassmann]

06 in the Netherlands.

[@module79l28]

14:18 - Because it's not, it's called 24h format. Only in the US call they it "military time" to differentiate from the 12h format people use.

[@mrapollo2918]

We also we use both systems. You're more likely to hear a British person say 1pm than 13:00. It often boils down to whether it's written or spoken.

[@Davepb-n8i]

Probably better known as railway time, when times were standardised across the U.K. rail network.

[@module79l28]

@@mrapollo2918 - I'm not british but I also tell the hours after noon by the numbers from 1 to 11 instead of 13 to 23. I was obviously talking about the written format, as the time stamp indicates.

[@module79l28]

@ - I'm not british, so I don't use the same terminology.

[@ShizuruNakatsu]

​@mrapollo2918 Same in Ireland. I've never heard anybody SAY it's "16 hundred" or even more stupidly, "17 o clock", or "half past 20". If somebody asks me the time and it's 19:40, I'm saying "twenty to eight".

[@brahmhenkins8732]

The date and time formats are not just British, but universal in the world outside of the US!

[@martinconnelly1473]

NATO make sure there is no mistake (for obvious reasons when dealing with the USA) by using three letters for the month between the day number and the year number. Today would be written 23Jan2024 or 23Jan24. Other languages use their own month letters but it is easy to find which month they are referring to.

[@neuralwarp]

Computer scientists use the Japanese system : YYYY-MM-DD.

[@michaelkay7436]

@@neuralwarp That's not specifically Japanese. It's an international standard and is used in many other countries.

[@frankhooper7871]

Not universal, but certainly more common.

[@brahmhenkins8732]

I think where the rest of the would would agree is not to put the day between the month and the year. :)

[@peterdonnelly4495]

You don't need a permanent address to buy a cell phone in the UK. Just another freedom unavailable in the land of the free.

[@sgtm7]

You don't need a permanent address to buy a cellular phone in the USA either.

[@BedsitBob]

Yes, just walk into a retailer, buy a phone and a PAYG SIM, on Bob's your Uncle.

[@Subgunman]

We have what are known as "Burner Phones" which you can buy in shops like Walmart aka Wally World. No ID, no address needed. They are prepay and you go to your retailer and drop down cash and they will recharge your phone. Kindergarten follows the German school format of being pre one.

[@BedsitBob]

@ I've had the same PAYG SIM for about 8 years, and it's been in, I think, three separate phones.

[@Roadent1241]

I've bought a mobile while on holiday in America lol, what are you on about? 8 years later still works. Can't say the same for any mobile I've used here.

[@DeanCoretso]

When I was at school in the UK in the 60's & 70's, we didn't even have the Year system. It was like this: Infants 1st year & 2nd year. Juniors 1st, 2nd, 3rd & 4th year. Senior School 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th & 5th year, after that if you continued it was 2 years of 6th form, lower 6th & upper 6th 🙂

[@Kellybombelly]

Yeah, I was in the 3rd year when they suddenly changed us to year 7. I still can't get my head around it 30 odd years later 😂

[@helenwood8482]

If you put a British postcode into a satnav, it will take you within about 15 houses of the address.

[@StewedFishProductions]

In the US, a Zip Code can cover a MASSIVE area and give NO CLUE where the address is located! As you say, a Postcode will give you the address down to a large building (like a block of flats) or to one side of a road...

[@alandunbar4244]

Depends on where you live in the UK. Some streets with houses may only have 4 addresses with the same postcode..especially in rural areas

[@TheOnlyGazzLam]

this lends to my comment, that a house number and postcode is all you need to get mail delivered correctly.. I did this for a while, but it's a little weird... even for me.

[@AnOldEnglishBloke]

My mate got a TomTom when they first came out. He put Leicester Road, Derby and got directions to Alabama or some shit. We were in Nottingham, England at the time.

[@StewedFishProductions]

@@AnOldEnglishBloke Even funnier if the directions were given in a Southern American 'redneck' drawl... 😎

[@BillySugger1965]

Joel, mobile phones are (hate to break it to you mate), mobile. They don’t need to be tied to a location. The seven thing IS necessary here Joel. We live next door to Europe where they write the number one with such a long upper tick that it often looks like a seven. To distinguish one from the other, they put an extra stroke through the seven. And I’ve done it for years to make my digits clearly understood.

[@antonycharnock2993]

I always knew it as an European seven from school. Then I knew why when I went on holiday to Spain and saw their writing.

[@peterdorrington3755]

me too - when you travel a bit, you often come across these and then you realise they make sense.

[@watcherzero5256]

Its international standard, the 07 depicts a domestic mobile call rather than an area code and the 0 is ignored when dialling internationally. There are some cities and countries besides the US that do use geographic area codes for mobiles rather than a mobile number signifier (e.g. Rome) but its quite rare.

[@Maireadmoss]

I know it as scientific writing, to distinguish a handwritten seven when taking notes etc from a one.

[@johnwellbelove148]

@@Maireadmoss I'm in the habit of putting a horizontal stroke through Z to distinguish it from 2. It goes back to my maths classes at school.

[@paulshiro]

Most people in the UK don't put a line through a 7. It's actually more common in the rest of Europe where they write a 1 with a longer diagonal top line so it's more likely to be confused with a 7. In fact a hand written 1 in the UK is more likely to be written with just one vertical line, so it's more likely to be confused with an l.

[@Dr_KAP]

Aussie here- I always put a line through the 7 as was taught that way at school.

[@timoakley277]

True. But its becoming more common

[@mkkrupp2462]

I’m an Aussie too. Was never taught to do that to number 7. And the number one was just a short straight vertical line.

[@lovestardustuk]

Mobile numbers starting in 07 goes back to when it used to cost a lot more to call a mobile than it did to call a landline. So if you give someone both your mobile and landline numbers (say on a business card) then the person knows which number is which. So texts etc can be sent to the 07 number and not your landline by accident. Its actually very simple and transparent that way.

