British people are known for their tradtions and we are quite proud of them. Here at TTUK we have been discussing our top 10 favourite British traditions which we can all relate too. So below I have put together our top 10 typically British tradtions that we are all guilty of.
1. Having a Sunday roast dinner
One of the most iconic things about Britain is a Sunday roast dinner. Sunday is not a proper Sunday unless we have a roast dinner. And it’s the favourite meal of the week. Roast Chicken, Beef, Pork, Gamon or Lamb, it doesn’t matter what meat, us Brits love a Sunday Roast. In fact we also like to mix it up a bit and have a couple of different types of meat, especially when we go out for a carvery. Roast potatoes and Yorkshire puddings are a must.
2. Putting the kettle on
We don’t need an excuse to put the kettle on. If there is a crisis, or we are celebrating, or someone comes to visit the first thing we do is put the kettle on. There are some Brits are very particular in how tea should be made. I for one have to add the milk last. A tea bag needs to stew in boiling water to get the full flavour, once it’s as dark in colour, only then the milk should be added. Some people get angry if tea is not made correctly. This I totally understand. This rap by stand up comedian Doc Brown explains it perfectly “My Proper Tea”. (please note if cursing offends you, this rap is not for you)
3. Biscuit dunking
Dunking biscuits in tea is serious business in Britain. There is even a website dedicated to the practice! According to those that have taken the tea dunking survey the plain digestive is our favourite biscuit to dunk. I myself prefer the custard cream. Dunking biscuits is fine when it comes to digestives, bourbons, custard creams or the hobnob. However it’s quite a different story if you have bought lesser known biscuits and tried the dunk. There is nothing worse than losing your biscuit in a fresh cup of tea. Many people try to grab it quick and if they are lucky will be successful, but I tend to let it sink. The only trouble with the sinking strategy is remembering it’s there. There is nothing worse than getting a mouthful of soggy biscuit from your last slurp of tea. Many people will refuse to drink the tea and make a fresh cup if they accidently dropped the biscuit.
4. Wearing summer clothes the minute the sun comes out
Stripping off at the first sign on sunshine is a very British thing to do. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is, if the suns out and it feels warm, we will strip for the occasion. If the sun is shining in winter, you can be sure to find some brave chap wandering the streets in a pair of shorts.
5. Saying sorry
Us Brits pride ourselves on being polite and using manners. However we do go overboard and apologise for everything. Even when we’ve done nothing wrong we still say sorry! Why do we do this? I am not sure, but I think a lot of the time when we use the word sorry we actually mean ‘excuse me’.
6. Cheering on the underdog
We always love to see the underdog come out on tome. One prime example is how we all got behind Susan Boyle back in 2009. When she said she wished to be as successful as Elaine Page the judges and crowd collectively rolled their eyes and sneered. But the moment she began to sing, the crowd and the nation were behind her. It’s similar to how we all loved the first Rocky film, an average kid goes the distance with world heavyweight champion.
7. Eating a full English breakfast
We all love a good full fryup. From my experience, having travelled quite a bit, the best place to get a full English breakfast is England. Countries abroad try their best to accommodate us, but they never get it right. You need quality sausages, proper bacon, couple of eggs, fried or scrambled, tomatoes, beans, mushrooms and a fried slice of toast. We all have our preferences but the main stay is quality sausages and bacon.
8. Never jumping the queue
It’s rare you will see a British person jumping the queue. Us Brits have the ability to queue nicely and wait our turn even if there are no barriers, signs or security enforcing us to do so. Our amazing queue etiquette was on display in May this year when hundreds of Ed Sheeran fans queued to enter the 02. There were no barriers in place but the fans formed a perfect ‘S’ queue and waited their turn to enter.
9. Talking about the weather
We talk about the weather as often as we say sorry. We are obsessed with talking about it. We are a small island and our weather is very unpredictable. It is all down to our location in the world. There is a lot of moisture in the air and water in the atmosphere makes the weather unpredictable. One day it can be warm enough for summer clothes, but the next cold enough for overcoats and central heating. We have had hot weather in November and cold weather in August. Luckily we are prepared to an extent, we all know all about layering clothing in this country. What we as a country are never prepared for is weeks and weeks of the same weather, be it a heat wave or snow.
10. Eating turkey on Christmas Day
The majority of families in the UK will eat turkey on Christmas Day. As a country we get through on average over 10 million turkeys at Christmas time. Often families do like to have other meats, but Christmas wouldn’t be Christmas without Turkey.
