9 Weird Things British People Do

9 Weird Things British People Do

It's me as a Canadian who has lived in the UK for the last seven years. I have noticed that the Brits do some weird things that they think are normal. So today I am going to share their secrets. So without further ado, let's go make sure to leave a comment down below. What is a weird thing that British people do and they think it's normal? Maybe you do it. Do you do do anything weird, let me know.

Weird Things:1

Number one, it is totally reasonable to buy a caterpillar cake and everyone knows who it is. So this little British cork came up around Christmas time. My mum was here for a visit and I had to explain who Colin the caterpillar is. I actually made my own Colin the caterpillar cake on Patreon a couple of years ago. If you want to join me on Patreon, that'd be awesome.

No worries if not. But my Colin went about as well as you'd expect it. I just think it is so cute and funny and silly that as a population, we all know who the caterpillar is. You don't even have to say it. Or you could just talk about Colin. I'm going to go out and get a Colin. And everybody knows. He's just part of the family. Until you eat him, of course.

Weird Things:2

Number two, a weird thing that Brits do that they think is normal is consume some of the most creative sandwiches I've ever seen. Can I interest you in a chip buddy? Yes. That is a sandwich where the inside are chips. Just like the name implies. Now again, I do have to say I made one of these on Patreon and I get it. I'm not making fun, I totally get it. There is something absurd about a chip buddy.

I think we can all agree, but we can also agree that they're fabulous. You could also have a pot noodle sandwich, or what about a fish finger sandwich? The Brits have just an unbelievable amount of sandwiches. And of course, lots of people use different words for sandwich depending where in the UK you are. I just think it's fabulous that you could just, you could put whatever you want between two slices of bread and call it a day.

Weird Things:3

Number three, we have pet names from strangers. Now, I remember very vividly when I first moved to the UK, I think I even talked about it in a video where it made me feel really uncomfortable when strangers would call me love or sweetheart or any of that kind of thing because I just inherently viewed that as condescending. That's just, if you heard that in North America, sometimes that's how it comes across. But of course here, that is not what it's all about.

So it is not uncommon to hear a whole variety of pet names from complete strangers and oftentimes people you will never see again. Love, lovely, sweetheart, duck, yes. Pet, darling, I mean, there's so many. And while it kind of threw me off at first, now I absolutely love it. I think it's very sweet. It's just sweet. And yes, they can be used in a condescending way.

If this situation calls for it, yeah, it could be done in a negative way, but typically it's not. I was at a cafe the other day and the woman serving me said something like, "Here you go, love." It's so nice. But the other day I was getting a parcel delivered and the postie, also postie, what a great word, the postie was like, "You have a great day, sweetheart." He's like, you know what?

I will have a great day. I just think it's really nice. And I do wish that Canada did it. You know, like you may hear the odd pet name, the odd pet name, but it's really not done in Canada or the US on a day-to-day basis. But here it's just, you know, love, lovely, sweetheart, duck, I love it. I just think it's very sweet. And it's just a nice thing.

Weird Things:4

number four. Is it number four? I hope it is. For number four, I would like to show you a clip from one of my videos. Now, this was from a vlog that I did when I went to my first ever beer festival or a hops festival. And this was in the video and I was like, I don't know what that is. Can somebody help me?

And everybody in the comments was like, It's Morris dancing, obviously. So I had a little bit of a Google. The earliest known and surviving English written mention of Morris dance is dated to 1448. And it is described as a form of English folk dancing. Fascinating. I think it goes without saying that I never saw that in Canada or America. I've just never seen it.

But saying that though, I have seen it multiple times here in the UK, especially at like festivals or events or like days out, those types of things.

And while it is kind of weird when you look at it, you know, you got some men sort of like slapping their feet and usually like someone's got a stick and maybe there's like bells and stuff and you're like, this is kind of weird. I do really appreciate the fact that people still do it.

And honestly, one of the things I love about living in the UK is that you are surrounded by history. And a lot of times I mean that by the buildings and the architecture and that kind of stuff, but also with stuff like this. Yeah, when you look at it on the face of it, it's a bit silly and it's a bit weird, but I love that this is like history and people are still doing it.