[@alandunbar4244]

Now since MISIDN regulation (Mobile International Serial Identification Number) ie your UK Mobile number .. all numbers with (+44)07 are Mobile and 08 are non geographic (they used to be also mobile in the days of BT Cellnet and Mercury Telecom). 070 numbers are Premium Rate as well as 09

[@watcherzero5256]

Its international standard to signify a free roaming mobile rather than area code phone number.

[@DavidWatson-g1c]

Day Month Year is the most logical way to write a date

[@ShizuruNakatsu]

That's what I've always said. I read from left to right, and I count from small to large. I think reading from middle to left to right would be very weird.

[@mrab4222]

I disagree. The most logical format is year-month-day. In every other case, you put them in decreasing order, from largest to smallest. That's what you do when telling the time, for example (hour-minute-second).

[@ShizuruNakatsu]

@mrab4222 Nobody does that here. We say "five past 8, twenty past 8, half 8, quarter to 9, ten to 9", etc. So it's minute then hour.

[@FixitDave]

Actually the most logical way is yyyy/mm/dd

[@martinconnelly1473]

@@FixitDave That's what I use when saving documents, such as monthly bills, on my computer. Put it at the beginning of the file name so they sort into correct date order.

[@KPRPhoto-1599]

I've used the 'continental 7' for years. It is standard practice if you work in IT to avoid confusion between 1 and 7. Also, a similar line through a z to avoid confusion with a number 2, plus a stroke through zero ø to distinguish from the letter o.

[@jonathanwetherell3609]

Engineer here, I switched to the "Continental" seven years ago. It is so much safer.

[@raycardy4843]

Yep - anyone who has studied German (or French) at school in the UK tends to keep this practice throughout their life! The diagonal stroke through a zero is also common to those who have studied or work in computing (IT)..

[@ElffQueen1]

I learned this in primary school when we went Decimal/Metric in the 1970's.

[@jonathanwetherell3609]

@@ElffQueen1 Strictly speaking the UK does not use the metric system but SI, System International. The centimeter is not an official unit.

[@tumshie1960]

@@jonathanwetherell3609you’ll find that anyone who has worked in any form of engineering won’t use centimetres, millimetres and metres.

[@chrisicotec7652]

one thing about the uk postal codes, they are so efficient that you can send a letter to any address in the uk with just a house number ands a postal code, no need for a street name, town name or country name... a typical suburban street has multiple postcodes, use my street as an example, its only 176 yards from end to end, or 0.1 mules for the americans but has 4 different post codes.... one half of the side i live on has 2 and across the street has the other 2... it was a very intelligent system made by the early postal system allowing any place to be found just by a house number

[@Kellybombelly]

0.1 mules 😂😂

[@seanmc1351]

joel. i used to be a delivery driver. all i need for me get to the address is, door number and post code. for example 40 being house number ts285ap being the post code the only time this fall down, is in villages and other places, some house have names, this can be hard as there is no point of reference once you get on the street unlike house numbers

[@lindsaymckeown513]

You can successfully send mail with just that too!

[@AnOldEnglishBloke]

Postal code is all you need, then select the house number and street etc.

[@brianmurphy8790]

If you call a UK mobile from outside UK, you drop the 0 and replace it with 44.

[@peterhoz]

That's worldwide, not unique to UK.

[@brianmurphy8790]

@@peterhoz I think you'll find 44 is unique to UK. It's the UK dialing code.

[@ShizuruNakatsu]

​@brianmurphy8790 In Ireland it's 353, but for some reason you have to do 00 or + first. Like 00353, or +353.

[@Blind-Ghost-1980]

+44

[@cjmillsnun]

That's also the same for landlines.

[@helenwood8482]

Mobile phones are mobile. That's the whole point of them. I have never had a contract on mine, so I don't know if you need an address for that, but certainly for a pay as you go phone, you don't. Having been stalked twice in my life, I'm very glad that my mobile number doesn't give away my location.

[@neuralwarp]

Legally, there IS still a contract. You can sue and be sued.

[@stan.rarick8556]

As a computer programmer, I use 24 hour timr, a slash through a zero (to distinguish it from the letter. "O") and the " European " 7 with the extra bar. All for clarity.

[@GJS2183]

0:13 The entire world does, my friend! Just like the entire world uses the metric system apart from the US (a handful countries use both).

[@robhills2613]

And the UK for some things e.g. road distances.

[@tonyhawk123]

@robhills2613 I use imperial for distances in uk but I really wouldn't mind if it switched to metric. Metric just makes more sense. America would never switch systems though because of pride.

[@johnloony68]

The horizontal line on the 7 is much kore common in Germany, because they tend to write the number 1 with a big upwards tick before the downstroke

[@57bananaman]

Same in France.

[@OC35]

I had a German pen friend. Her letters used to go to number 7, not number 1 where I lived!

[@Dunk1970]

Yeah, this is not a UK thing. While I have seen iton very rare occasions, I don't know a single person who does this. The only regularly occurring times I've seen this is by people on mainland Europe.

[@antonycharnock2993]

And Spain.

[@andyt8216]

@@Dunk1970 plenty of people do it, including me.

[@GazGaryGazza]

Why on earth should a mobile have an area code because it's frickin mobile and could be anywhere. They're mobile lol

[@BedsitBob]

Exactly.

[@tumshie1960]

Because in America every State has different tax rates and that means the phone companies can screw you with roaming charges if you’re in a different State. I was in Mexico on the border with Texas and we had to watch which network we connected to as we picked up both Mexico and Texas.

[@thobu6576]

A nursery is typically considered a pre-school setting for younger children, usually aged between 2 and 4, where learning is largely play-based, while reception is the first year of primary school, usually for children aged 4 to 5, with a more structured curriculum that includes dedicated learning time for subjects like literacy and maths; essentially, reception is the next step up from nursery, marking a transition to a more formal school environment.

[@jeaniehale1847]

My niece started formal education in Reception when she was 4 years and 1 day old, play based but she could read before she was 5 years old.

[@sueq6]

@@jeaniehale1847 a lot of kids can

[@iainsan]

British post codes are very exact, whereas US zip codes cover a much larger area. The UK post code pinpoints one street, possibly even one house, so the rest of the address is almost not needed. The man was wrong about us only saying 'half' and 'quarter'. We say a third, a fifth, a sixth, a tenth, etc... to express various fractions. Also, the '7' with an extra line is a European custom. Germans always write it that way.

