Scarlett

Sorry, OT, but tedgale, How goes it?

laverendrye

Robespierre: I saw them in "63 as well, in Toronto. My favourite line from the garden scene, which I often use when coming in from the garden is: "I was out in the garden, planting out some deadly nightshade for the Bosche..."

AnselmAdorne

I was just reading through this thread for the first time and wondering why no one had mentioned Nancy Mitford on the subject of U and non-U. It doesn't surprise me, tedgale, that you were the one to make the connection.

And don't forget John Betjeman's How to Get On In Society, which poked fun at those trying to be genteel, but who give themsleves away by non-U speech ...

"Milk and then just as it comes dear?
I'm afraid the preserve's full of stones;
Beg pardon, I'm soiling the doileys
With afternoon tea-cakes and scones."

Hope all is well with you, tedgale, and that you had a good holiday.

Anselm

Underhill

Lavenderye and Robespierre,

We had the great good fortune to see Dudley Moore and Peter Cook (how I miss him!) on state in London in "Behind the Fridge." One sketch in particular had us howling with laughter--it was Moore as a newspaper reporter interviewing Cook as, I think St. Matthew. At one point Cook said he had to cut the interview short as "There's a night sale on at Herod's."

tedgale

Sorry for hijacking the thread but must reply to kind inquiries from Anselm and Scarlett:

I cannot believe socialized medicine works like this but a meeting with the oncologist is scheduled only for Jan 17. Until then we sit tight. In the interim we are not idle nor gloomy: visited NYC and Washington DC over Xmas. More news when I have it. And again thanks for your concern

PalQ

Curious as to the phrase "not my cup of tea" and is it relevant to this Brit mania for putting the kettle on?

ThinGorjus

Blimey, what rubbish. Some of you have gone rental. Even Americans put the kettle on to make a cup of tea. How else would they make it???? Why is it that some people assume that only we Brits drink tea????????? As an Englishman living in the US, I can tell you that millions of Americans drink tea made from boiling water poured from a kettle. I can't tell you the last time I was in someone's home who DID NOT have a tea kettle on their cooker.

And why would anyone assume life in the UK is anything like the life portrayed on an outdated soap opera like CORONATION STREET?????? Next, you will be asking if we still have chimney sweeps and buskers working the streets of London!!!!!

Cheers,
John G.

taggie

JohnG you have me chuckling at the mental picture of someone making tea without first boiling the water. of course you are right about that part of things... but you're wrong about Corrie! Outdated? No way! No chimney sweeps there... single mums, May-December romances, marriages in trouble, characters confused about their sexuality, Hindu weddings... more dramatic than your average neighbourhood, granted, what with a few murderers and bunny-boiling ex-girlfriends around, but certainly not outdated.

Robespierre

I haven't used a teakettle for 30 years. I'm not even sure where mine is - and I drink tea several times a week.

Ain't microwave ovens great? They even whistle (ding!) when the water boils.

Kayb95

"Even Americans put the kettle on to make a cup of tea. How else would they make it????"

Of course we either put the kettle on or plug the kettle in to make tea, but "put the kettle on" is not a typical phrase used in the US.

"And why would anyone assume life in the UK is anything like the life portrayed on an outdated soap opera like CORONATION STREET??????"

Have you ever watched an American soap? They are even MORE unrealistic (cloning, returning from the dead, mafia, time-travel, multiple personalities, long-lost siblings, espionage...) And not a regular looking person in the lot - every cast member is one of the "beautiful people."

seetheworld

...very interesting....

Here, in the US, every morning I always put the kettle on for my tea. My SIL, in the UK, plugs her kettle in - either way we never boil water in a teapot!

Scarlett

Kayb95,
you mean all Americans are not just like those people on Dynasty??
LOL I wonder how many people in far off lands see those old re-runs and picture coming to 'that' America

Kayb95

Dynasty was very tame - you should see the daytime soaps!

ron

Neil Oz, that A to E categorization was invented by an opinion/market research firm to be able to view responses by economic category. Presumably, the upper classes do not participate in such mundane matters as asnswering questions about which brand of tea or deoderant they may or may not use.

Barbara

Scarlett, that's exactly the show that came to my mind!

SidB

Quite bizzare view of a different culture. Works both ways I suppose.

Every time my wife asks me to put the kettle on I tell her it's not my size. Every time she groans. Can't think why.

I always get my jokes from Christmas crackers.

Mucky

Please don't believe that life here in the UK is anything remotely like that portrayed in CStreet, it is simply nothing like it at all. As for the kettle business, I suppose we like any other hot drink loving nation drink tea and coffee and chocolate and cocoa and anything else that could need a kettle, therefore we all have one in the kitchen and even sometimes in the office, which reminds me enough work time for a cuppa...lol

Muck

sheila

Laura

How on earth do you pull loose tea out of the teapot after it's steeped?

Maria_H

As someone who lives "up north" in the UK, I can confirm that there are still people (and places) very much like some of the characters on Coronation Street. OK, it's a bit larger than life but real life would be rather boring. At least it has a lot more (tongue in cheek) humour than the southern counterpart, Eastenders - after watching a few episodes of that I firmly believe all Londoners to be gangsters or petty criminals (LOL).

Leaving out the upper class, I think the class boundaries are pretty hazy these days, as are some of the uses of language. We still "put the kettle on", even though it's usually to make coffee. We tend to refer to our evening meal as "tea" if eaten in, or "dinner" if we go to a restaurant. Midday catering assistants at schools are still "dinner ladies" unless someone decides to get PC and give them a fancy title. It's interesting how some of the everyday words and phrases used by one person can seem so odd to another.

Morgana

Flanneruk, I work in central Leeds (for my sins) and drive past a whole street of 'clothing factories' every day, each looking exactly as if Mike Baldwin will walk out of them!
In my office we are asked if we 'want a brew' and then the tea is left to 'mash' before pouring.
M