Weird Things:5

Number five, I simply call sun's out, shirts off. So here in the UK, how can I describe this? Well, quite simply, when the sun comes out, the men take their shirts off. Whether they should or not, it's not part of the question. Now where I'm from in Southern Ontario, we have some wonderful weather.

I know people don't think about that. We have wonderful weather, like late spring into the summer and then like into the fall, beautiful weather, like 30 degrees. But if you were to walk around a small town in Ontario, like where I'm from, you would never ever see a man walking through town without his shirt on. You're not gonna see it. The only time you will see like shirts off is at the beach where it should be.

But no, there is a portion of the British population that participates in sun's out, shirts off. The minute the sun is out, the minute that it's even remotely nice out, men are taking their shirt off and they're often like town center, which please stop. This is one of those things, you know what? I'll take Morris dancing, but put your shirt back on. It's not even that hot out.

Weird Things:6

Number six, we have a very integral British quirk that so many of them do and now I do it. And that's quite simply when you're ready to go, when you're ready to leave some event or a friend's house or whatever, you slap your knees and you say, right, well, we best be off. You slap your knees and you say, well, better be going.

You slap your knees and say, wow, is that the time? We should get a move on. There's something about slapping the knees that is so, it's so integral to British culture. And I know so many people do it without thinking. I do it now without thinking. And to be fair, it is a really great like visual cue. Like you don't wanna be rude or awkward, but you are kind of being awkward that you want to leave, but you don't know how to say that.

You can't just come out and say, "Okay, I think we need to go now." You have to do the knee slap. Everybody respects the knee slap. It's just wonderful. I love it. Is it weird? A little bit. I think that's fair to say it's a little bit weird, but I think it's great.

Weird Things:7

Number seven of weird things Brits do, and it has to do with how they treat people. Now, this is very confusing if you come from a country where this is not done, but let me explain. Sometimes you will find when a British person is very polite to somebody. You know, lots of manners, very polite, very friendly. They hate that person and they despise them.

On the other hand, sometimes when you hear a British person calling another person every name under the sun, it means that they love them. The banter in this country is unbelievable. And this sort of like banter among friends can be really confusing. I remember my first job here in the UK, I was working in an office and you really learn about social dynamics in an office, let me tell you. And if you come from a country that doesn't do that, it can be really alarming.

There have been situations, honestly, I'll admit it, where maybe at work, somebody says something that's like really mean to me, and I'm just like, oh my God, they hate me. This is it. I have to leave England, these people hate me, and then someone has to say, no, no, no, they like you.

That's why they're doing it. It's banter. You're one of the group, right? You're part of the gang. But let me tell you, it is devastating. I will say, now that I've lived in England for over seven years, when someone is really polite to me, I get worried. Because in your head, you're like, "Oh my God, do they hate me? Why are they being so polite?"

Weird Things:8

Number eight on our list, is it your birthday? Oh my God, happy birthday. You bring in treats. So one thing that I found quite surprising whenever I would arrive at the office, I'm coming in, maybe my bus had been late, not surprising. And there'd be treats out, there'd be little cakes, maybe, you know, the little Tesco, you can get like those little miniature cakes, maybe some cupcakes, maybe some biscuits.

And you're like, ooh, whose birthday is it? And it was always that person who brought in the treats. On the flip side, when I was working in Canada, I was actually at a school. So these are two like school office environments. In Canada though, if we knew it was gonna be one of the teacher's birthdays or whatever, we would bring in the treats because it's their birthday.

Saying that though, also participating in a kitty or in the kitty, a kitty would come around the office in England and you'd put in a couple of pounds towards a present for the birthday person. So the birthday person brings in their own treats, but at least our office, we would have a kitty with that would go towards a gift for them as well.

And if your office is big enough, like we had a decent amount of people in the office, it was always somebody's birthday. There were cakes out more often than not.

Weird Things:9

For number nine, weird things British people do that they think is normal. Can you guess? I hope you can't. And if you can guess, that's really weird, but it is in fact how they say goodbye. All right, it was so nice talking to you. See you later, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, see ya, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye. I love how drawn out the goodbyes are.

