Related Information to Britain

Britain

Britain

Are you a resident or citizen of this country? If so, please share the specific part(s) of your culture that identifies your country as unique. You may also wish to dispell any common misconceptions outsiders have about your country's traditions.

Britain

I may sound repetitive here; I was a resident of England and Wales some years ago. First of all, within the UK there is general culture and tradition as a country / countries, and then there is community traditions and culture unique to a specific locality and the two can be very different. I say this because some communities have their own history dating back hundreds of years. This history may have lead to a long standing tradition, accent, diet and more!

Basically, I love the historic intrigue of British culture and traditions because it was usually not born of simple childish wishes, but instead came from the fear and general acceptance of theories and stories from the populace of the time.

Britain History & Civil Business Politics

Not like I want to offend anyone but just wanted to ask if its true that the English are snobs?

Britain

Generally I would say no, it's just the way that the English are portrayed as having a stiff upper lip, in the fact that we are expected to stand strong no matter what is thrown at us, and some people may construe this as stand offish or even snobby.

Obviously there are some areas where there are snobby people who think that they are better than the rest, but I guess you could say that about a lot of countries.

I wouldn't at all class myself as snobby at any rate.

Britain

Before I went to Britain I thought that I would meet many snobby people that were so educated and high classed that if you touched them your fingers might burn. That is all in the movies. I would say that 97% of the people I met over a two year period were very friendly, hospitable and in many cases very jovial. Most times I found Brits to love a laugh and if a snob is encountered the occassion is extremely rare. DianeC is a good example of how openly friendly the British can be.

Britain

For hundreds of years, there have been many traditions associated with superstitions, and some people are still very superstitious!

some of the examples that I can give are:

you never walk underneath ladders-it's seen as bad luck

if you break a mirror- people believe you get 7 years bad luck

if a black cat walks in front of you- good fortune is coming your way

if you are talking about something good going your way-you then touch wood to keep it that way

never put your feet on a table- it brings you bad luck

now magpies, there is a split to peoples superstitions regarding these birds. Some people believe you have to wish them a good morning or a good afternoon (and say it out loud, whilst the other half of people believe you have to salute them- if you're unfortunate enough to have 2 parents with split views, (like I did when I was younger) you'll spend your day both saluting them and wishing them a good afternoon!

Of course many people who are religious don't believe in these, as I no longer do myself, but never the less, they still stand for a good proportion of people!

Britain

Immigration, migration and mixed cultures are reducing the so called English snobbery

Britain Politics Business Civil & History

I was born, raised and still live in England.
I live in the part of the country where witches and halloween are celebrated as I am right next to Pendle Hill where the coverns were meant to gather. A tradition around here on Halloween is to climb to the top of Pendle Hill which is just short of a mountain. This fact in itself has brought around another tradition which is to take a stone to the top with you each year when you climb and place it atop the rest to try and get good old Pendle to be a mountain!

Another tradition in the parts where I am from which many places have lost are village fetes. These bring the community together and offer fun, activities and a sense of belonging to something bigger. We enjoy the age old traditions of markets and we strive to keep them alive as unfortunately people use them less and they are disappearing.

The pubs are something like no where else, not the big city pubs, travel out to the country pubs and get a real taste of why they are so popular!

And no, we are not snobs. As was said earlier we have been brought up to have a stiff upper lip which means to keep a brave face no matter what. This was coined in the first world war I believe.