[@annalieff-saxby568]

My postcode covers only three houses: myself, and my two neighbours.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

I am English and have always - at least, as far as I can recall (& I am 71 now) - crossed my 7's when writing by hand, and also the 9's, because an upside down 6 can be confused as a 9 without that crossed through line!

[@annalieff-saxby568]

@brigidsingleton1596 I cross my sevens, too. I learned to doing whilst living in Germany.

[@iainsan]

@@brigidsingleton1596 Yes. Many British people do, but it originated in France and Germany.

[@antonycharnock2993]

Like the Sheffield postal area where I live not far from Lawrences DN Doncaster postcode. The numbers after the letter denote the town so S1 is central Sheffield. Where I live is S61 which denotes Rotherham, S71 is Barnsley, S42 is Chesterfield, S33 is the Hope Valley where Joel visited the Peak District & S81 is Worksop so postal areas also extend into different counties in the UK.

[@philtreman9944]

A UK post code like this : 15 CH67 3RT would take you directly to a single house/building , eg to Number 15 on a specific street or road .

[@antonycharnock2993]

I ended up memorising all of the UKs postcode areas for my job so I could guess from the first set of numbers the town.

[@fayesouthall6604]

I’d always do 17/ CF15 6LS

[@tonyhawk123]

Not always the case. Some houses in UK share the house number + postcode with another house. I wish it were unique because that would be elegant, but thanks to Royal Mail this is not guaranteed. Computers need to account for this. (Yes, I'm affected by this, and yes it's annoying).

[@mattstacyandthepomskies]

Back when I worked for the UK government we referred to National Insurance numbers as “NINO” pronounced “knee know”. So he wasn’t far off with “NIN”.

[@AnOldEnglishBloke]

I'm glad I memorised my NINO. I lost my card 2 days after getting it when I turned 16.

[@mattstacyandthepomskies]

@ I still have my old card somewhere in a drawer, I know mine off by heart also.

[@AnOldEnglishBloke]

Takes me a little longer to remember it at times now I'm getting older.@@mattstacyandthepomskies

[@Smartgirly3000]

HMRC ?, I used to be able to work out how old someone is by their NINO, and back in the olden days the suffix letter would determine what day of the week you would sign on for benefits

[@simonbanks3112]

Your face when you saw the 7 Eleven sign!! :) One thing that he missed that has always confused/amused me - the use of the hash # to denote 'number' before a number...in case people don't realise that the digits that follow it are...a number...?

[@timglennon6814]

With mobile phones a lot of us Brits get pay as you go SIM cards, so you can just walk into a phone shop and buy a phone. No address needed.

[@alandunbar4244]

Actually you still need to register a PAYG card to be able to use it. A bank account/card and ID Check is still used to prevent things like Money Laundering.

[@watfordjc]

@@alandunbar4244 PAYG SIMs don't need to be registered, which is why some providers used to offer a few quid of free credit in exchange for your details (and the ability to market your data). Although some providers may encourage some form of registration when you try to interact with them (e.g. O2 wanting your e-mail address to use their app), they are neither covered by banking regulations, financial agreement regulations, or KYC/AML regulations, with HM Government hesitant to introduce mandatory SIM registration because of the privacy/safety risks. The Sunak Government's SIM Farm Regulation consultation, for example, lacked any mention of SIM registration.

[@Thurgosh_OG]

@@alandunbar4244 No, you don't. You can buy one in a supermarket and use it straight away. The SIM registers itself when you put it in your phone and power on.

[@lmaoroflcopter]

​@@alandunbar4244 doesn't require a fixed address. You can register it using a top up.

[@Badgerbitesback]

It's actually medical time, adopted by doctors to help specify time of death to alleviate confusion for legal reasons and adopted later by institutions such as the military to define time of day in the shortest and most accurate way especially when concerning orders.

[@GrumpyDragon_aka_LjL]

I have lived in 5 different houses in 5 different counties since mobile phones were invented but I have had the same mobile phone number through out. Saves having to keep memorising a new number with each house move! 😂

[@AndrewBroadhead-kb7oc]

Mobile phone users in the USA don't "have" to change their mobile number if they move house to a different state - the phone will still work wherever in the US (or even anywhere in the world depending if they have enabled roaming) it currently is. Otherwise, anyone who regularly travels from one state to another would have to be constantly changing their mobile phone number, or own two phones, to be able to be contactable at all times. Some US residents will change their mobile phone number if they do move house to a different state, simply because in the US phone companies may charge users a different amount of money for making local calls to a mobile and making national (or international) calls to a mobile. In the UK it's not an issue - it costs the same amount of money to call any mobile phone in the UK, regardless of where that mobile's location currently is. So, if the US mobile phone user kept their old phone number (including the old state) then this would be misleading to people from their old state (who would assume they were still making calls at local rate if they called them, when in fact it might be charged at national rate) and misleading to people from their new state (who may avoid calling them at all, because they may wrongly assume that they would be making a long distance call rather than local).

[@4light2reach]

chatGPS says: The use of area codes for mobile (cell) phone numbers varies by country. In general, most countries do use area codes for both landlines and mobile phones, but there are some exceptions where mobile numbers are assigned more directly without distinct area codes.

[@PaxBritannica34563]

Its like: seconds - minutes - hours + days - months - years Why Americans have the month before the day is boggling.

[@stischer47]

I see it's so easy to bobble the British mind nowadays.

[@Blind-Ghost-1980]

​@@stischer47 What a useless comment when replying to someone who is saying something very logical. Smallest denomination of time first and in order. It's strange how Americans can't get these simple things in life.

[@Jason_L10]

We also put a line through a 0 so its not confused with O. We also sometimes put a line through Z to differebtiate between 2.

