Why Foreigners Think Brits Are Weird

Are British people weird?? Some foreigners seem to think so! Here's weird things British people do that they think are normal, from the perceptive of non-Brits!
I love learning about British culture and how weird we can all be. Have a weird UK quirk you want to share? Make sure to leave a comment!
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Hey! I'm Alanna - a thirty-something documenting my life as a Canadian living in England.
I share the ups and downs of an expat living abroad and what it's really like living in the UK. It's not always easy, but there's been so many wonderful experiences, too. I post a KZbin video every Tuesday plus an additional video every Saturday on my Patreon account. I also livestream every Wednesday and Sunday at 5:30pm GMT/BST on Twitch.
Alanna x

[@sammic7492]

It's not us Brits who are weird, it's everyone else that is. 🤣

[@stephemmurphy2554]

Indeed.

[@simonsmith8974]

@@stephemmurphy2554 right!

[@firmbutton6485]

I agree.

[@kathryndunn9142]

Perfectly said

[@anthonycraig1458]

Anyone who goes abroad thinks things are weird anywhere else. The UK is no weirder than any other country

[@MillsyLM]

I've spent almost 53 years perfecting my weirdness so i should bloody well hope that they find us weird! 😂😂

[@chrissaltmarsh6777]

Ha! I have twenty years on you, I'm in the Scottish National Weirditude squad.

[@MillsyLM]

@@chrissaltmarsh6777 I doff my hat to you sir

[@grahamdhudson]

It hasn't stopped them visiting yet so we need to up our game. 😂

[@grahamdhudson]

Right, I'm going g away to work on my weirdness.

[@wilwilliamson8831]

Such a beautiful comment, woop woop I am 54 and 22 in the army and 14 in nuclear industry yeah fook I am weird and I am so proud of it 😂😂😂😂

[@CrazyInsanelikeafox]

We don't judge people based on where they are from..., we take the piss out of people based on where they are from and we love it.😊

[@mikepxg6406]

Definately if someone is from UP North. (im from Kent)

[@stevemawer848]

@@mikepxg6406 Or who can't spell definitely ... 🙂

[@Red5x5x5]

This is an important point. It's not judgement as such, we're not gonna stone them to death or anything, but we do love a stereotype. We've been crammed on to this little island together for almost 1,000 years, so obviously there's some history between certain areas. Generally we're just taking the piss, and we expect to get as good as we give. Our real hatred is reserved for people from the next village/town. And of course (strictly on a national level) the French, who (strictly on a national level) hate us right back.

[@UKPatriotsView2.0]

Strange thing Brits find about foreigners, especially Americans - They think the whole of the UK starts and finishes in London.

[@damonwilliams5033]

Mind you,most Londoners think the same thing.

[@stevehaddon151]

As Londoner it does 🤣

[@JupiterThunder]

And London is always foggy, because that's how it is in Jack The Ripper movies.

[@gregoriancatmonk6904]

To be fair it's kind of the same with Brits, New York City and LA and sometimes Florida are generally the main places that exists....the rest of America not so much.

[@stevemawer848]

@@gregoriancatmonk6904 With good reason. 🙂

[@Clayton-S.]

I should hope everyone thinks we're weird...if not, we're clearly not doing it right!😂 Many thanks for another fun video Alanna😆👍

[@mothmagic1]

That's much along the lines as I was going to say

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@Clayton-S.]

@@AdventuresAndNaps always!😆👍

[@Clayton-S.]

@@mothmagic1 it's kinda our thing! 😆

[@stevenclarke5606]

We are proud to be Weird , it’s our thing!

[@andywilliams7323]

We complain about our public transport in the UK, because while it's massively better than the USA and Canada, overall we know it could be and should be much better and we know that it's not as good as public transport in other European and Asian countries.

[@neilbiggs1353]

Part of the problem is that some of our systems predate good practice! Most underground systems for example were built after London had started to learn some of the things it should have done better and it's really hard to retrofit

[@timpullen4941]

Public transport is massively expensive. I live in Manchester and it is more expensive for me to go to London by train than it is to Fly to many European cities. It's disgraceful.

[@markfrancis5164]

Have you been on German roads and railways lately. Far worse than uk for the past 20 years now. Mind you their National spending on infrastructure is a lot less as is their national debt.

[@solidflyer286]

@@timpullen4941I live in Manchester and it costs my family of four £12 to go a three mile round journey.

[@HistoritorJimaldus]

@@timpullen4941that’s due to privatisation - or Tories in other words!

[@TheYopogo]

One of my coworkers is German, and she says they have a saying: If you're not weird, you're not normal.

[@andywilliams7323]

The reason security and Police Officers exist inside some McDonalds at night is because of the UK's strong late-night clubbing alcohol culture. The police and security guards are there to prevent any drunk customers from becoming disorderly.

[@kevindarkstar]

Or a complete break down of morality and individual responsible 😳

[@MrSandancer]

Looking for people like me presumably.

[@portlyoldman]

@@kevindarkstar-Jeez! I bet you’re fun to be with 🧐

[@kevindarkstar]

@@portlyoldman actually, yeah, but that's irrelevant to the fact 😜

[@aguywithaview]

Police station's dont have canteens so policexwill often be in fast food joints They are not based there.

[@user-tg8ns8un8k]

The British are great fantastic history culture and sence of humour, ive been here since the age of 13 from my native American Choctaw nation and i love it ❤

[@angelavara4097]

Hope you are as weird as us other brits.

[@grahamdhudson]

And you are very welcome. I hope everyone has been good to you!

[@timothykeech7394]

Love the humour. This gave me a chuckle or two. One of the most endearing things about the British is their ability to laugh at themselves. I love that you can see how ridiculous we are.

[@grantparman4705]

As a US American, I can see how some people would say that Brits are weird, but US Americans are even weirder, and not always in good ways!

[@CrazyInsanelikeafox]

Floridians and New Yorkers spring to mind😂😂

[@SweetLotusDreams]

I've just watched a bunch of videos of Trump supporters jumping through insane mental hoops to justify their idiotic beliefs. if you want weird, start there.

