hd_writers | Discussion Post: Being British

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Discussion Post: Being British

When writing British characters I have found, as an American, that it can be rather hard to capture the language, the attitude, and most of all the traditions. Thanks to some of my amazing British friends here I have gleaned more understanding about these subtle differences between two cultures.

winterstorrm suggested “Watching the English” to me and I suggest it to any author of the Harry Potter fandom who wishes to learn a bit more about English culture, whatever nationality you are.

Britspeak:

This is just a small selection as an example. Please refer to Kubrick Potter's Brit-pick guide for an almost definitive list.

Gotten—Since my first Britpick I have been constantly vigilant with this one, I went so far as to spank a Brit I know for it in a fic (funnily I didn’t KNOW she was British so this is me being embarrassed) So here is what I say to people when I see gotten in a fic! NO NO NO! I was told by the great and powerful

tari_sue that this not to be used ever! Always go with got! :D

Forgotten- Forgot

Bangs –No, Fringe is appropriate. Bangs equates loud noises.

Braids—Plaits (on that note Braiding—Plaiting)

Pants—Trousers

Underwear—Pants

Panties—Knickers

Zipper-Zip

Vest—Waistcoat

Undershirt—Vest

Purse—Handbag

Sneakers—trainers

Jello—Jelly

Jelly—Jam

Pancakes—For HP specific CAULDRON CAKES

Candy—Sweets

Soda—Coke, Sprite, Pepsi (the name of the soda)

Take out—TAKEAWAY (I like this word, hence all caps XD)

Egg plant—Aubergine

Garbage or trash—RUBBISH (I like this word >.> so it must be in all caps)

Apartment—Flat

Drugstore—Chemists

Co-worker—Colleague

Elevator—Lift (The Ministry has the lifts)

Check—Cheque

Check at a restaurant—Bill

Check as in the check pattern on clothing—exactly the same, Check :D

Nightstand—bedside table

Store—Shop

Wager—Bet

Curse/Cuss—Swear

Closet—Wardrobe (Like an armoire, it is a piece of furniture.)

A walk in (built into the house) closet—A walk in wardrobe/Dressing room

Let’s talk UK Fries!

Chips=Thick cut potato wedges that are deep fried.

Fries= Julienne fries, like shoe string fries.

Crisps= THINK POTATO CHIPS (also any packaged “chips” would classify as crisps)

Chavs= Trashy uncouth people who live on benefits, have no job, lots of kids, and smoke lots
BritSlang dictionary: Here

Brit Daily Life:

No running tabs in a pub. You pay when you order, every time you order. (There are exceptions to this but as a general rule, go with this rule.)

No sitting down and waiting to be served in a pub. You would go in and find a table and get the number then go to the bar to order the food if you are not getting food you can go to the bar and then sit down wherever. Some pubs have restaurant areas and they are waiter service for drinks and food.

No sitting on the front porch, things like sitting on the porch only chavs sit in front of their house in England.

100 pence to the pound, just as American’s have 100 pennies to the dollar (I thought that was kinda handy and neat so I added it, not that it’s really all that useful when writing HP.)

BritAttitude:

Walking up to a person, thrusting out your hand, and saying, “Hi, my name is _____” is something that is a No-No.

Brits do not cheer at the end of a film (movie).

Brits do not sing often the national anthem before sport games unless it's an international and they do sing it is just as likely to be Land of Hope and Glory or Jerusalem as God Save the Queen.

Brits find patriotism embarrassing and think American's are way over the top with theirs.

BritTraditions:

MOST BRITISH MALES ARE NOT CUT! And if I have to explain what I mean by “cut” then you are FAR TOO YOUNG TO BE READING THIS BLOG. Anyways, if they are cut it is usually for religious reasons.

Brits do not 'date'. They 'go out with someone'. Usually exclusively. It is unlikely that someone would be 'dating' more than one person as this would be cheating as it doesn't work how it does in the US.

No baby showers (although this seems to have taken off a little in trendy circles).

BritGeography:

Whilst England could fit into Texas eight times this doesn't mean if someone lives twenty miles from a certain other town they are going to know the person you are asking about in that town. Yes we can drive to the sea in as little as two hours from most places.