[@solentbum]

The cross line on the number 7 is not a UK thing , it is/was a German thing. The use of the crossed 7 is used as part of the story line in a Great Film 'Went the Day Well', where a German spy/sympathiser is revealed by their use of the crossed 7. The film was made in 1942 during the height of spy mania in WW2. (That film was somewhat plagerised in 'The Eagle has Landed')

[@misschieflolz1301]

Postcodes are actually insanely informative. Just by looking at a postcode, if you know the areas well you can narrow down the location to a relatively small area just based on the first 3 or 4 characters. The entire thing takes you to within a certain number of properties on a street/road whatever

[@davidlester6673]

The horizontal line in 7 also stops forgery, people changing 1 to 7.

[@anthonyorsini]

One reason i think the US date format is used is because the month immediately communicates a contiguous block of around 30 days and a time of year. The day tells you nothing about when in the year it is without stating the month.

[@danielbennett4486]

I'd argue like on national insurance breaking it up as 2 letters, 6 numbers and 1 letter is easier to remember than 9 straight numbers.

[@TheOnlyGazzLam]

I learned mine at 16, lost my card at 18, I left the country 16 years ago, and still remember the damn thing.

[@Thurgosh_OG]

Agreed and it's often (but not everywhere) referred to as your NINO.

[@talsius.1019]

Many years ago I was taught that the USA use month/day/year as it was easier to sort out dates on a computer in chronological order in early spreadsheet programmes.

[@philbrooke-little7082]

I thought of the first floor which is the street level floor in America and the one above it in the UK where the floor at ground level is called the ground floor.

[@MrOakensaxum]

if you add the house number to the start of the UK postcode the letter or mail will normally be delivered to the correct address

[@carolineskipper6976]

What he didn't mention with the British Postcodes is that they give a very precise location. Each postcode is specific to one road - probably covering up to about 25 individual addresses- though this can vary. So in Britain, you can actually address mail/post using only the house number and the postcode, and it would find its way to your door with no trouble. Why on Earth would your mobile phone number need to be tied to the area code where you bought it? The whole point of mobile phones is they are mobile......You might buy a phone in Manchester, and imediately move to London.....so what's the point of having an area code? In the UK you do get formal schooling at 4-5. 'Reception' is the first year of compulsory schooling. You are in full time school at that age. (There are exceptions to this, but in general this is the case). The 2 systems are very different. The stroke in the middle of a 7 is actually a European thing, rather than British- although some people here have begun to adopt it.

[@alandunbar4244]

It was so that you could differentiate a 1 from a 7 in Cursive or Forward Script handwriting. It's not present in digital or printed text. I also use it.

[@Dunk1970]

I'm surprised others haven't mentioned the plus sides to the post code. You can also use it to tell how far from the base town/city you are. eg NR1 means the location is close to the centre of Norwich and not out in the countryside.

[@carolineskipper6976]

@@Dunk1970 It can also have the disadvantage that the postal regions can be BIG and therefore confusing. I lived for many years in Hertfordshire, but my postcode started CM21 - which is an Essex postcode based around Chelmsford, 20 miles from us, and in a different county.

[@ShizuruNakatsu]

In Ireland, every Eircode points to a specific house/address, so you can post something with just the Eircode. I can't tell you what mine is without exposing which exact house I live in 😂

[@carolineskipper6976]

@@ShizuruNakatsu Out of interest, how many characters to give unique one-address postcodes?

[@davidmarsden9800]

When at school I did German lessons and from that I started using the crossed 7 and crossed z that they use as part of the German language. It helps with the legibility of your handwriting.

[@W0rdsandMus1c]

I agree with you Joel with the number 7, I am late 60s and have never crossed my 7s, not only that, I don't know anybody else that does, I do find he very often speaks of things like they are standard in Britain when they are not.

[@andyt8216]

I always cross my 7s. Have since schooldays

[@Thurgosh_OG]

It's a pretty common thing here in the UK, though and required for accuracy in some jobs to boot but certainly not something every Brit does.

[@mdx7460]

I have never seen anybody from here do it. I do work with some people from different parts of Europe and I’ve noticed some of them do it.

[@David_K_Booth]

@@Thurgosh_OG Yes, I am late 60s too, but because I started working with computers when I was fairly young, I picked up the convention of crossing 7s and Zs to make them easily distinguishable from 1s and 2s. My family, and friends outside the IT sector, certainly don't do it.

[@JohnResalb]

We use 24 hour clock numbers in all our public spaces, if you're in the bus, at a train station (your train leaves at say 18.38). Most towns have a clock tower at the historical centre - this can be above the church or in another form of tower - of-course all traditional clock towers have the old fashioned clock face.

[@joerichards9346]

Here's now the phone numbering system is organised in the UK: 01/02 - local area codes 03 - national number that will always be included in your tariff minutea (i.e. a "freephone" number) 04 - not used/reserved for future use 05 - corporate and VOIP numbers 0500/0800 - legacy freephone numbers 06 - not used/reserved for future use 07 - mobile numbers 08 - charged national numbers (usually compang helplines that want to change something, but most use more consumer friendly 03 numbers) 09 - premium rate (e.g. 50p/min) used for premium voice services like adult chat for e.g. 00 - international access code Beep beep!

[@brucehewson5773]

Australia: postcode all 4 digits, mobile phones all 04 prefix - Singapore: postcodes all 6 digits, and match to single buildings, mobile phones all start 08/09 prefixes.

[@fleckensteinsmonster]

Actually the date was referred to as month, day, year when we were colonising the Americas. We changed to having the day first after independence because our surrounding countries did it that way. America, being then (and now) insular and disconnected from the rest of the world, never changed, hence the current situation.

[@MrBulky992]

That is not the case. Both date formats have existed in the UK for centuries without a problem because the month was always written as a word before the middle of tge 19th century. It is only when the month began to be written as a numberthat everyone except the USA chose to put the month in the middle. Next time you buy a British newspaper, look at the date at the top of each page: it is most frequently in the format "January 22, 2025" and has been right the way back into the 19th century. One of the most common ways to write the date in the 18th century in Britain was "the 22nd day of January in the Year of Our Lord 2025" - day, month, year: that is how it was done in legal documents. I am amazed how often this misapprehension about the date difference is repeated.

[@geek2focus]

This general point is true for many other US/Britain differences though. Laurence often points this out in his videos. For example, a word we think is an American only word, is often the word that Brits used to commonly use a couple of hundred years ago. The word sticks in America, and any changes Britain makes after colonization get ignored.