[@mikepxg6406]

I have visited USA many times. Yes some US Americans are weird but they all seem fascinated with our accent its so funny but a great talking point. and Most US Americans are extremely friendly and easy to talk to.

[@tonyrobson4681]

I saw a programme on PBS America last week about the anti-disco movement in the 1970's. Very strange.

[@hgilbert]

In America, you are not allowed to loiter in public libraries, so you spot some clearly homeless people or destitute, browsing books then reading them, or pretending to. Nobody told or explained me anything, at that very moment I sussed out what was going on.

[@tomsenior7405]

"The Posh voice" when answering the telephone. My mother could be shouting at the top of her voice when we were children. Swearing, yelling and cursing at us for some reason. The phone rings and in the strangest, calm, patois my mother would answer : "Hellow. This is Missus Harold Senior speaking. To Hoom ham eye having the pleasure of speaking with today?"... hangs up and immediately reverts back to yelling at us in Broad-Yorkshire.

[@rundmk00]

Mrs Bucket lady of the house speaking!

[@dprid]

I grew up in rural England (Shropshire) and snow was just something you dealt with. Nothing stopped - you just took it easy and you still got there. But now snow is less common, councils have sold all their snow equipment, and modern cars are terrible in snow without specialist tyres. And people panic at the sight of it. My wife comes from a place where getting seveal feet of snow overnight was common, and getting snowed in was not an acceptable excuse for not showing at work, so she laughs at how Englands grind to a halt with an inch of snow.

[@nealjroberts4050]

I grew up in greenbelt and even I was surprised by how London collapsed under the slightest amount of snow 😆

[@davidjones332]

This business of everything grinding to a halt in snow is definitely a recent phenomenon. I think it partly arises from increased car ownership and everyone adopting the mindset that they can get to work in exactly twenty-seven minutes whatever the conditions. In the past, when more people worked locally and all children went to local schools, you just went out for an earlier bus or you walked to work. There were fewer cars, and snow was more common, so those people who did drive had more experience in driving on snow, and often kept a set of "Town & Country" tyres which they fitted in winter.

[@mccpcorn2000]

The weird thing is, Brits know they're weird. The weirder thing is that we don't realise just HOW weird!

[@lizbignell7813]

We are weird, and proud of it!

[@rachelpenny5165]

I would rather be weird than normal.

[@stephenjones6500]

You forgot to add We dont care !

[@Oooo-bi7bi]

I don’t think we care

[@andybaker2456]

I remember watching US TV programmes when I was a kid, and being totally confused by how Americans often seemed to finish what they were saying on the phone, then they would just hang up. No "bye", no "see ya", nothing! Not only did it seem strange, but also so insanely rude!!

[@numanuma20]

What shows? We usually say bye, talk to you later, got to go etc.

[@betagombar9022]

I noticed the same, maybe it's just for effect 🤔

[@BooBaddyBig]

That's just TV magic though.

[@AdventuresAndNaps]

That's just for TV - I notice it, too 😂 I'd be so offended if someone just hung up!

[@Elwaves2925]

@@AdventuresAndNaps I know that hanging up is a just for TV thing but it still seems really odd. Same goes for when two people on phones say they'll meet up but rarely state when AND where. Would it be worth doing a video on what Canadian and American TV/movies get completely wrong? Have you done that already?

[@pampoovey6722]

The bye thing is so true. It's so bad, we'll often restart conversations because we spent so much time saying bye.

[@keithbird8910]

Speak for yourself. It's not something I ever hear blokes do. Must be a woman thing.

[@janetstorey416]

I live in the North East of England, in a country town, I have seen snow drifts of 15 feet deep when out with my husband delivering feed to farms, people from the south panic when they see an inch of snow and their whole world grinds to a halt. I have even helped dig out sheep buried in snow here.

[@jaynespring8097]

@janetstorey416 as a born and bred southener I disagree with you. As a child we also had snow with the drifts. We still walked to school through it (challenging) and hoped the school was open. We sat in our wet clothes and laughed and didn't complain. How would the youngsters of the South or North cope today I wonder !

[@Caer-lv6sl]

@@jaynespring8097 i think the point is; our northern winters are much harsher than yours down there. It's not a huge distance but, eg, my city is on the same lattitude is copenhagen or nunavut

[@michaels640]

I once got home from Bradford to Holmfirth at 2am, but it was so beautiful! on a main double-deck bus route road, the trees were full of snow and brushed the top of the car. It was like driving through a snow magic-tunnel in the woods.

[@utube1818]

In terms of the pub “Pint” there was a huge discussion as to whether the "head" should be taken into account as part of the measure. I think the line on the glass now indicates the amount of liquid in the glass by law.

[@tonys1636]

A Licensee would get a greater penalty for serving under measure than over. The optics would have a very good scrutinising as to accuracy, one reason why drinks that would leave a sticky residue were never on them. It was ruled that a pint of Guinness or other Stout/Porter included a half inch head, no less no more. They refused to issue lined branded glasses.

[@barrygower6733]

I remember being able to work out which part of London people came from by their accent. My Clapham Junction accent is different from Wimbledon, Plaistow, Tottenham etc. But now that the number of Londoners has declined over the years, this is much more difficult.

[@andybaker2456]

True. It's funny, but growing up in Battersea myself, I knew the local accent was different from other parts of London, I just couldn't describe what those differences were! But even though I don't live in Battersea any more, I can always pick a Batterseaite out in a crowd as soon as I hear them speak. 😄

[@jamesportrais3946]

Ahah Barry, you must be an artifact; beyond ancient, fossilised or soup! Around 2004 I was trying to find a destination in Vauxhall. I couldn't even find anyone who spoke English, let alone knew the way. Finally I found a grand old pair of Paddies (I can say this term as my ancestory can be traced back to 1820's Ireland on my maternal side) digging up the road who pointed me in the right direction. I'm directed to my destination in 2004 by a pair of Irish workers, the only English speaking duo in Vauxhall. Diversity is our strength! Then I took the train back to Manxester & got p!ssed with my then half Bengali GF who was 17 years older than me. White intellegent Gen X male - no kids, no sh!t. DIVERSITY!!!!!!!!!!!

