Cultural British Stereotypes and How to Deal With Them
All over the globe people tend to have similar preconceived notions of what a standardย Britishย civilian looks, walks, talks and acts like. Some of the British stereotypes, I can confirm, are quite accurate whilst others can be pretty hilarious but also a little unfair.
Every culture has their own stereotypes and of course itโs unfair to judge and categorise everyone from Britain into certain categories, but itโs also quite nice to prepare yourself for how a typical British person behaves so that you know not only what youโre in for, but also how to respectfully behave when youโre surrounded by the British culture.
Hereโs a guide to the most common cultural British stereotypes, both fact and fiction.
Stiff upper lip
This term comes from the idea that an emotional or upset person has a quivering upper lip, so a stiff upper lip refers to the concept that the British are quite reserved and keep their emotions and feelings to themselves. Whilst the times are changing and this is becoming less and less true, compared to other cultures around the world, the British are still quite closed off emotionally and it really takes a lot of time, trust and hard work to be able to break down those walls.
Sarcastic humour
Irony and heavy sarcasm are the bedrock of British humour. Being able to tell when your British friends are being sarcastic from when theyโre trying to have a serious conversation takes some serious skill and even after years of living in the U.K, itโs likely that youโll still often get it wrong. At least there are a lot of hilarious and sometimes awkward conversations to be had in the meantime thoughโฆ
Queuing
The British are undoubtedly the best queuers in the world. They have it nailed down to a respectable art form and few things offend Brits more than seeing someone jump the queue theyโre standing in. Itโs all about fairness and waiting your turn, which leads us on toโฆ
Manners
Whilst the Brits are not quite as chivalrous as some of their European neighbours, their polite manners are indeed very likeable. You will rarely be kept waiting for an โexcuse meโ, โsorryโ, โpleaseโ or โthank youโ.
Want to move to the UK? Find out how much it could cost to move your belongings with our guide on international shipping costs.
Hate of confrontation
British folk spend a lot of time and effort avoiding any possible awkward or confronting moments in social situations, most probably due to the previous point on manners and politeness. Because of this, they have mastered the art of small talk, something youโll probably want to practice yourself.
Talking about the weather
Itโs possibly the most spoken of topic in the country. If you ever find yourself in an awkward situation or have absolutely nothing to say, fear no more as you can get at least 10 minutes worth of quality conversation out of the current weather patterns. Keep an eye on the daily forecast for emergency conversations.
Apologising
The British have a need to apologise for absolutely any situation, saying โSorry, I donโt smokeโ when asked for a lighter being a classic example. There are also so many different uses for the word โsorryโ in the U.K that apart from the obvious meaning of โI apologiseโ, sorry can also refer to โHelloโ, โI didnโt hear youโ, โI heard you but Iโm annoyed at what you saidโ, or โYouโre in my wayโ. Itโs easy to get caught in the Sorry trap so be sure to keep a strong head and think before you start throwing the word around yourself, or you may slowly drive yourself mad or self-combust in a passive-aggressive fit.
Complaining
The Brits are often, somewhat unfairly, accused of being huge complainers. When you set aside weather and football conversations, complaining is actually down to a minimum and in fact, like every other culture in the world, there are equally as many enthusiastic and positive Brits as there are negative and whiney ones. It completely depends on the person that you talk to.
Drinking
The drinking culture in the U.K is huge and most social occasions are centred around alcoholic beverages. The Brits are absolutely spoilt for choice when it comes to pubs and with the long winters and wet summers, itโs easy to see why this is such a popular pastime.
Tea
Britain is the nation of tea drinkers. In many workplaces itโs considered outrageous to get up and make yourself a cup of tea without offering a round to everyone within earreach. Tea drinking is serious business in Britain and it wonโt take long for you to work out how to brew the perfect cuppa with just the right amount of water to milk ratio.
Football
Weโve all seen an article, news story, film or documentary about football hooligans in the U.K before and probably vowed to never attend a football match again. Whilst this is a very popular sport in Britain, these days itโs mostly quite tame, although you do still get the outsiders who are always ready to cause some trouble. If youโre not going to the games, keep on top of your football stats if you want to earn some bonus conversation points down and the pub.
Terrible food and wine
The traditional British dishes of fish and chips or bangers and mash donโt really stand out as some of the best in the way of culinary sophistication. However, the British food scene is picking up spectacularly and London is really leading the charge. In fact, 2 London restaurants made the Top 10 in the world list in 2014, so there is definitely big progress in the foodie world. When it comes to wine, however, youโll just have to rely on the imports.
The posh British life
When many foreigners picture a British person, they see posh accents, large manor homes, top hats and tails. โWhy golly gosh, this is absolute utter incongruous pish posh my dear boy!โ Thatโs only for the very wealthy aristocrats who live in West London and were raised by nannies. Wait, is that just more stereotyping?
So are the stereotypes true?
Stereotype is the perfect word for it. Yes, youโll come across a lot of these personalities and probably quite often, but there are also so many people who donโt fit into these categories, just like everywhere in the world.
Itโs not that these are the majority, but those Brits who fit the stereotypes tend to be the extreme ones and thus theyโll be the ones that youโll probably notice most.
How do you deal with stereotypes?
If you canโt beat them, join them. If you want toย move to the UK, it will take some adjustment no matter where youโre from. Embrace the cultural differences and make the most of them.
You donโt need to be judgmental, thatโs the beauty of being a true expat โ you are lucky enough to be able to completely immerse yourself in a new culture, learn everything about it and take the best bits and apply them to your own way of living. Plus, itโs always nice to pick up some polite British manners and letโs be honest, we could all learn to queue a little better.
When all else fails, discuss the weather over a hot cup of tea.
Enjoy this post? Take a look at ourย stereotypes showdown: London vs New Yorkย for more harmless banter.