[@kimstapleton3365]

Interesting fact: if you type the UK post code into Google maps it will locate the actual house for you. Enjoy

[@lottie2525]

I think postcodes in the UK are better than US zipcodes as they get you to within a few houses on a street rather than a large district. You could literally put a house number and a postcode and the mail would get to you. The best minimalist address I had was someone sending a letter to my daughter when we lived in Wales, 'Poppy, Bardsey Island' and it got there! 🤣

[@TheOnlyGazzLam]

I just googled, that... makes sense! My question is.... who's delivering your mail?

[@lottie2525]

@@TheOnlyGazzLam Used to be the lobster fisherman when I lived there.

[@BlueTangWebSystems]

US zip codes have since been enhanced to include more digits and finer resolution.

[@tonyhawk123]

Correction. Will “often” get to you. House number + post code is not guaranteed to be unique. Would be nice if it were. But Royal Mail sometimes fudges things. Where it's not unique, it does result in some mail going to the wrong address. This is because people enter the postcode into an addressing system and don't pay attention to the street name while selecting the house number. It's quite annoying for those affected (i'm one of them).

[@sheriharts]

Im surprised the US general public dont refer to military time. I watch alot of true crime/US court cases and they constantly refer to military time whenever the time is required

[@yucinalo]

Area code in a mobile phone number doesn't really make sense because you can keep the same phone number regardless of where you move in the country. So if you get a phone number, and then move, then that area code in your phone number loses all meaning because you don't live there anymore. Many people keep the same phone number for decades, so for like a 40 year old person it makes little sense for their phone number to contain information about where they lived when they were 14. Also, you might want to give someone your phone number without telling them where you live, even if the area code can be for a fairly large area.

[@MARKSTRINGFELLOW1]

Apart from the 4th of July

[@jonathanashbrook5083]

Actually, in the UK, most children start school in the new school year (August in Scotland, September in England after there fourth birthday, and because my daughter was born in August, she started at the age of 4 years and 21 days old.

[@dominique8233]

They don't have to legally start until the term following their 5th birthday.

[@garygalt4146]

Are your kids going to private school? Because in the north west kids start in September except private schools.

[@Thurgosh_OG]

@@garygalt4146 North West of where? Because in Scotland, it's just as @jonathanashbrook5083 said it is. Starting in August, when the school Summer holidays end up here. This year it looks like it will be 19th August, as the 18th is an 'In service day'.

[@geek2focus]

I think the comment was more about starting age rather than starting month (exact term dates can vary by local council area or school). In Scotland, it used to be that some kids had to start age 4, but now parents have the right to defer entry until after they have turned 5.

[@mannym7849]

The date format thing can be explained this way… We here in the UK write the date in the CORRECT way which looks better … 31/12/2024 or 31st December 2024 as opposed to 12/31/2024 or December 31st 2024 which just looks silly. I could never see myself writing it in the MM/DD/YYYY format.

[@etherealbolweevil6268]

Never understood the craziness. It must be impossible to date sort anything 'Merican. Their software wallahs must have to work long into the night to get that to work. Just YYYY/MM/DD/HH/MM/SS, not complicated.

[@landofnor]

That's subjective, you can't say it's correct just because you use that method....if anything the correct way is YYYY/MM/DD because it starts with the largest and works to the smallest which is what we do with every other unit of measurement, ie stone lb Oz etc. It also means dates can easily be numerically sorted using computers especially if you're naming folders by dates. Japan, Sweden and some other countries use this.

[@landofnor]

Also, we do not exclusively use DD/MM/YYYY in speech it is common to hear month first but we tend to add the worth the, ie January the 22nd as oppose to January 22nd. Also, have a look at British newspapers, they all use the mmm d, yyyy format 😅

[@MrBulky992]

You are absolutely right: the UK uses both date orders, as you describe. Both were taught when I was at school and old letters of mine back to the 1960s switch between the two. I would often say "November the 5th" when referring to Guy Fawkes' Night as a boy. ​​The newspapers have used the month-day-year format for decades right back to the beginning of the 19th century at the very least. It is only when the month is a *number* and not a *word* that the month is always placed in the middle. That notation started in the mid-19th century and the UK has always done it the way we do it now: DD/MM/YYYY. As Britain was the most powerful nation on earth at the time, both in terms of trade and military might, the likelihood is that other nations followed suit. Why the Americans did not is anyone's guess but then they chose to drive on the right.

[@landofnor]

@ In the US military and on US passports they use DD-MMM-YYYY. I work at sea and we also use 3 letters for month. This way you avoid any confusion.

[@TheRuben_music]

Norway has some interesting differences too when it comes to numbers. For one, we use the 24-hour clock instead of AM/PM, which makes timekeeping much clearer, no need to specify morning or evening! We also write 7 with a line through it to avoid confusion with 1, which is super practical in handwritten notes. For dates, we stick to day/month/year, unlike the U.S. system of month/day/year. Lastly, we use a comma for decimals (3,14 for pi) and a space for grouping thousands (1 000 000 for a million), which is very different from both the U.S. and UK. It’s all about making things more efficient and reducing misunderstandings. Loved the video, it’s fascinating to see how countries handle something as simple as numbers so differently

[@seanosborne3343]

By the way, the Dutch and the Germans tend to write "one" as -- well, it looks like the letter V standing on its head. So to avoid confusing 1 and 7, they draw a horizontal line through the 7. Since I started living in Holland, I found it necessary to fall in line!

[@lindsaymckeown513]

I have done the 7 thing since I went on a trip to Belgium as a child 50 years ago! I had messy writing and my 7 was often confused as 1.

[@danielbennett4486]

​@lindsaymckeown513 this. I've always done it tbh partly because my handwriting wasn't amazing but it made 7s stand out better.