[@jamesportrais3946]

@@andybaker2456 NowI live in Thailand with lovely wife who's only 3 years older than me. I suspect she's fvcking around, but hey - she's a soup model; shtill winning eh? Too many "n"'s in winning. Thank God for cannabisssssssssss...

[@AnnBurgess00]

My grandmother lived in Lambeth Walk, with a real cockney accent, like a toned down version of Barbara Windsor. You don’t hear that in London any more. They even had their own distinctive way of singing, with a little high pitched swoop down to the beginning of each line. I think all the Cockneys got pushed out to Essex a few decades ago. A shame.

[@hypo345]

Now London accents are from lands far far away.

[@tinaunderhill5412]

And this is why I’m so proud to be British 😊

[@michaelhughes7718]

Over the accents, people don't realise, just England alone is made up of several ancient kingdoms and the citizens tended to never wander far from towns and villages. Things are changing now as more people get cosmopolitan and one of the most famous accents is starting to die out, the cockney accent, because white people are a minority in London these days, and the accent is dying because new cockneys from far and wide are changing it.

[@marshalpalmer]

We are not weird. We are correct.

[@TRPGpilot]

Of course the British are correct. It's everyone else that's the problem . . .

[@gemmascholes8359]

So funny! As a Brit living in Canada it’s the Canadians I find weird 😂 I miss the British sense of humour ❤

[@Brian3989]

During my lifetime there have been only a few years in England when we've had enough snow to really bring everything to a standstill. We just do not have enough snow each year to need to have all the equipment siting un-used for many years. Of course if London has half inch or two centimetres of snow the world will come to an end.

[@clivemortimore8203]

I live in the middle of nowhere Lincolnshire and my village has 3 buses a week, so not all the UK has good public transport.

[@snapdragon2441]

I love Lincolnshire, plan to retire there eventually, we visit whenever we can. X

[@carpediem3391]

What foreigners should learn is London isn’t England or Britain

[@Red5x5x5]

That's a good point. London and Londoners are no more reflective of the UK than Paris and Parisiens(?) are of France. Capital or even general big city life and attitudes don't really reflect how most of us live or think.

[@waldorfstatler3129]

The snow thing is fairly recent (last 40 years or so) thing. Back in the 1950s,60s and 70s, we had more snowy freezing winters in the UK and life went on as normal in most areas. I can remember back in the early 1960s walking to school in freezing fog, snow and rain wearing short trousers and blazer only. No parents driving or escorting us from about 7 years old onwards. A few of us friends met outside and waded through the snow to primary school. Well, that's how it was in my area of south central London.

[@andybaker2456]

I remember a few snowy winters back in the early 80s when I was at school in Battersea. The problem wasn't that us kids couldn't get to school as most of us lived close enough to walk there anyway (a lift to or from school was a very rare treat, and only ever happened if your dad had a day off or finished work early!), the problem was with the teachers getting to school as most of them drove. Not that it bothered us, though. Whenever that happened, they would just close the school early (usually by dinnertime), so we'd have a massive snowball fight in the street before going home to watch telly in the warm. Happy days! 😁

[@stephenkorky1014]

Yes I remember that too, two or three feet of snow, and wearing short trousers until I was in big school. I was eleven when I got my first long trousers. KorkytheKat From the midlands

[@jonathanmills5747]

Right... I just saw this on my KZbin feed. I have a tendency to be defensive about our Britishness when a non-Brit posts a critique on our culture, (perhaps because Alanna is Canadian and not an American I was disarmed) so I thought I'd watch her blog to the End, ready to take offence. She has completely won me over as an admirer of her work. This charming young lady is 100% spot on with her assessment and because of it, also very funny and original. I wasn't expecting that but found myself laughing at the idiosyncratic observations. She nailed it from start to finish, very refreshing, clever and humorously accurate. The snow, the Public transport, in fact the whole fifteen minute piece really well constructed. She wasn't rude or condescending, quite the opposite as a matter of fact. Bravo for the flawless post 👏👏👏😊 Thank you for entertaining me I guess (slapping my knees) I will be off now, so, Bye, bye, bye, see you soon x

[@Sonofdonald2024]

With regards to accents people forget that the UK has been around for thousands of years. And until 150 years ago or so widespread travel was not really a thing so many people would've grown up in a small community that they rarely travelled far from it. And so accents would naturally vary

[@natalielang6209]

I had to pause it at the Tube bit to comment. It is very easy to forget that the London Underground is a piece of living history. The first underground railway. The reason contactless is a thing. There is a river running to the Thames over a station platform and people don't even realise. It is also one of the most accessible public transport systems. Having lived in London my whole life, I absolutely love the Tube.

[@jackx4311]

Snow; I live in the Peak District, about 1300 feet above sea level. The problem is not the amount of snow that falls, but when it comes down in fine crystals, and the wind blows it for miles; when the wind lines up with the gullies carved out by glaciers (10,000 years back) it'll scour the snow off 50 acres of land, and dump it all on one corner of the road. Looks like a snow blower. Then you just have to wait for the snowploughs to clear it. One winter, we had a fall no more than 6 inches - yet, on the Cat & Fiddle Road, I saw one drift higher than the top of a double deck bus, and 50 yards away, the snow was only half an inch deep!

[@billybunter6659]

When we say right in that way it's an exclamation of something final or a change in direction "Right,i'm off" or "Right are we going" adding the leg slapping exaggerates the meaning which is handy sometimes when you're stuck in a conversation you don't really want to be in and saying right and leg slapping put's an end to it unless you get someone who completely ignores it and carries on talking in that case other tactics have to be used 🤔.