Therefore, a two hour drive for a Brit is considered a long one (whereas a two hour drive for a Texan is a daily, one way, work commute, ah I remember those years living in Dallas XD).

Now we are trying to keep the post short because we would love to have questions. On anything! British culture, slang, pastimes, married life, not-so-married life, raising children, schooling, working, etc. If you can think it you can ask it! Also if you are British and want to contribute to what

winterstorrm and I have here then I encourage you to do so! We can always use more knowledge while we journey to write better. :D So come one, come all!

Threaded | Top-Level Comments Only

It's not always a different price to take out. Costa and Starbucks are the same for in and out, Nero's has a in/out charge.

Costa has no extra charge for soya, Nero and Starbucks do (and it really bloody winds me up!!)

I tend to ask for a papercup even when I drink in as I like to be able to just up and go and take the thing with me, but that's just me.

Filter coffee is more unusual in these shops as it tends to be an Americano as you said but Starbucks do a filter kind of thing and call it 'drip'.

We don't have any of that 'non fat no foam' thing going on - it's skinny or not, or soya!

You will often get cream if you are in restaurant or in a non-chainy foody pub.

Am thinking I spend far too much time in these places!

Georgia is a barista - we must ask her!!

YES GEORGIA! She needs to bring her barista ways to this discussion! Go lasso her in her Annie ;)

I was taught milk first which I still do if using a teapot. If I'm making it in the cup, milk last. No idea why.

I go into people's homes for work and am always being offered coffee.I always refuse as am total coffee snob and won't drink instant!

PS - never order a large tea as it's 20p more for a bit of extra hot water - total rip off.

INSTANT COFFEE IS LIKE INSTANT TEA NO NO NO NO!

A request has been sent!

He totally does. Money clips aren't really that popular here except with fancy businessmen and the odd random crazy person who thinks they're really posh when they're not. Usually people just use wallets or their pockets or card holders (little metal things meant for storing business cards).

A block is the space between one street and a parallel one. So, the length of a block changes depending on the block, but we use block so people know how many streets they have to cross before they get to their destination. When you say "5 blocks", it's like saying "the 5th street parallel to this one that we're on right now" - just shorter XDDD

When I was a little girl, I thought a block was the square of concrete in the sidewalk. So my mum would say "17 blocks" to our destination and I'd count those blocks and get all confused as to why we weren't where we were supposed to be XD!

COFFEE IN THE US!

Okay, so.

I can't say much about other places, but in Seattle if you go to a proper coffee shop and order in, they will serve you in a proper cup - not a takeaway cup. This is not the same for int'l chains like Starfucks or Tully's or Seattle's Best (all owned by Starfucks, btw), Dunkin Donuts, etc.

Depending on how expensive your coffee is, the more likely you are to get a pretty picture drawn in the foam. I've recently learned how to do this (which makes me really excited!) but I'm still quite bad at it. Most coffee places - and even coffee stands - will actually hire someone to come in and teach people how to steam the milk properly to achieve this (because milk has to be steamed in a certain way to be able to make a good foam drawing).

In the U.S. we use quite a few different types of milk, too. We use non-fat (or skim which is zero milkfat and people order it like a non-fat ______ or a skinny _____), 1% or 2% milk (depending on the shop they'll stock one or the other. 2% is semi-skim milk for you Brits!), whole milk (you'll have to ask for this - some places have it, some places don't. It's about the same milkfat content as British whole or full-fat milk), half & half (a very long email convo with

winterstorrm led to the conclusion that Brits don't have half & half! it is about 11 - 18% milkfat content milk and you would order it as a breve instead of a latte). We don't have real cream in U.S. coffee shops. When we say cream we mean half & half, generally. In a coffee setting. A lot of places will also have Soy or Almond milk, too, that you can substitute milk for, usually for a small fee (50 cents is typical - about the same as 30p).

For the actualfax drinks -

Americano is 1 or 2 shots of espresso with hot water, usually coming in 8, 12, 16 and 20 fl.oz..

Latte or Breve is 1 or 2 shots of espresso with milk/half & half and a little bit of foam, usually coming in 8, 12, 16 and 20 fl.oz.

Cappuccino/ Breve cappuccino is 1 or 2 shots of espresso with half milk/half&half and half foam (though this could be more or less depending on if they order it wet or dry - a wet cappuccino has more milk than foam and a dry cappuccino has more foam than milk) usually coming in 8, 12, 16 and 20 fl. oz.

