A Canadian woman who has lived in the UK for the last seven years has revealed nine things that Brits do that are considered normal, but that she finds strange.
YouTuber Alana, who is in her 30s and is known on the platform as Adventures and Naps, invited others to share their opinions before jumping straight to her list.
According to Alana, number one on her list is the prevalence of caterpillar cakes.
She said in her video: ‘IIt’s totally reasonable to buy a caterpillar cake, and everyone knows who it is…
‘I think it was so cute and fun and silly that as a population we all know who the caterpillar is.
He added: “Everyone knows it’s part of the family until you eat it.” Of course.
YouTuber Alana, known on the platform as Adventures and Naps, invited others to share their thoughts before jumping straight to her list.
He went on to say: “Number two, one strange thing that Brits do that they consider normal is consume some of the most creative sandwiches I’ve ever seen.”
Can I interest you in a chip butty? Yes, that is a sandwich with French fries inside, just as its name suggests. Now again, I have to say that I did one of these… and I get it.’
He added: ‘There is something absurd about a chip butty. I think we can all agree but we can also agree that they are fabulous. You can also have a pot noodle sandwich.
Or how about a fish finger sandwich? The British have an incredible amount of sandwiches… I think it’s great that you can put whatever you want between two slices of bread and call it a day.’
According to Alana, number three on her list, she is getting “nicknames from strangers.”
She said: ‘I remember very vividly when I first moved to the UK. I think I even talked about it in a video where it made me feel very uncomfortable when strangers called me honey or honey or anything like that because I inherently saw it as condescending.
According to Alana, the strangest thing about British culture is the prevalence of caterpillar cakes.
Another unusual British habit for the YouTuber is the chip butty – she suggested she was a fan of the sandwich, but it didn’t look familiar to her.
‘That’s only if you heard that in North America, sometimes that’s how it’s perceived. But, of course, that’s not what it’s about here. Therefore, it is not uncommon to hear a whole variety of nicknames from complete strangers and often from people you will never see again.
‘Love. Lovely, darling…for a while it baffled me…now I love it. I think it’s very sweet.’
Continuing, Alana said she first encountered the number four when she went to (her) first beer festival.
It was in a video he shared online, asking viewers what activity the people in the video were doing.
Alana said: ‘Everyone in the comments was saying: “It’s Morris dancing, obviously.” So I had a little Google…and is described as a form of English folk dance. Fascinating.
It was in a video he shared online, asking viewers what activity the people in the video were doing.
‘I think it goes without saying that I never saw that in Canada or the United States. I’ve just never seen it. But having said that, I have seen it several times here in the UK. Especially at festivals or events or days like that kind of thing, and although it’s a bit strange… I really appreciate the fact that people still do it.’
Moving on to the next point, Alana said: ‘Number five, I just call it “the sun came out without shirts.”
‘So here in the UK… how can I describe this?
“Well, very simple, when the sun rises, men take off their shirts whether they want to or not.”
He concluded: “There is a portion of the British population who participate in sunrises, the moment the sun rises, the moment the sun rises, even if it is remotely pleasant, the men take off their shirts, and often “They’re like Town Center.” .’
Number six was less controversial. As Alana explained, she has so many friends who do it that she has started doing it herself.
She said: “When you’re ready to leave, when you’re ready to leave some event, or a friend’s house or whatever, you slap your knees and say, ‘Well, we better get going.’
“Either you slap your knees and say, ‘Well, we’d better get going,’ or you slap your knees and say, ‘Is that the time we should move on?'”
“There is something about the banged knee that is so integral part of British culture. And I know that many people do it without thinking. I do it now without thinking and, to be fair, it’s a really cool visual cue.”
The seventh was one she described as “very confusing.”
Alana explained: ‘Let me explain. Sometimes, you will find that when a Brit is very polite to someone…he hates that person.
‘On the other hand, sometimes when you hear a Brit call another person every name under the sun, it means he loves them.
‘The jokes in this country are incredible. And these jokes between friends can be really confusing.
Number eight on our list was simpler and simply said that in the UK, when it’s someone’s birthday, they usually bring them cakes and sweets.
At home, I was used to people gathering and bringing treats to the person celebrating their birthday.
The ninth and final spot on the list was one that many may be familiar with.
According to Alana: ‘Number nine… in fact, this is how (the British) say goodbye: “Okay. It was very nice talking to you. See you later. Bye, bye, bye. See you. Bye. Bye.” Bye Bye. Bye Bye.’.
He added: “I love how long the goodbyes are… I love it.” How many times do you say goodbye when you try to end a conversation?