[@tiggerwood8899]

When I was growing up, way back when😁 snow was a lot more common and it wasn't just 3 inches. It was 2 or 3 feet, sometimes more. The world didn't stop. The roads were nearly always clear as the gritters had been out. Schools didn't close. If by some chance the buses didn't run, you put your wellies on and walked to school or work. Too soft these days, health and safety gone mad.😁 Fun video Alana, thank you

[@nforne]

My primary school was one of the highest in England and it never closed, not unless the boiler broke. I lived a mile away and walked to school in all weathers, often wading through deep snow. Missing school was unheard of. Fast forward 30 years... I had to collect my daughter from school early because snow had been forecast. Not a single snowflake had fallen.

[@andrewgarner2224]

But 30 years ago the world was generally a lot closer. You could walk to school, work, the shops and managed. Now a lot of people travel 30 miles to work, we use out of town supermarkets and schools close because the teachers also travel to work.

[@angelavara4097]

I grew up in those times too and I loved it.

[@gilledwards9302]

Public transport is great in the UK so long as you live in an urban area, especially London.

[@Mohegan13]

The snow thing is basically because our winter is so short in terms of 'heavy' snow that it's actually cheaper to shut down for a few days/week than it is to implement cold weather solutions. Hi, my washing machine is in the utility room. Now you know someone in the UK that doesn't have it in a kitchen. 😛

[@-Pol-]

I haven't watched the video all the way through yet so here's a couple of speculations - When I lived in Germany it was interesting to learn the things they thought was weird about the UK... 1. Traffic cones - why are UK motorway lanes coned off for miles and miles for a tiny little stretch of roadworks? [Edit - yup! there it is!] 2. Those taps in motorway service stations where you have to hold in a plunger with one hand but as soon as you let go to try and wash both hands together, the flow just snaps off! - Since then we have invented magic taps where you wave your hands around hoping to trigger some sort of sensor until the water deigns to appear - then proceed to a similar performance in front of the hand dryer.

[@roberttaylor5997]

Those taps are the result of the clowns who installed them not knowing (or not caring) that you're supposed to adjust them so that the button comes up slowly, giving you enough time to wash your hands before it shuts off.

[@philstraintravels9281]

English person here and I have to say that while public transport is very good in London, parts of the south east and some cities across the nations, it's an absolute joke oop here in north Derbyshire. I alternate AM and PM shifts (06 - 14 and 14 - 22) and to get to work by car it is 21 minutes (9 miles) by bus it's over 90 minutes and to start at 05:50 I would actually arrive 1.5 miles away at 07:45 and finally arrive at work sometime after 08:15. A 22:00 finish requires a 9 mile walk.

[@t.a.k.palfrey3882]

PS: the "you all right" greeting is simply an updated version of how polite introductions were made in the past, and how I was instructed to do at school, when introduced to adults or strangers. The etiquette was to offer one's hand and say, "How do you do?".

[@chrisrickards1087]

You alright,,, I normally answer “not so bad how’s you” or fair to middling.

[@wessexdruid7598]

It means _exactly_ the same thing as what they frequently say in N.America - some variation of 'How you doing?'

[@AnnBurgess00]

I think it is more a north western thing, the people who might call you, ‘love-a-duck’!

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@AnnBurgess00 'Me duck' is common in the E.Midlands.IME in Yorkshire, it's often 'love'. But never heard 'love-a-duck' on Teeside? Where do you mean by NE?

[@hypo345]

“Alright”, nobody I know says “you all alright” unless they have tripped and fallen or obviously hurt themselves.

[@barrymiller3385]

If someone says "alright" to you, unless you have just been stabbed, the answer is "fine"!

[@Scaleyback317]

Helps to put thanks after the fine or you might get stabbed!

[@stevemawer848]

"Nah, half left" was a popular reply when I was a lad.

[@Scaleyback317]

Ticketyf-----gboo! is readily understood.

[@rgoonewardene380]

I know quite a few people in the UK who have their washing machines in a separate room. I use the tube often. I also have used public transport in a couple of dozen countries, and they are cheaper, and more reliable. That said however, we do better than a lot of other countries.

[@jackx4311]

Why are our houses so small? Perspective. About 95% of the UK's population lives in England, so that's: England: about *60* million people living in *50,000* square miles. Arizona: about *6* million people living in *100,000* square miles. For Arizona to be as crowded as England, about 114 million people would have to move there.

[@stevemawer848]

Good point, but Arizona isn't in Canada. 🙂

[@colinmorrison5119]

Basements in the UK&I would swiftly become subterranean swimming pools. Even without flooding, they'd be a damp hazard. It's too wet and cold to safely build them. It's not uncommon for laundry appliances to go in attached garages.

[@robertwilloughby8050]

Well, yes. You're right, but recently there have been quite a few people getting their basements tanked for extra space. They're often used for storage (and dry storage at that - the tanking can be VERY good!) or clothes washing, and sometimes even a games room. But, yes, in general, you're right.

[@MareSerenitis]

Depends entirely on where the house was built. I grew up in a terrace house in a hilly area with the only nearby water being a canal. It had a 2-room cellar with concrete floors and bare stone walls covered in plaster. No damp of any kind. Had both a washing machine and a freezer down there with no issues. Some houses are built on flood plains and other low ground, or in the path of a watershed and so might not have a such a moisture free experience. But that is absolutely not universal.

[@peterjackson4763]

My parents' house had a basement/cellar. That dated back to Victorian times. The house was on a hill so there was no danger of flooding. We didn't use it for the washing machine though. There was no plumbing in it. It would probably have been used for doing the washing in Victorian times when there would have been servants. There was a drain in the floor.

[@01bigtrev]

The line on the pint glasses is to make sure you are not getting short changed by having a huge frothy head on the pint. The liquid needs to be at minimum there.

[@allenmontrasio8962]

To be fair, public tranport is good in London, but in small towns it's abysmal.

[@hippopotoftea]

We British aren't weird, no, it's the rest of the world that's weird!

[@davec4955]

Financially it's not worth preparing to keep things moving when you have one day of heavy snow in 10 years 😂

[@karlgookey]

It doesn't even really occur to us to have a laundry room. When i was growing up one of my friends was pretty well off and lived in a huge 5 bedroom house. The ground floor had the living room, kitchen, dining room, a 2 car garage, a play room and a random extra room. And the washing machine and dryer were still in the kitchen 😂

[@stevemawer848]

Who needs a special room for once a week?