You sometimes see it in person, sometimes you hear it on the phone, I love it. How many times do you say goodbye when you're trying to end a conversation? Count next time.

you can read more about Weird Things Here.

you can also watch more about Weird Things:

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9 Weird Things British People Do

It's me as a Canadian who has lived in the UK for the last seven years. I have noticed that the Brits do some weird things that they think are normal. So today I am going to share their secrets. So without further ado, let's go make sure to leave a comment down below. What is a weird thing that British people do and they think it's normal? Maybe you do it. Do you do do anything weird, let me know.

Weird Things:1

Number one, it is totally reasonable to buy a caterpillar cake and everyone knows who it is. So this little British cork came up around Christmas time. My mum was here for a visit and I had to explain who Colin the caterpillar is. I actually made my own Colin the caterpillar cake on Patreon a couple of years ago. If you want to join me on Patreon, that'd be awesome.

No worries if not. But my Colin went about as well as you'd expect it. I just think it is so cute and funny and silly that as a population, we all know who the caterpillar is. You don't even have to say it. Or you could just talk about Colin. I'm going to go out and get a Colin. And everybody knows. He's just part of the family. Until you eat him, of course.

Weird Things:2

Number two, a weird thing that Brits do that they think is normal is consume some of the most creative sandwiches I've ever seen. Can I interest you in a chip buddy? Yes. That is a sandwich where the inside are chips. Just like the name implies. Now again, I do have to say I made one of these on Patreon and I get it. I'm not making fun, I totally get it. There is something absurd about a chip buddy.

I think we can all agree, but we can also agree that they're fabulous. You could also have a pot noodle sandwich, or what about a fish finger sandwich? The Brits have just an unbelievable amount of sandwiches. And of course, lots of people use different words for sandwich depending where in the UK you are. I just think it's fabulous that you could just, you could put whatever you want between two slices of bread and call it a day.

Weird Things:3

Number three, we have pet names from strangers. Now, I remember very vividly when I first moved to the UK, I think I even talked about it in a video where it made me feel really uncomfortable when strangers would call me love or sweetheart or any of that kind of thing because I just inherently viewed that as condescending. That's just, if you heard that in North America, sometimes that's how it comes across. But of course here, that is not what it's all about.

So it is not uncommon to hear a whole variety of pet names from complete strangers and oftentimes people you will never see again. Love, lovely, sweetheart, duck, yes. Pet, darling, I mean, there's so many. And while it kind of threw me off at first, now I absolutely love it. I think it's very sweet. It's just sweet. And yes, they can be used in a condescending way.

If this situation calls for it, yeah, it could be done in a negative way, but typically it's not. I was at a cafe the other day and the woman serving me said something like, "Here you go, love." It's so nice. But the other day I was getting a parcel delivered and the postie, also postie, what a great word, the postie was like, "You have a great day, sweetheart." He's like, you know what?

I will have a great day. I just think it's really nice. And I do wish that Canada did it. You know, like you may hear the odd pet name, the odd pet name, but it's really not done in Canada or the US on a day-to-day basis. But here it's just, you know, love, lovely, sweetheart, duck, I love it. I just think it's very sweet. And it's just a nice thing.

Weird Things:4

number four. Is it number four? I hope it is. For number four, I would like to show you a clip from one of my videos. Now, this was from a vlog that I did when I went to my first ever beer festival or a hops festival. And this was in the video and I was like, I don't know what that is. Can somebody help me?

And everybody in the comments was like, It's Morris dancing, obviously. So I had a little bit of a Google. The earliest known and surviving English written mention of Morris dance is dated to 1448. And it is described as a form of English folk dancing. Fascinating. I think it goes without saying that I never saw that in Canada or America. I've just never seen it.

But saying that though, I have seen it multiple times here in the UK, especially at like festivals or events or like days out, those types of things.

And while it is kind of weird when you look at it, you know, you got some men sort of like slapping their feet and usually like someone's got a stick and maybe there's like bells and stuff and you're like, this is kind of weird. I do really appreciate the fact that people still do it.

And honestly, one of the things I love about living in the UK is that you are surrounded by history. And a lot of times I mean that by the buildings and the architecture and that kind of stuff, but also with stuff like this. Yeah, when you look at it on the face of it, it's a bit silly and it's a bit weird, but I love that this is like history and people are still doing it.