Mocha is 1 or 2 shots of espresso with milk and chocolate. They use chocolate milk, chocolate powder or chocolate syrup, depending on the shop. Usually comes in 8, 12, 16 and 20 fl. oz.

Some places serve sizes over 20 fl. oz. which kind of makes me want to cry. I can't imagine drinking more than 12oz. of a hot drink, let alone 24 and 32 oz. Which starfucks has now. 24 oz. drinks are really difficult to make because you have to steam so much fucking milk.

If you're in a fancy shop, you could order a macchiatto and actually get a macchiatto - which is a shot of espresso with just a spoon or two of foam. Or a doppio, which is 2 shots of espresso with a bit of cold half & half/milk. or just an espresso - straight shots. We also usually say how many shots we want in the drink when we order - single, double, triple, quad, etc.

A lot of places will also have drip coffee...which I'm assuming is what you call filter coffee in the UK?

Also, most places in Seattle will roast their own beans.

Also also, if you want tea in the U.S., you should either make it yourself or go to an actual tea shop. When you order tea, they'll fill a paper cup 2/3 up with hot water and give you a tea bag on the side. Good places will offer to put the tea bag in for you so it will start to steep before you get it.

Any questionnnns?

You are going to haaaaaaate it here then!

uht ohes - why? I know I made it seem all complicated, but really a drink order can be as simple as a 12 oz soy latte (my usual drink) or as complicated as a 16 oz quad non-fat, no foam, caramel macchiatto (a lot of other peoples drinks).

Question: pancakes in England are a breakfast, right? Because I thought Cauldron Cakes were a sweet, so they wouldn't exactly correlate... Unless for some reason pancakes in Britglish aren't the same thing as the American pancake.

You'd think, after 9 years, things would have stopped creeping up and surprising me, but they still do! Good to know I inferred that correctly!

I am not sure if they are breakfast stuff in UK. But I remember reading that cauldron cakes were like the American version of pancakes (S'why I added it :D) But if I am incorrect we can to be changing it, yes yes!

Depending when you get into Bath, if you're after a decent coffee (or nice teas), I can recommend JikaJika on George Street, which runs along the top of Milsom Street.

CAN OF WORMS, Y U OPEN?!

If I recall correctly (there was a HUGE debate about this in another comm a while back) when Americans say pancakes, they mean what Brits call Scottish pancakes, and antipodeans call pikelets.

When Brits say pancakes, they generally mean crepes.

I'm pretty sure Cauldron Cakes are not pancakes of any description. General interpretation seems to be cupcake-based. (Om nom nom (http://bakingdom.com/2010/11/double-double-chocolate-cauldron-cakes.html).)

Then there's the whole biscuits/ cookies/scones issue...

So like a cupcake! I shall fix it tomorrow when I add things from this discussion! :D I have an "Unofficial" Harry Potter Cookbook that says they are like American Pancakes THE LIAR! But I prefer those cupcakes you just posted NOM NOM NOM I'ma have to make some of these TG!

Mwahahaha *plays with the worms*

Yeah, the cupcake version is what I always think of when I hear Cauldron Cakes so that's why I was confused. Either way, pancakes = breakfast, be it American, British, Scottish or whatever kind. ^_^

Also, let's not do the biscuit/cookie/scone conversation. xD I've had that on a couple of different occasions with my brit-picker. Good times.

OHOH! I know what you're talking about. I has that, too! *flips through it* ACK. I didn't even notice until now. Hmm...someone needs to email the person who wrote this. xD

This is only a little thing but I thought it might be interesting as you mentioned spanking a Brit. I am English and, when writing, I go to write 'gotten'/'forgotten' then think, 'Oh, but people will think I'm not English' and change it. I don't really say it when speaking out loud but it comes naturally - depending on tense - when I'm writing. Just find it funny that Britpicking is ingrained on my brain even though I'm English. Also, something that so many people consider a no-no is something I would automatically write. Another way of showing how hard it is for an outsider to grasp our language. We're just so fickle and flighty!

Also, as you mentioned 'check' as in the pattern in your post, I'd like to add what Americans call 'plaid' we call 'tartan' and very uniform square, two-colour check would be 'gingham'. Don't know if they use that in America.