[@cubeaceuk9034]

We had a laundry room. I turned it into my work studio. My wife does not want the washing machine in another room away from the kitchen. Road works. No-one understands why the road is repaired one week and then the next week dug up by a utility company.

[@stephentaylor1476]

As I keep telling people the last few years of winters have been very warm. I am an older guy and therefore can remember cold winters when we still went to work or school even when there was no heating. The younger people don't remember this and seem to find warm winters cold. Also the way health and safety has gone, a few years ago I walked three miles to work in a snow storm and my workplace wouldn't let me in on an account of health and safety.

[@peterjackson4763]

About 20 years ago there was a day when I couldn't get my car out of the carpark, so I walked to work. Only about 1.5 miles. I was one of just three people who made it in. In the 60s my school closed one day because of snow. I didn't have tuppence to phone home, so I walked home, just over 3 miles. Well I tried. My mother found me about 300 yards before I got there. I was 8 or 9, in short trousers.

[@stevemawer848]

In the 1950s and 1960s I remember getting out of bed on a cold morning and my feet touching the freezing lino! Happy days?

[@patriciachirgwin3238]

You obviously haven’t been to Oxfordshire - our roads are awful! Kent could teach us a lesson in road maintenance! And as a fellow Canadian living in the U.K., I love roundabouts! And I still find British people’s reaction to snow is hysterical! Three flakes and they close the country! TTFN- that’s a famous 1980s ‘English’ radio presenter’s phrase - ‘Ta ta for now’ - instead of Bye Bye!

[@mauricefrost8900]

Re British accents, we are from the south of England, in fact you can’t get much further south Some years ago we were staying in a hotel in the Black Country (the area outside of Birmingham) We realised that of the four people having dinner at the table next to us in the hotel, two had distinct Birmingham accents while the other two were from the Black Country Yes the accents really do change in a matter of a few miles

[@trickygoose2]

The north-east is similar. Some years ago I was staying in Newcastle and took the Metro to the coast. There were some people in my carriage speaking with the strongest, most impenetrable Geordie accents I've ever heard who all got off at the same station. The next day at my hotel I was chatting to a waitress at breakfast and mentioned this to her, she immediately guessed which station they got off at. The Metro stations tend to be about a mile apart.

[@Canalcoholic]

Yes, it upsets us Black Country folk when we are mistaken for Brummies, and the accent can vary from town to town.

[@MichaelPunter]

You only ended with one 'Byeee'! I am traumatised, sitting here stunned! 😳 😉

[@mk1aquatic739]

I couldn't care less if anyone thinks we're weird or not. We literally couldn't give a toss what anyone thinks of us. That's what other nationalities don't realise!

[@HerrCron]

Coping and seething is the Brits natural state.

[@jackx4311]

I'm not sure about wines and spirits, but it's ILLEGAL to sell either draft beer or cider in any other measure but Imperial pints and half pints. And for the benefit of Americans who might think "That looks a *lot* more than a pint?"; a US pint = 16 fluid ounces, but an Imperial pint is *20* fluid ounces. *Cheers!*

[@tiggerwood8899]

There are 400+ roundabouts in Canada. More being built, too.

[@stevemawer848]

There's 400 in Basingstoke and Milton Keynes!

[@MrDannyDetail]

I think the multiple 'byes' at the end of a phone call are primarily to give the other person a fair warn just in case they were suddenly remembering to say something else. Plenty of times I've suddenly thought of something I meant to say and then interjected after the other person's first 'bye. Equally, on the rare occasion I have been hanging up after my first bye there have been times when the other person has started speaking again just as I pressed the 'hang up' button, which just means I feel guilty and potentially have to ring them back to find out what they were going to say.

[@IanYuill]

It’s not all Brits who can’t cope with snow, just those in the south of England.

[@chrisinnes2128]

Also at least where I'm live the beast from the east was much worse than what she shows we had nearly 3 foot(one metre)of snow in less that an hour

[@stevemawer848]

Taking a day off work seems an excellent way to cope! That wouldn't occur to those non-thinking northerners! 🙂

[@nealjroberts4050]

The washing machine thing is a result of how kitchens were typically the most connected up with both plumbing and electricity sockets.

[@SteveGouldinSpain]

In Spain, they have a similar thing to saying 'right' when they want to leave. They end a conversation with 'pues nade' which translates as 'well nothing'. I thought it sounded quite rude at first but now I use it all the time - comes naturally to a Brit!

[@sedd1234]

I've never thought about the "byebyeBYE" thing before... but I realise i do it a lot now you mentioned it and I'm not sure what else I am doing without realising.

[@alistairthorn1122]

There are all sorts of weights and measures restrictions in UK law. I had to study them when I was at uni. Some have been repealed and others have been updated. But there used to be a prescribed quantity/measurement for most things. The Weights and Measures (Specified Quantities) (Unwrapped Bread and Intoxicating Liquor) Order 2011 covers the specified quantity/weight for bread loafs (400g, 800g or multiples thereof). The Meat Products and Spreadable Fish Products Regulations 1984 used to specify the legal minimum amount of lean pork that had to be in a pork sausage. The legal minimums were truly horrifyingly low.

[@Red5x5x5]

We need to talk about the snow thing. I live south of London, and here, like a lot of the UK, it hardly ever snows. Because of that, we spend very little on preparing/safeguarding our infrastructure against disruption caused by snow. So on the rare occasions we get enough snow to be a problem, it does become a problem. Also (and this is what people who are used to 4-month sub-zero winters don't understand) even if it is cold enough for snow to fall and settle, it will almost certainly be warm enough during the day for the snow to start melting, but then it will freeze into solid ice at night. This freeze/thaw cycle will continue every day until the wind changes and the rain arrives. Only thing you can rely on about our weather is that you can't rely on it at all. Four seasons in one hour. Summer is 30 minutes one Tuesday in August, or maybe it's from March until November. Maybe it won't rain for 9 months. Maybe it'll rain for an entire year. Weather will be entirely different, ten miles down the road, or in ten minutes' time.

[@haroldpearson6025]

Get someone to tell you about 1940s and 1960s winters in UK.

[@gomezthechimp1116]

To be fair, you're talking about two entire decades, when it was only 2 winters that were really severe: 1947 and 1962/3. In 1947 there were drifts reported that were over 20 feet deep and temperatures below -21 C. A similar temperature was recorded in Braemar in 1963.

[@stevemawer848]

@@gomezthechimp1116 I remember the 1962/3 winter - I was doing a paper round and I used to park my bike at each house by just riding into the snowdrifts at the side of the roads. Nowadays we have so little snow it's not worth investing in any infrastructure or equipment to deal with it, which is why "a little snow" grinds us to a halt. Countries that frequently have lots of snow have a much stronger incentive to prepare for it.

[@terrystewart1973]

Watching this makes me wish we hadn't decimalized our currency. I'd love to have seen you navigating shillings, half-crowns, pennies, six penny and thru’penny bits. How many pennies in a shilling!? How many shillings in a pound!? Why!?

[@ynot6473]

that' needlessly cruel. LOL.

[@dasy2k1]

The thing I can never understand is why it wasn't the other way round with the 20 and 12 which would at least mean that it would match the Troy weight system with a shilling being 1oz and a penny being 1 pennyweight of sterling silver

[@johnteeling4679]

The factors of a shilling, 2,3,4,6, easier to divide into parts

[@AnnBurgess00]

To say nothing of guineas that were common currency when I was small!

[@bobbierocksbuster5584]

Ive never thought this before but after watching numerous Canadian/American KZbin channels i now realise i live in "the best country in the world",im a 58yr old Englishman and ive taken for granted the good things this country has to offer.

[@johnross2924]

That's why the whole world wants to live in England, they still hate us though 😂

[@jackwalker4874]

​@@johnross2924it's envy

[@kb5509]

​@@johnross2924come off it mate.

[@johnross2924]

@@kb5509 come off which bit?

[@vijay-c]

Calling it the "best country in the world" isn't very British though. Ironically enough, it's my 1st gen immigrant dad who came up with the best description I've heard when I asked him why he continually complained about living here, despite our family having actually chosen it - "it's slightly less shit than everywhere else" came the reply. At that point, I knew he had been well and truly integrated. 😂

[@delhog6161]

The UK & Snow is a new thing that started in the 90s before then things just carried on. I remember taking my wife to work in very deep snow it was great fun. I had a peaceful day at home in the duvet😂 I phoned in to work saying I was blocked in by the snow.🇬🇧👍

[@kevinturner3997]

I remember walking to school in at least a foot of snow when I was at infant school 5 to 10 years old, I had my wellies, duffle coat, and balaclava. That was 50+ years ago. We did have snow in those days. Everyone made it to school, including all the teachers, everyone made it to work, and the public transport system didn't grind to a halt. People have gotten soft.

[@_Mentat]

In the UK we have this thing called "Chucking out time" which is 11pm when all the pubs close at exactly the same time and all the drunk people are on the street at the same time. They all feel hungry and go to McD's or other fast food place. The police are needed to keep order: not so much because the drunks are violent, just chaotic: jay walking; cannot walk at all; need hospital, etc.

[@ericrabinowitz6390]

I think the exception in Canada might be the accent / speech patterns of Cape Breton and Newfoundland. I love them both!

[@davetdowell]

What do you mean "Foreigners"? I think we're weird and I'm English. I love that we're weird, it's a characteristic we need to encourage. Remember that cave rescue in Thailand? Our weirdness meant we had men who could 'step into the breach', and not just men, but an entire organisation dedicated to cave rescues (BCRC I think), no doubt full of weird people with skills we all hope we never need to be a recipient of. I mean I'd heard of cave diving, but never given it much thought. Turns out some of our weird people are experts in it, thankfully. More harmless weirdness can be a good thing.

[@rthompsn2007]

As a Canadian, the term "juicy bits" for pulp sounds very strange. Do I have a dirty mind? It just makes me think "naughty bits".😂

[@JohnJackson-mn4ts]

Look at the difference between, for example, someone from Birmingham (a Brummie) and Manchester, or more extreme, someone from Liverpool (a Scouser)! Geologically not that distant from each other, but very different accent wise. For a linguistic adventure, go further north to Tyne and Wear, the Geordies. Think Ant and Dev after an all night bender, it’s almost another language.

[@alanmills9492]

Hi Alanna, thanks for accepting that Marmite is no longer weird. Regarding the panic buy during the snow - once they announced the Covid lockdown, you should have seen the young hipster in my local Sainsburys climbing up the pallet full of sealed toilet rolls when they wheeled it in, trying to rip off the packaging. And that's true about the elongated farewell on the phone. Though a friend I used to phone at work would suddenly say "Out" and I'd continue talking to myself and realise he meant "Over and out" like he was so busy on the Starship Enterprise or something ? Bye, see ya, bye.

[@paulguise698]

Marmite is nice in Casseroles, Glen and Friends cooking show, Glen always has a jar of Marmite

[@stevemawer848]

"Over and out" is nonsense - "over" means the conversation shifts to the other party, "out" means leaving the conversation. Only bad playwrights use "over and out", which is wny so many people think it's right.

[@Byfleetboy]

Being English, I am not aware of Right being used at the start of sentences or to leave a conversation. What I have noticed over the last few years is "So" at the start of sentences, particularly from younger people though it is spreading! I have never knowingly slapped my knee in my life!

[@stevemawer848]

John Finnemore did a great sketch about the abuse of the introductory "so" - checkout episode 6 of series 7 of his excellent Souvenir programme. Another annoying habit Brits have is ending a question with "or ..." as if they are about to give another alternative, but then stop talking. I just wait until they finish, which they had no intention of doing, so they get quite embarrassed!

[@easterdeer]

I feel called-out and very entertained. That was hilarious 😂 The knee-slap "right, we'd best be off then" - absolutely got us. Every. Damn. Time. 😂 And the phone goodbye thing too! I love that. Awesome video

[@tobeytransport2802]

My house has a utility room for washing machine and tumble dryer... but it’s part of an extension which my dad built.

[@PixelsAtDawn]

It's OK to not love roundabouts Alanna. I will never not feel like some kind of heinous criminal as a Brit visiting the US or Canada when I drive through a RED LIGHT just because I'm turning right at an intersection. It feels so wrong!

[@wilmaknickersfit]

I got really stressed about doing it and I was always convinced that I was going to have an accident! 😂

[@Sea0fTime]

If you drove straight through it WAS wrong. You're supposed to come to a complete stop, then if it's clear you can make the turn. If you don't stop (many people don't) it's called a rolling stop, or sometimes a California stop, but it's illegal.

[@RogersRamblings]

There was a time that the British dealt with snow in the same way that other northern latitude countries do. Then "health and safety" became a thing and everyone became terrified. I think much of the risk avoidance that now blights the country comes from the insurance industry and which means that schools, businesses etc have to cover their backsides. The easiest way to do that is to close, that way no one needs to travel and no one is at risk of an accident and getting hurt. In the winter of 1962/3 there was snow on the ground in London and much of the rest of the country from Christmas until early April and I and my contemporaries were going to school in short trousers.

[@trickygoose2]

My late father walked from Ilford to Walthamstow (about 4 or 5 miles away) and back every day for work that winter.

[@Sofasurfa]

My mum built me an igloo 😊

[@gomezthechimp1116]

Yeah, I was 5 that winter. I can remember walking to school with my mother and looking up at the snow drifts much higher than me. I lived.

[@stevemawer848]

Nothing to do with health and safety - it's because snow happens so rarely it's not worth wasting money investing in equpiment to cope with it - far cheaper and more cost-effective to shut down for a few days until it clears. I was doing my paper round during that winter you mentioned - we coped back then because, although that was excessive, it wasn't unheard of to have snow every year back then.

[@RogersRamblings]

@@stevemawer848 That doesn't account for schools and businesses closing. It's backside covering by those in charge so they can't be blamed.

[@wearsider]

I am 71 and never heard or seen someone slapping there leg or thigh so they could get away, that is weird that you should mention that. In my younger years going to school and crossing the fields full of snow in normal shoes and socks and short trousers. Not everyday but often. The schools weren't closed when its too hot or when it's cold and snow on the ground. I come from the north east of England. We never had school cancelled in any weather unless there was flooding. Buses still were in service although perhaps late.

[@EtherealSunset]

"Fine, thanks. You?" is a good response.

[@John-wj6kg]

I think you'll find that Britishness is the very definition of "Not weird" lol

[@wessexdruid7598]

'English' and 'eccentric' have always been a pairing - don't pretend the Welsh or Scots are any better?

[@Greenwood4727]

we are Eccentric, to balance out our stability

[@wessexdruid7598]

@@Greenwood4727We don't have the only claim... The Irish, the Dutch, the Poles - all can do eccentricity really well.

[@windsorSJ]

My Chinese wife says I'm weird. I relish being weird, means I'm a true Brit.

[@mongoose621]

"Alright mate" = "Hello. How are you? But don't tell me because i don't care and don't want to prolong this conversation longer than i have to."

[@denismorgan9742]

Some pint glasses do not have a pint lines, that's because they are Lager glasses. Bitter and Stout glasses have a line and the head or as you would call it froth is meant to reach the top of the glass if it doesn't there's not enough gas in your beer.

[@thewidowmaker4037]

Well us Brit folk think Americans are backwards, imagine getting arrested for crossing the road, Why do i think Americans are like the Cletus family in the Simpsons. Why do Americans call each other Dude and Blud, why don't American kids wear school uniforms? I've got so many questions.

[@mothmagic1]

I think the Americans can be forgiven for not being able to pronounce foreign words correctly as they can't even speak English properly.

[@jaimiepotts7638]

calm down mate

[@Reubinv]

What do Americans have to do with anything, Alanna's Canadian!

[@newtron1]

​@ReubenR. Unfortunately too many Brits think Americans are the same as Canadians. Which is not the case.

[@thewidowmaker4037]

I'm fully aware Alanah is a Canadian, she literally says I'm a Canadian living in the UK at the start of every video so yes i'm fully aware of where she is from.🤣 And as for "what do Americans have to do with anything" well Alanah references America throughout the video.😁@@Reubinv

[@carolineskipper6976]

As I know you are aware, our reaction to snow is due to the rarety of such an event. We never have appropriate clothing, our vehicles don't have snow tyres or chains, and it always catches us unawares! It must seem hilarious to a Canadian! One of the sad things for kids post pandemic is that we will never get a 'snow day' again, because as we all now know we can do it all by Zoom. Those who can work from home, however, will definitely do so on snowy days.

[@enyaq_gorm]

Ummm we get snow all the time, sometimes even as late as easter. Been using winter tyres for the last 20 years too. The car dealership offers a tyre hotel service to store your summer tyres 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

[@Mykst]

@@enyaq_gorm Depends where you are. In my area I am lucky to see a single flake if at all.

[@enyaq_gorm]

@@Mykst quite, which is why these comments that Britain doesn't really do snow and no one has winter tyres are such nonsense

[@Mykst]

@@enyaq_gorm But again it depends on your location. Some locations that are more susceptible to snow are more likely to be better at dealing with it and these tend to be in pockets of the country. Down here in Cornwall snow is almost "unheard of". I say that with quotes because although it can snow down here there are consecutive years where it doesn't.

[@enyaq_gorm]

@@Mykst I'd say the upper 33% of the UK is used to it. Not really pockets 😂

[@shaggybaggums]

If a crew at some road works is standing around doing nothing they're either on break, or more commonly waiting for something that's late and holding them up. Could be a surveyor or materials or any number of things to do with utilities. There are lots of parts to even the simplest looking jobs and you only need one of them to go wrong to mess everything up. Then the job has to get left for a few days because the crew is due on another job.