Weird Things:5

Number five, I simply call sun's out, shirts off. So here in the UK, how can I describe this? Well, quite simply, when the sun comes out, the men take their shirts off. Whether they should or not, it's not part of the question. Now where I'm from in Southern Ontario, we have some wonderful weather.

I know people don't think about that. We have wonderful weather, like late spring into the summer and then like into the fall, beautiful weather, like 30 degrees. But if you were to walk around a small town in Ontario, like where I'm from, you would never ever see a man walking through town without his shirt on. You're not gonna see it. The only time you will see like shirts off is at the beach where it should be.

But no, there is a portion of the British population that participates in sun's out, shirts off. The minute the sun is out, the minute that it's even remotely nice out, men are taking their shirt off and they're often like town center, which please stop. This is one of those things, you know what? I'll take Morris dancing, but put your shirt back on. It's not even that hot out.

Weird Things:6

Number six, we have a very integral British quirk that so many of them do and now I do it. And that's quite simply when you're ready to go, when you're ready to leave some event or a friend's house or whatever, you slap your knees and you say, right, well, we best be off. You slap your knees and you say, well, better be going.

You slap your knees and say, wow, is that the time? We should get a move on. There's something about slapping the knees that is so, it's so integral to British culture. And I know so many people do it without thinking. I do it now without thinking. And to be fair, it is a really great like visual cue. Like you don't wanna be rude or awkward, but you are kind of being awkward that you want to leave, but you don't know how to say that.

You can't just come out and say, "Okay, I think we need to go now." You have to do the knee slap. Everybody respects the knee slap. It's just wonderful. I love it. Is it weird? A little bit. I think that's fair to say it's a little bit weird, but I think it's great.

Weird Things:7

Number seven of weird things Brits do, and it has to do with how they treat people. Now, this is very confusing if you come from a country where this is not done, but let me explain. Sometimes you will find when a British person is very polite to somebody. You know, lots of manners, very polite, very friendly. They hate that person and they despise them.

On the other hand, sometimes when you hear a British person calling another person every name under the sun, it means that they love them. The banter in this country is unbelievable. And this sort of like banter among friends can be really confusing. I remember my first job here in the UK, I was working in an office and you really learn about social dynamics in an office, let me tell you. And if you come from a country that doesn't do that, it can be really alarming.

There have been situations, honestly, I'll admit it, where maybe at work, somebody says something that's like really mean to me, and I'm just like, oh my God, they hate me. This is it. I have to leave England, these people hate me, and then someone has to say, no, no, no, they like you.

That's why they're doing it. It's banter. You're one of the group, right? You're part of the gang. But let me tell you, it is devastating. I will say, now that I've lived in England for over seven years, when someone is really polite to me, I get worried. Because in your head, you're like, "Oh my God, do they hate me? Why are they being so polite?"

Weird Things:8

Number eight on our list, is it your birthday? Oh my God, happy birthday. You bring in treats. So one thing that I found quite surprising whenever I would arrive at the office, I'm coming in, maybe my bus had been late, not surprising. And there'd be treats out, there'd be little cakes, maybe, you know, the little Tesco, you can get like those little miniature cakes, maybe some cupcakes, maybe some biscuits.

And you're like, ooh, whose birthday is it? And it was always that person who brought in the treats. On the flip side, when I was working in Canada, I was actually at a school. So these are two like school office environments. In Canada though, if we knew it was gonna be one of the teacher's birthdays or whatever, we would bring in the treats because it's their birthday.

Saying that though, also participating in a kitty or in the kitty, a kitty would come around the office in England and you'd put in a couple of pounds towards a present for the birthday person. So the birthday person brings in their own treats, but at least our office, we would have a kitty with that would go towards a gift for them as well.

And if your office is big enough, like we had a decent amount of people in the office, it was always somebody's birthday. There were cakes out more often than not.

Weird Things:9

For number nine, weird things British people do that they think is normal. Can you guess? I hope you can't. And if you can guess, that's really weird, but it is in fact how they say goodbye. All right, it was so nice talking to you. See you later, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, see ya, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye, bye. I love how drawn out the goodbyes are.

You sometimes see it in person, sometimes you hear it on the phone, I love it. How many times do you say goodbye when you're trying to end a conversation? Count next time.

you can read more about Weird Things Here.

you can also watch more about Weird Things: