Elite Facts Presents
8 Misconceptions About Great Britain
8.
-It Rains all the Time Now if you just boil it down the north of
england, Then maybe you have an argument there.
Even then however, The north is pretty dry for the most part.
Thanks to various forms of media such as films, televisions shows and broadway plays, When
people think of Britain, we all tend to immediately think of bad weather.
We see rain clouds, storms and bitter wind.
General misery.
However, when you compare the united kingdom to other parts world, Britain enjoys comparatively
pleasant weather!
Sure during the winter months, Weather can be brutal as temperatures become bitterly
cold (between 0 and 6 degrees C), However the average summer temperature ranges between
15 and 23 degrees, often higher.
So why does Britain have a reputation for bad weather?
The logical answer to this is most likely because winters tend to be longer than summers
in Britain, as well as its portrayal in media like we’ve previously mentioned and most
artwork of Britain depicts the weather based on expectation and we all like to dwell on
a period of bad weather, even if the weather is generally good.
7.
-Dental Hygiene Oh boy…..THIS Stereotype!
So...We’ve all seen The Simpsons and most of us have seen that one episode in which
Lisa needs braces.
Who remembers the Big Book of British Smiles?
Admittedly this joke was hilarious, However extremely over exaggerated.
This one is commonly referred to in comedy shows poking fun at Britain, but is believed
by many to be hard fact.
While a percentage, just like any other country, will suffer from dental problems, the standard
of oral hygiene is generally very high.
In fact, the shortage of available NHS dentists is a constant issue in England.
Just like anywhere else in the world, a person with bad teeth is considered the slightly
gross exception, not the rule in Britain.
6.
-Good Ol’ Cup of Tea A lot like the whole accent trope we’ve
previously just mentioned, Apparently the british are addicted to tea like Tony Montana
was addicted to cocaine!
There are many ways of looking at which regions drink the most tea, However Britain is not
the biggest tea-drinking region by a long way.
Surprising right?
When taking the whole population of britain into account, They only rank somewhere around
3rd worldwide.
Now third in the world still sounds like they like a lot of tea right?
Well compared to Turkey and India who ranked 1st and 2nd individually, Britain don’t
drink anywhere near as much as those two countries.
However depending on the source you’ve used for your research, China still sits above
Britain in the tea-drinking league tables even when considering population.
Now with this information set to one side, we find ourselves asking “Where did this
stereotype originate from?”
Well, it is true that Britain does love a good cup of tea, However it is far from the
top.
Britain actually drinks almost as much coffee as it does tea.
I mean you can’t walk around a street corner without seeing a starbuck in sight.
This misconception may actually stem from a linguistic difference between us and other
English speaking regions.
In most places, the evening meal is referred to as “dinner” or “supper”.
This is correct terminology in Britain too, but an evening meal is very often referred
to as “tea”.
So when a British person invites you round for tea, they are inviting you for a meal,
not to just sit and drink tea, which is how some people imagine the situation.
This is also true of the commonwealth nations, where “come for tea” usually means “come
for the main evening meal”.
5.
-Great Britain is One Country Common misconception to be fair as “Britain”
or “Great Britain” does refer to the general area.
Neither of them however refers to a country.
Think of it like how Europe works…..sort of.
In fact it’s probably best not to mention Europe and The UK in the same sentence at
this point.
Anyway, Britain is a general term for Wales, Scotland and England collectively, while The
British Isles also includes Ireland (Northern and the Republic).
England is most often incorrectly named in this way, and English people are often referred
to as “British”.
As for Northern Ireland, It is part of the “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern
Ireland” which differentiates between the part of Ireland that is governed by England
hence the suspension of the Northern Ireland government in 1972 and the Northern Ireland
Assembly in 2002 from the Republic of Ireland which is a self-governing nation.
4.
-Britain LOVES Warm Beer What kind of sick animals do you take england
for!
Who in their right mind would drink Warm Beer?
We have no idea where this…….Really strange stereotype came from but i’m sorry it’s
just not true.
You will never walk into a British bar, order a beer and get served a warm beverage.
Hell even if you were sick enough to ask for a warm beer, I’m pretty sure the bartender
would ban you from their pub!
In fact, the most popular lager beers in Britain tend to be of the “Extra Cold” variety,
and this applies to most bitter beers and ales too!
Nobody likes a warm beer, the British included.
Having said that, most Americans like their Beer super cold, so an English beer may appear
to be warm in comparison, but it is still cold.
Chilling beer too much can damage its flavor.
3.
-Accents We’ve all done it.
Don’t lie!
We’ve all done a “British Accent” before.
You know going cockney while saying crap like “Ello Guv’nah!
Fancy a nice cup of tea and a crumpet?”
Now we hate to break the news to you but no one in England is that posh and the only people
in england who even come close to that accent are from around London and even then the accent
isn’t anywhere as strong as it’s presented in the stereotype.
Like seriously, If you go up north towards the newcastle region, you’ll be greeted
by a rough geordie accent.
The reason for this stereotype may come from the way in which English is generally written
in Britain.
It is always taught that you should write “properly” and use correct language in
formal writing so that it is easier to understand when read.
Despite this, British people rarely ever speak the way they write.
As we’ve stated previously Britain has a wide variety of accents, some even bordering
on dialects, the majority of which do not sound remotely like how foreign media has
portrayed British speech.
To see some examples of this, I suggest watching some British television or British cinema.
Oh but please for the love of god, Stay away from the news over here.
You’ll be doing yourself a favor.
Good examples of films include the likes of Trainspotting (Scottish accent), Get Carter
(1971) for the geordie accent, the TV Series Peaky Blinders for the Brummie Accent and
almost any other film set in england for the typical london cockney accent!
2.
-Scottish Money Is Legal Tender Although it can be accepted by shops throughout
great britain (as much as cashiers hate to accept scottish notes...some even downright
refusing them), Scottish notes are technically not legal currency outside of scotland itself.
Now although shops in outside of Scotland are not legally obliged to accept it, Banks
outside of Scotland will accept it, but legally it is down to the manager’s discretion whether
or not to accept it in any other location.
What is the difference between Scottish pounds sterling and the pounds sterling used in the
rest of Britain?
Literally nothing.
The only thing different between the two is it’s appearance.
So why do many places outside of Scotland refuse to accept it?
The most common reasons are that either they are not commonly seen and so are not recognised,
or due to the idea that its design and the fact that most people outside of Scotland
rarely see it make it easy to forge.
It may be frustrating if you come from Scotland for a trip around Britain, but there really
is nothing to say that shopkeepers have to accept Scottish money, no matter how much
you insist.
1.
-Free Health Care We certainly wish it was the case but sadly
it’s not true.
The NHS (National Health Service) as is commonly unknown to people outside of Britain, is not
free, nor will it cover any illness or injury.
The NHS is paid for through taxes and donations and will only provide certain approved services
or treatments.
While it is true that emergency treatment is almost always free of charge, treatment
for any long-term illnesses or injuries is almost always charged much like the rest of
the world that’s not offered free health care.
Certain drugs will be provided for certain illnesses, but if your illness or the drugs
and treatment you require is not on the “approved” list.
You will not get it from the NHS.
This is always a controversial issue in Britain.
The NHS is also not available to non-British citizens except in the case of emergency.
Even then the emergency must have taken place within Britain.
Thanks for watching!
Elite Facts