[@shed66215]

As a Yorkshireman can honestly say that snow never stopped owt from getting done, maybe a little slower than normal - snow down south and in London, whole lot grinds to a halt yet it always makes the news headlines...in Yorkshire, a jumper or jacket may need to be worn and people get on with it. As for that 'Beast from the East', it may have tried to kill me but I still cycled the 16miles to get to work.

[@Ionabrodie69]

Quite agree that goes for further North too.. ( Upper Teesdale ) just these soft southern lot that can’t cope with a bit of snow.. 😂👍

[@ProgressiveRoxx]

I have a family gathering coming up this week. I think about halfway through I'm going to do the knee slap "Right!" move, even though I have no intention of leaving. I want to see if people get confused thinking I'm leaving early. I am concerned that the Home Office may revoke my citizenship for Tomfoolery, but science demands sacrifice.

[@andyleighton6969]

Careful, someone will get your coat and then you'll have to style it out and leave.

[@Jamie_D]

Until you do the knee slap and they don't take the hint, and instead start more conversations 😅😂

[@michaeldillon3113]

I really love this channel ❤️. Alana's joie de vivre is contagious. Also she makes ne feel better about my own country - which can feel pretty broken at times ✌️🙂

[@robertbrennan2268]

Wikipedia on the London Underground: "The Underground has its origins in the Metropolitan Railway, opening on 10 January 1863 as the world's first underground passenger railway.[6] It is now part of the Circle, District, Hammersmith & City and Metropolitan lines. The first line to operate underground electric traction trains, the City & South London Railway in 1890, is now part of the Northern line.[7] The network has expanded to 11 lines with 250 miles (400 km) of track.[8] However, the Underground does not cover most southern parts of Greater London; there are only 33 Underground stations south of the River Thames.[9] The system's 272 stations collectively accommodate up to 5 million passenger journeys a day.[10] In 2020/21 it was used for 296 million passenger journeys,[11] making it one of the world's busiest metro systems." THAT MAKES THIS "SUBWAY" SYSTEM NOW 160 YEARS OLD. The first and possibly the most extensve.

[@dinger40]

Left the North as a kid 58 years ago, my accent and some words I use still gives away my origins even now.

[@donmurray3638]

As a Scot who has worked in England most of my life I find you subconsciously adapt your speech to make yourself understood, then on return to your homeland your "English " accent is commented on!

[@dinger40]

@@donmurray3638 When I joined the Navy in the early 70's talking to someone from a different area was difficult, for a week or 2. For someone from Cornwall (Padstow) to talk to Scotty it had to be translated to Bristol to Brummie toTyke (Yorkshire) to Geordie and vic versa. In the 90's had a work colleague from Southampton who went to meet her Scouce fiance's family. I said she'd need a translater, She laughted, when she came back she admitted she couldn't understand them and had to get him to repeat nearly everything

[@ThisWontEndWell]

We do our best to put people off from invading the country our weirdness is just one of the methods of this island defences along with driving on the left... With Spain now becoming hotter than the surface of the we are keen to avoid another Armada situation and then We have North America burning down or being blown away in hurricanes it's a good idea to put them off invading the UK for our boring mild weather.

[@friendsinmyheadtv3890]

Fun video. I did recognise some of the behaviour mentioned. Lol. My school never closed for bad weather and I remember snow events being a lot worse back in the 70s, so much so scientists were talking about a return of an ice age in those days. Admittedly, other schools did close to our annoyance. However, my mother-in-law generation gets the award for walking to school through bad snowy conditions after being kept up all night by the air raids in Bristol. That generation had backbone! Before I was born 1963 was a very bad year. It is worth checking out photos from that time:)

[@24WESJULY]

Brits love to eat soap. I lived in Britton for 3 years, granted this was in the 1980s, so things may have changed. Who am I kidding? Nothing ever changes in Britton. All the time I was there, I never saw a dishwasher. There is quite a ritual about "washing up." Who's turn is it, do I offer to help, if they say no do I insist? Anyway, the procedure is to fill the sink with as much hot water as it can possibly hold (elbow deep is good) with a giant mound of soap on top. The dishes are then washed as slowly as possible with either rapid incomprehensible conversion or awkward silence. Suddenly the hostess pulls the plug, drys her hands and says "There, all done ". I stand looking at the great gobs of soap sliding down the plates and ask,"Don't we need to give them a rinse?" She gives me a puzzled glance and says, "Why? They are nice and clean."

[@juliansmith1888]

And I'm very proud of being weird!!!!!

[@nightowl5395]

I hadn't really noticed that people start their sentences with the word "Right" 🤔 which I think I quite like; it is nice and emphatic. What I definitely don't like is the increasing number of people who feel the need to start pretty much EVERY sentence with the word "So..." 🤨 I am pretty sure it is an Americanism and, to me, one of the most annoying... 😡

[@arianbyw3819]

Yes, I hate so! Also everyone using super, as in super excited, super happy. Ugh.

[@capt.bart.roberts4975]

Look up The winter of '61/'62, I lived just outside Brighton, my uncle and aunt were visiting over New Year. New Years Eve, a blizzard swept up the channel. My village was cut off from the rest of England for five days of more. The last of the snow was melting as the daffodils flowered!🙀

[@cruachan1191]

The washing machine in the kitchen (although mine is in my garage!) is a safety issue as much as anything else, UK law doesn't allow 240V appliances in the bathroom for example, which is where a lot of European countries have their washing machines. Some larger houses have utility rooms, basically a sectioned off area of the kitchen with their washing machine, tumble drier (if they have one) and maybe some other appliances.

[@Xenon0000000000001]

I still don't understand why anyone would want the washing machine in a bathroom. A utility room is great if you've got space for it, but if it's a choice between putting it in the kitchen or bathroom, I'd prefer the kitchen.

[@NorthernMonkeeUK]

There's no law against having a washing machine in your bathroom (although, why would you), as long as it's rated for the zone it's in, or outside of the zones (i.e. the socket is >3m away from the bath/shower). Just a lot of people don't have bathrooms that big.

[@EtherealSunset]

I lived in a flat where the washing machine was in the bathroom. The socket wasn't, but the machine was.