[@MrBulky992]

In the UK, computer programmers were encouraged to write their 7s with a bar to avoid confusion with 1s. In those days (before computer terminals with keyboards), text and numbers were written by hand on paper forms (data) and coding sheets (computer code) and sent to a team of typists to undergo "processor controlled keying", the output from which was a set of punched cards or, in later years, magnetic tape. The documents for keying needed to be written in block capitals with legible, unambiguous characters. I never got out of this foreign habit of writing 7 with a bar. Similarly, the letter O and the numeral 0 were distinguished by means of a line through one or the other: British system - line through the letter O; American system - line through the numeral 0. As the British computer industry declined, the American system became standard.

[@danielbennett4486]

@MrBulky992 I am in IT and I may have picked it up through that too. The line through the zero i definitely did.

[@ChEs-qi3tl]

Loved your facial expression at 16.57 at this games name 😂 this is exactly how I've felt too many times to count, moving and being confronted with these diffrent ways to express what basically are the same "things"...

[@philtreman9944]

as a Brit of 76 years I have never written a seven with a horizontal line , ever .

[@martindunstan8043]

Nor me at 53,I've no idea what the guy in the video was on about.

[@DaveRyan-oy8ig]

As an Irish person, I used to. Can't remember if that is the way I was thought in school or just did it myself to ensure it wasn't mistaken for a 1

[@LSMSusan]

I always do so I must be one of the few

[@JaapNL-55]

Well, I'm Dutch, 69, and I write a 7 with the horizontal line, but my wife doesn't. But I'm pretty sure I learned it that way.

[@martindunstan8043]

@JaapGinder pesky continental Europeans🤣🤣👍

[@alanshepherd4304]

The number 7 is what us Brits use, Europeans tend to put a little line through the middle so as to differentiate between a 1 and a 7. Now the continental style of the 7 is slowly creeping into standard usage!!😁🇬🇧

[@littlemy1773]

We were told to do this back in the 90s when at school, and I do still do it. I still regularly see people write 7 and 1 down say for a phone number and I genuinely can't make out which number due to their bad handwriting

[@andyt8216]

@@littlemy1773exactly. I much prefer crossed 7s

[@davidmarsden9800]

​@@littlemy1773I started writing 7 and Z with a cross line in the early 1970s in German class and have used it ever since. It's really useful to identify numbers that you might have scribbled down in a hurry like phone numbers and people can tell what you've written. Having lived and traveled in Europe I've seen most countries do it.

[@fleckensteinsmonster]

When it comes to the number 7: if you look at the way standard European handwriting you will see that they write the number one almost like an upside down V. The cross on the seven makes the distinction necessary given the changeability of different handwriting (cursive) styles.

[@Spiklething]

When he says British children, he means children in England and Wales. The school years are called different things in Scotland and Northern Ireland 8th grade in the US is S3 in Scotand, Year 9 in England and Wales, and Year 10 in Northern Ireland

[@michaelkay7436]

A well-educated and well-travelled American once told me his child was in 8th grade and I asked what age that would be. He couldn't understand why I would need to ask, he couldn't comprehend that the system he was used to was local to his own little corner of the world.

[@davidmellish3295]

Northern Ireland isn't part of Britain

[@CallumKray]

ANOTHER FUN FACT FROM ME!!!! 14:12 - For children like myself whom found it hard to read a 24 hour (Military) Clock. There's a little hack.. All you need do is when '12:59' turns to '13:00' you just have to - (minus) 12 from the 13:00, giving you 01:00. The same process applies for each of the following hours. (eg. 22:00 - 12= 10:00)

[@1nikg]

I believe the US just switched the date format etc around to seem different, which is fine but when Americans say everyone else is weird you start cringing for them. But the street number thing must reduce confusion of looking for certain streets

[@MadBiker-vj5qj]

2:45 Yes they exist here. There are First, Second, Third, and Fourth Avenues running off the Romford Road in East London. There's sure to be more...

[@judithhope8970]

He didn't mention the doubles....we would say double 1 or double 6 instead of 11 or 66 in the middle if a long number. So 0775533 would be spoken as 0 double 7 double 5 double 3. I don't think you do that?

[@wolfie854]

We have some numbered streets in Wolverhampton UK. A housing development in the 1920s created 1st avenue up to 18th avenue. The first five are still numbers but the others were all renamed later on with traditional-type street names.

[@laurenC91.]

My friend from Colorado says the month and then just the date number alone like "November one", "December twenty five", it irritates the living shit out of me 😂 probs cause it makes him sound like he doesn't know how to use st, nd or rd after the numbers while I have a distinction in maths and English 🙈 opposite ends of spoken English I guess but I did think it was weird 😂

[@Thurgosh_OG]

I was a Postie in Scotland, back when we manually sorted the letters and parcels. The Postcode made it easy to sort, and often, when the written address was so illegible or just incomplete, the postcode was enough for the more experienced posties, to know exactly which sorting box/sack to put the item into. Often a Postcode will be enough to get you to the actual address or within a few houses (then the name or additional details can narrow it down.

[@XLV750RD01]

No, in Europe Kindergarten is not part of the school system. It's a form of daycare.

[@joewilson4191]

Brilliant video. Love your stuff.

[@alandunbar4244]

Mobile phone numbers in the UK are also finite. If a number has no activity within 6 months, the network will pool these numbers for reuse. ie No communication made to and/or received/answered or data used. These numbers will be considered are dormant and the lines will be disconnected. The MISIDN (Mobile Number) will be then released to a batch of available numbers for reuse by a new subcriber

[@rogerk6180]

With an 11 digit number there can be a billion mobile numbers in the uk.

[@Upemm]

I lived overseas for 10 years with one visit to the UK every 12 months, during which I didn’t use my UK number except in the auk and was only on a paygo ,I kept my number and hasn’t changed 20 years, maybe I was lucky 🤷‍♂️not sure I could remember a new number now anyway 😂

[@CallumKray]

2:40 I live on "Fourth Avenue" in Romford, East London. Additionally in Ilford, East London there is a First Avenue, Second Avenue, Third and Fourth Avenue; all next to each other. soooo....

[@brenstratters2026]

The crossed 7 is very prevalent on the European continent. This is to differenciate from the way the number 1 is wriiten. It can look almost like and upside down letter V sometimes, with a long up strock then a vertical line.