Chavs= Trashy uncouth people who live on benefits, have no job, lots of kids, and smoke lots
I'm from Kent - I know all about the chav! Supposedly, the term started in Chatham and on the Isle of Sheppey.

Brits find patriotism embarrassing and think American's are way over the top with theirs.
I think there's an inbuilt hypocrisy with us Brits and patriotism. For example, I am neither proud nor ashamed of being British. However, if someone slags off the British I will defend these isles with the wrath my mum gave me! This, for me anyway, also extends to the particular area I live in because people are so keen to put it down. It's like, 'I'm allowed to slag this town off because I was born and bred here but if you start on it, saying exactly the same thing, I'll bite your bloody head off!'

What's everyone's opinion on swearing? It seems to me that us Brits are a lot more swear-happy than our American counterparts. But that might just be me being a foul-mouthed gobby woman.

(New member by the way though not a new writer. Just a very lapsed one. So hello!)

Edited 2012-05-01 11:32 (UTC)

Costa has no extra charge for soya, Nero and Starbucks do (and it really bloody winds me up!!)
Ditto! That, and their superior points scheme, means Costa has my undying loyalty!

I also ask for a takeaway cup because I hate those tall glass mug things they have in Costa.

I think Pret have just started doing a 99p filter coffee. I may have made this up.

God bless the NHS. They're so nice to me.

Might be worth pointing out we pay for prescriptions for the most part. Think it's about £7.80 at the mo'. Obviously kids don't pay. Or OAPs or people with exemption cards.

I hold my Prescription Exemption card so very dear to my heart. Then see my payslip and read how much I've paid in NI and think, swings and roundabouts!

It is so hard to explain our roads! My last job entailed giving lots of foreigners lots of very detailed directions. As long as the language barrier wasn't too much of an obstacle it was easier giving Europeans directions than Americans because, apart from which side of the road we drive on, their roads are similar to ours.

I often had to explain the concept of roundabouts from scratch to American visitors who had - bravely, I think - rented a car to drive around the area. Even down to details like how to indicate on a roundabout which is then different on a mini-roundabout and there are 'local knowledge' ones which just don't follow any rules. I felt so sorry for the people who came in saying how terrified they were on some country lane that was National speed limit and they were going about thirty and everyone else was bombing along at sixty and overtaking them on a single track road.

The particular area we were in was especially bad for roundabouts. My half-hour/forty minute drive to work contained seventeen. Unreasonable.

Pubs are vital in giving directions! That, and saying 'You know that big yellow house on that bendy bit of the road that leads down to the seafront from the Londis.' I know where everything is round my way but not really any of the roadnames so I'm an awful person to ask for directions really!

Which, by the way is slightly cheaper, because of the way these things are taxed
On this note, if you want a laugh you should look up the recent furore about the tax on pasties (ie: Cornish ones). Something to do with a sliding scale depending on if you buy it hot or cold or whether it was cold then specifically heated up for you. Completely barmy. Though I do now fancy a pasty...

WELCOME! You have been most informative and helpful.

'I'm allowed to slag this town off because I was born and bred here but if you start on it, saying exactly the same thing, I'll bite your bloody head off!' That makes perfect sense. I am like that and I am American, you know I'm not all flying my flag and stuff but I am very much offended if someone comes to my country and bitches about it--my state particularly--and am more offended when it is people here being all "So and so would be so much better" my deal is if you don't like it then get out. But I am not "OMG AMERICA IS THE BEST THING EVAR!" Not that's kinda embarrassing.

ALSO Yes I asked Annie about that and see here swearing is looked upon as foul and uncouth and we don't have many "nice swears" as I like to call them as you all seem to. What I mean by nice swear by the way is you've got, "Bloody, sodding, bleeding, etc" when we have "Fuck" and unless you make up a substitute yourself we haven't really got nice swears. Unless you count dang and crap, but even those will get you in trouble with your mother here. Annie said she was rather surprised we are so "GASP" about swearing since in most American films now a days you've got all these people cursing up a storm. But I think that's cause we like to appear like a bunch of badasses.

Anyways so swearing in England is common and easily accepted or will it still get you mega disapproving looks?

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Discussion Post: Being British

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