There is obviously no single "British sense of humour", but as a whole I think most of us quite enjoy a more sarcastic/ironic tpe of humour than the majority of Americans.

I shudder when programs such as "Are you being served", "'allo 'allo" and "Keeping up appearances" are discussed as I find all three about as funny as running out of toilet paper.

And the great thing about British nutters is that they just write letters in green ink and post to forums like this.

They aren't armed and dangerous.
Perhaps, somebody could show him how to make his messages come out in green.

A friend of mine works for the BBC and they get loads of the green ink letters. They refer to the people who write them as "the cat stranglers".

ps Other people running out of bog roll is funny. Mind you so is other people stepping on a rake, slipping on a banana skin and many other things you wouldn't want to happen to you.

If we're going to talk about British humour we must mention that nothing is funnier to the british than a man dressed up as a woman. Absolutely nothing.

Chummers, old bean.
Although he disguises himself in spats and a bowler hat, I strongly suspect that we can't claim walkingaround as our own.
I think he's a Yank in disguise.
I like "cat stranglers".
BTW, did you see the programme about Mrs. Whitehouse on the box last night?
She certainly wrote enough letters to the BBC and the DJ would probably have liked to strangle her.

So you think he's a bit like Madonna with her newly minted englsih accent?

I missed the Mary Whitehouse thingy because the football was on. It'll be on BBC4 soon enough.

Mischka, don't blame me! I didn't coin the phrase "in THE hospital." Perhaps it developed during frontier days when there was only one hospital for a given region or town???

Yet the British apparently say "THE football was on." Very strange.

walkinaround, you perfectly describe some of the British sensibilities I find here on Fodors. Reminds me of being run into by a stroller/pram here in the U.S. when I stopped walking, and there was a British accented "Nice work" directed at me. Excuse me?!Here in the U.S. we have a saying, "If you have nothing nice to say, don't say anything at all."

CW writes, "Have you all met walkingaround? He's our very own hooting loon." And you just proved walkingaround's point.

Oh dear more yankee idiocy. The bloody old lady taliban are at it again.

It's getting to the point that there's no point in saying anything as there's always some yank ready to jump down my throat at any perceived slight.

For the record: I quite like most yanks. Some I like rather a lot, some less so. I don't much care for America as an entity - but that's another matter.

"Homely" is an interesting word. Means "ugly" in the U.S., but "cozy" in Britain.

And while "quaint" is a perfectly acceptable compliment in the U.S., some Brits say it's some kind of an insult and despise our trip reports with their descriptions of "quaint villages."

There's nowt wrong with the word quaint per se. It's just that it goes with all the other bollocks about Britain - thatched cottages, rectories, stately homes and Jane Bloody Austen. Tied to that is the assumption that Britain is basically a theme park for yanks and other wrong 'uns.

We just don't recognise this place. We certainly don't live there.

And that's just more willful negativism. The U.S. is as much Newark NJ as it is Manhattan. As much Palatka FL as it is South Beach. Which (rightfully) get more attention from foreign visitors?

I've seen an awful lot of thatched roofs and hedgerows and stately homes and blossoming hawthorne on my trips to England. I'm not exactly going to spend a week in Barnsley.

Of course these things exist - and we visit them ourselves. What gets our goat (or at least seizes my carprinid) is that this is all the tourists think england is.

England's not only about thatched cottages and 1000 year old churches and the like. It's the most vibrant place on the planet - a world leader in art, design, fashion, music etc.

The fact that we have some houses with grass roofs isn't what we're about.

I think you do not give your visitors enough credit, CW.

The English countryside is iconic. Has been for a very long time. Of course we're going to be captivated by it.

The traffic engineers are trying to introduce roundabouts in Michigan. They are called traffic circles and are well labeled with giant signs of how to use them, but I'm sure that many are going to die before it gets figured out.

Having traveled and used them, I like them and see how traffic flow can be increased. But I think everyone in this area needs a refresher on the yield sign.


And an American biscuit is an English dumpling that you would cook in the oven instead of a stew pot I believe.

To me, the word quaint implies that something (a house, village, etc.) is pretty but old-fashioned, even outdated. It can also sound very patronising (e.g. "what a quaint tradition").

So in British English, I wouldn't say that the word was particularly complimentary.

The word "picturesque" (or even "charming") is a bit more neutral, to my mind anyway.

I think you do not give your visitors enough credit, CW. >>>>>

My hometown is Winchester and I live in London. As such I have spent a lifetime observing tourists.

For every one that has a guidebook and is taking their time there are a hundred being herded like ants by bossy middle aged women from Bath (driving past Stonnehenge) to London then to York with maybe a brief stop in either the Cotswolds or the Lake district (and it's not just the yanks who do this - the japanese are the worst).

They're the ones who think that England is quaint. They probably buy into the Robert the Bruce/Braveheart cobblers in Scotland too.

And an American biscuit is an English dumpling that you would cook in the oven instead of a stew pot I believe.>>>

I don't think so, as dumplings are made of suet and it's my understanding that the heathen yanks don't eat suet but use it as bird food.

From the Food Network:

Biscuit Recipe

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons shortening
1 cup buttermilk, chilled


I think our "shortening" might be a fancy word for suet. But yes, I do remember making suet birdfeeders at summer camp.

"Madonna with her newly minted englsih accentMadonna with her newly minted englsih accent"

What is that about?

Glad to hear that I am not alone in thinking than walkinaround is in reality an American double agent.

Okay our shortening comes from vegetables so not quite like suet, but it does the same thing.


You haven't heard Madonna talk in the last ten years? Apparently she found her Detroit accent uncool.

According to wikipedia shoertening is a solid vegetable oil like cookeen.

Suet is animal fat.

So not quite the same thing.

This is what dumplings look like (not to be confused with what the chinese call dumplings):

http://tinyurl.com/5x5tch

Dumplings also have a benny hill type meaning.