[@danielbennett4486]

Quite a few put a slight flick on 1s as you often see on computer characters but this means 1s and 7s are less obviously different depending how they're written, hence the extra line.

[@mr.mmarkham9014]

In the UK, you buy your phone, and put the SIM card in it. The SIM card is what has the phone number on it. If the phone is locked to a carrier, than you can only use that carriers SIM card in it, but if the phone is unlocked and carrier free, you can stick any SIM card in it. Lots of different companies offer better deals than the big named carriers, so getting a SIM from the cheapest carrier is ofter a good option. Then you have to think about cell tower coverage. Most cell towers are run by the big name companies and other companies can pair up with them as their main cell tower provider. Some of the cheaper SIMS may not pick up coverage in some areas due to the cell provider they are paired with.

[@helenwood8482]

Everybody in the whole world write the date with the say first. Nobody can work out why you don't.

[@markhutton6055]

The middle stroke in the seven is continental european. There is atleast one WWII movie where spies and fifth columnists were caught out because of how they wrote their sevens, resulting in a sticky end. Incidentally i write my zero's with a line through so they aren't confused with the letter 'o'.

[@jamiew1664]

ok, postcodes, lets take birmingham as an example, but this example works for the whole of england, BR is the start of the birmingham postcode, if you live in BR1, then you live right in the city centre.. if you live ten mins drive from the city centre then you might live in BR15 for instance, then the next number will be a reference to where abouts you are in that distance away from the city centre, and then the letters will be a code for the street or the nearest street.... basically its something like that.

[@Tricky_Em]

Sorry this is wrong Birmingham is one of the handful of UK cities with a single letter in the first half, Birmingham - B, Liverpool - L, Glasgow - G, Sheffield - S. BR is a London postal area of Bromley. the subsequent parts are to do with different sectors and units, no relation to distance

[@Maria-z7h5b]

Birmingham is B FOLLOWED BY 2 numbers then followed by one number and two numbers

[@Maria-z7h5b]

Letters

[@StewedFishProductions]

This is NOT how ALL 'Postcodes' work !? I live in London and a postcode starting SW (for instance) gives a clue to the general 'area' of London the address is located (South West), but the following can often make NO SENSE! As an example: I live in N4 (North London) but here are the SIX postcodes that ALL surround me (and in NO particular order OR direction: N8, N16, N7, N15, N19 & N5. Distance from the centre of London does not dictate the postcode! ALSO, in London we do have an N, W & E postcode, but NO 'S' (only SW or SE) - AND (for good measure) another postcode starting NW.... 🤔😂

[@colinchase6571]

The BR postcode is Bromley Not Birmingham which is B

[@sonalita_]

A UK postcode covers a much smaller area. Here, you can address a letter with just a house number and a postcode. Also, many fonts, including the one used to render KZbin video titles and comments such as this one, do not have the bottom horizontal bar on the digit 1.

[@TayWoode]

6:12 the first two numbers is called international dialling code to ring other countries before the number

[@primalengland]

Lawrence…………. I’ll see you on the next one.

[@xorsyst1]

One of the reasons for the 07 prefix is to do with billing. In the early days of cellphones, calls to them were more expensive. The USA adopted a callee-pays model where the person receiving the call pays the difference between a normal landline call and the mobile call. In the UK (and I believe all of Europe) we adopted a caller-pays model, so the caller needs to know that the billing rate is higher from the number.

[@MyOutdoorsUK]

I saw who you were using as a source and that's as far as I got. He may be "funny as hell" but he's been gone from the UK so long that you have more exeprience about Britain than he does. If I see he's being used as a source I click Not Interested

[@W0rdsandMus1c]

I agree, also find him belittling and patronising (not funny)

[@emmafrench7219]

@MyOutdoorsUK I agree, he is annoying and so wrong on just about everything. Out of touch with UK.

[@markharris1125]

Plus, he is not funny and is deeply irritating.

[@Thurgosh_OG]

Laurence caters fully to his US audience, who, in most cases take what he's saying about the UK as factual, when it often is not. I used to watch him but went off, after I realised what he was like.

[@ezzy525]

Same, was gonna watch this but can't get through any video with Laurence. He's been in America so long he gets so much wrong about the UK.

[@cjmillsnun]

Post codes are fantastic. I can literally address an envelope with the house number and the post code and it will get there. Post codes relate to an individual street or even a building. So for example PO9 2AX is the postcode for Havant Borough Council. It's broken down this way PO9= POrtsmouth postal district area 9 (Havant) 2AX (sub area 2 and the last two letters will refer to either the street or building)

[@julessimone4959]

There isn't just one year difference in the school years as children in UK start compulsory school in the september before their 5th birthday. Therefore our reception class is equivalent to US kindergarten.

[@grahamlive]

Not in all of the UK. We don't have reception here in Scotland, It's straight to primary 1.

[@pauline-glitterbugcrafts]

Formal school starts at age 4 where I live N.Ireland part of the UK) my 4 year old granddaughter is reading and writing and learning to add and she has been since September. She started nursery school in September 2023 aged 3 and started learning the basics then.

[@hippertyhop]

You don't need a permanent address to own a mobile phone in the UK.

[@TullaRask]

but surely the provider need an address for the consumer? If they ever need to send the bill somewhere. They arn't connected to an address in Norway either, but the bill needs to go somewhere.

[@Michael-kt6gi]

​@@TullaRask Pre pay SIM cards are available in every UK supermarkets . ( Cost £1) . There is no registration required. It's what we call 'freedom '.

[@1nikg]

Not if you buy top ups ​@@TullaRask

[@jonathanashbrook5083]

​@TullaRask, not for pay as you go phones (prepaid)

[@hippertyhop]

You don't get a bill if you use a pay-as-you go SIM card. The ability to have a mobile phone without an address allows people who are homeless and other vulnerable groups to have a phone.

[@olienajh]

The postcodes are so accurate that in theory you should only need to put on the envelope the door number followed by the postcode eg 23 DB6 8XE as the first 2 numbers represent the town or postal district & it often uses letters from the actual name of the postal district. Big places like Manchester or Liverpool only use M or L. Areas of London use the compass points as their postcode prefixes ie N, E, S, W, SE, SW, NW

[@lindsaymckeown513]

Posties and delivery drivers can pinpoint an exact address easily using a post code. They start off with 1 in the city centre and rise as you move further out. You can inputa search using a post code to get a range of addresses on the same street or an address to get an exact post code on the Post Office website. I still remember my first telephone number from the 60s, 3150! Area codes are for landline. I think the first digits of a mobile can denote a mixture of the phone company and availability? Primary/year 1 is also called reception and is not so formal, more 'play' based but kids have to start when they are 5 or about to be 5. 6 is more universal, or used to be, and I think better. The date thing really confuses me; for ages I thought 9/11 happened in November!! I use military/european time format in writing but not verbally. The stroke through the 7 to differentiate it from 1 comes from Europe and is not Universal in the UK; I use it, messy writing, but don't know anyone else that does. It's from a time of squiggly handwriting!

[@trevordance5181]

In the UK the postal code has a gap in the middle. The first part is called the outward code. This directs the item to the postal delivery office responsible for it's delivery. Once there the second part after the gap is used. This is called the inwood code. This directs the item to the street, part of a street, or even an individual address in some cases in the postal delivery office responsible for it's delivery. Here's an example of how this looks... CK13 2WQ

[@Hornet71]

We have 12 hour and 24 hour clocks in uk. Most digital clocks have an option setting between the two. We never would refer to 24hour clock as military time. That’s a more American thing. I find myself disagreeing with a lot of Laurence’s generalisations far too often these days.

[@beeurd]

There is some order to the 07xxx mobile numbers in the UK - they were originally allocated to different mobile network providers. But as you can transfer your number to a new provider when you switch, they do get muddled up.

[@kevinsavage808]

Lost on the pond, more like lost in space, He is about as funny as a mouth full of ulsers....

[@JC-jv5xw]

On most UK websites, when you are asked for an address, you just have to provide a 6 character post code and a house number, and the rest is automatically filled out.

[@Frances86.]

Very few people hav memorised their national insurance number

[@lottieew135]

I have, right from me getting it! Odd thing, but I've also memorised my NHS number, but that's to do with the amount of times I've needed to go to a hospital 😅 once surprised a nurse doing a covid vax because she doesn't come across people who know it 😜

[@letitiakearney2423]

I know my national insurance number off by heart since I got it.

[@carolineskipper6976]

Or their NHS number, which is another one it might be useful to know.

[@brigidsingleton1596]

I remember my NI number every now and then! I don't know my NHS number off by heart. (Just the last couple of numbers!) I remember my mobile phone number because I have kept the same number over the last four or so new phones...and four of its numbers match my eldest birthday year and mine, (which was totally by chamce!!) When I attended school, my school years were age 11: in the First Year, age 12: Second Year, age 13: Third Year, age 14: Fourth Year, age 15: Fifth Year, age 16: Lower Sixth (& age 17: Upper Sixth), but I left school after I had attended the Lower Sixth...and started work.

[@jonathanwetherell3609]

Post codes in the UK are so useful. Mine refers to only 9 homes, so they are what we enter into our SatNav. All we need is house number and the post code and you have a unique address. As to mobile 'phone numbers, I have moved areas fife times with the same number.

[@Frances86.]

It’s annoying that he talks about the “British school system” being reception n year 1 etc. that’s the English school system. The Scottish school system is nothing like that. We have nursery before we even go to school. N then we have primary 1-7. We start primary 1 at age 4/5. N then we have 1st year of secondary school/academy which we start at age 11/12. N then ppl can leave at the age of 15/16 after 4th year. You can only leave aged 15 if ur very close to bein 16. Or stay on n do 5th year (which most ppl do). Or stay on further n do 6th year, which only some choose to do, including me. Once you’ve left school, regardless of your age, you can either get an apprenticeship, go to college, go to uni, get a job or sit on ur settee n do nothing. Most people who have stayed for 6th year go to uni.

[@grumpyhale821]

The post code will literally get you down to a few properties, its like GPS almost. We call 19:30 19 30, 18:00 18 hundred.

[@elliotgeorge999]

I was born on Tenth Avenue in England so numbered streets do exist. Ha

[@lindsaymckeown513]

So rare as to be statistically negligable though!

[@christineunitedkingdom1824]

There's a few mining villages a few miles from me, they have numbered streets as the norm. ​@@lindsaymckeown513

[@W0rdsandMus1c]

@@lindsaymckeown513 My are has 1st,2nd,3rd,4th,5th Avenues.

[@lindsaymckeown513]

@@W0rdsandMus1c Interesting! I have lived in 6 UK cities, maybe 7 towns and lost track of the number of areas in my 60 plus years and never come across it! Are they new-ish houses? Or a USA base nearby?! A 'New Town'?!!

[@Xaid0nTT]

@@lindsaymckeown513 Frinton On Sea has numbered avenues, First to Fourth.

[@neuralwarp]

UK phone nos are 6 digits in rural places or 7 in urban. Each phone exchange has a prefix, which used to be alphabetic. The London Metropolitan Police has had the same number, Whitehall (WHL) 1212 since WW2. The exchange prefix is usually 2 to 4 digits. To call outside your own exchange you dial 0 (Operator) followed by the exchange code and number. This is called a Trunk Call. So you might dial 0 WHL 1212 from outside Whitehall, or just 1212 inside Whitehall. The exchange lettering got wrecked when we changed to the US lettering system. Previously 1 was A B and C; 0 was O and Q. The 00 prefix accesses the international exchange, so we call America and Canada with 00 1.

[@lottieew135]

There's one string of numbers/letters you definitely need to remember. That's the National Insurance Number. I've learned mine off by heart the 1st week or so I'd received it. Also memorised my NHS number, but I've only managed to do that because of my health condition and the amount of times I've had to go to hospital 😅

[@scrappystocks]

Back in the 70s I could phone my girlfriend, who later became my wife, living in California without having to go through a telephone exchange person. It was actually several years later that her family in the US could directly phone us the UK without having to go through an International telephone exchange. Our British system of world wide direct dialing was years ahead of the American system.