The British Isles - questions and observations

Here you can post stuff that is not related to Christopher Ward
User avatar
Kip
The Administrator
The Administrator
Posts: 35171
Joined: Tue Mar 13, 2007 8:45 pm
CW-watches: 150
LE-one: yes
LE-two: yes
LE-three: yes
LE-foura: yes
LE-fourb: yes
LE-five: yes
LE-six: yes
LESeven: yes
Location: New Hampshire, USA

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by Kip »

Rules!!!! You want to know the rules?

Even in the USA the rules are crazy........we drive on the Parkways and park in the driveways. :?
Kip

"Asylum Administrator"


Visit the CWArchives for everything CW. Historical, specs, manuals and resale. It is all there.
User avatar
EddieTheBeast
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1261
Joined: Thu Jan 26, 2017 9:31 am
CW-watches: 0
Location: Peak District

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by EddieTheBeast »

Kip wrote:Rules!!!! You want to know the rules?

Even in the USA the rules are crazy........we drive on the Parkways and park in the driveways. :?
Could you translate that - so us Brits can understand :?
Dean
Mikkei4
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 3587
Joined: Sat Jan 21, 2017 7:20 pm
CW-watches: 0

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by Mikkei4 »

Mikkei4 wrote:The British are known for their queue etiquette.
https://www.standard.co.uk/lifestyle/lo ... 28366.html

Does that not apply when you're in a car? Or is that just a London thing?
Cars bypassing the queue of waiting cars is not limited to London but sometimes in those situations I think we join the queue a bit too soon and then sit there cursing every car that goes past us.

However I do have to say that I think London rush hour traffic is more courteous and more willing to let people out of side streets than the traffic I experienced in central Sheffield during their rush hour. During an extended work period of a few months there I found that nobody was willing to leave a gap or flash you from a side road queue to join the main road queue.
BerlinCW
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1329
Joined: Sun Nov 29, 2015 3:15 pm

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by BerlinCW »

Greetings,

Interesting comments.

As a Brit now living in Berlin, I'm often reminded how polite we British are.

They are correct, generally we are.

For the record, a German does not queue and will often double park and even triple park in the city!

And as for the U-turns at the lights, that's another story!
User avatar
hughesyn
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1770
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2014 8:01 pm
CW-watches: 5
Location: Hertfordshire, UK

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by hughesyn »

DISJT wrote:Not just a London thing.

Regularly take the A303 which continually goes from 2 lanes to 1 lane and, no matter how long the queue, there are always people driving at full speed in the outside lane and then pushing in at the front. Maybe they're in a hurry to see Stonehenge?
If it is a merge 2 to 1, the correct (logical) thing to do is to fill both lanes then merge in turn.

However, our love of queuing and righteous indignation makes people think they should just fill one lane, then get angry at those using the empty lane.

A German colleague once commented at all the daft people sitting in the left lane of a 2 - 1 merge. He was right.
nordwulf wrote: On a side note, there really should be more rules for pedestrians in addition to which side to walk on. Like not stopping in the middle of the sidewalk, not looking where you going and there should be hefty penalties for mobile phone zombies who wander aimlessly.
Britain is a free country. You can stand around or use your phone in pedestrian areas freely.
I like it that way!
C8 Pilot Mk II Vintage; C5 Quartz Mk II; C4 'Phoenix', C5 MMXV FLE, C7 Automatic Chronograph
User avatar
DISJT
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1474
Joined: Sat Aug 12, 2017 10:54 pm
CW-watches: 5
Location: Plymouth, England, UK

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by DISJT »

The problem is that all those people pushing in at the last minute are the reason there's a queue to begin with. It causes everyone to brake heavily to avoid collision and creates a traffic queue. If they merged at a sensible speed / time then traffic would flow freely.
I have no issue with people using both lanes and merging in an orderly fashion. Thats what you're supposed to do. I have problem when there's a stationary queue of traffic and you shoot up the outside at 60mph and then practically force people off the road to merge. Plain stupidity and makes the problem worse for everyone.
CHRIS
nordwulf

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by nordwulf »

Do you learn any foreign languages in school? Your closest neighbours are France and The Netherlands so perhaps those languages? Or maybe German and Spanish as those are the languages of the larger countries in Europe?

As a student in The Netherlands, we had to learn German, English and French. But nobody else in Europe speaks Dutch (besides part of Belgium) so we didn't have much choice. English is the standard foreign language in Northern Europe but not so much in the south.
User avatar
Amor Vincit Omnia
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 33791
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:34 pm
CW-watches: 4
Location: Norfolk, UK

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

We learn them in school, but not that well by and large. Having spent a career teaching French and Spanish as well as Latin, this is a cause of some sadness. Multilingual folk are not that common whereas in a country like the Netherlands that is the norm.
Steve
Linguist; retired teacher; pilgrim; apprentice travel writer

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time


Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. (Max Ehrmann)
jtc
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 4109
Joined: Fri Oct 05, 2012 9:50 pm
CW-watches: 2
Location: Hampshire, UK

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by jtc »

I'm always amazed how good people's English is as a second language, when I can barely cobble together a sentence or two in French or Spanish...
Jon

Trusted Seller Feedback

CW | Tudor | Tag Heuer | Omega | Longines | Bremont | Rolex
User avatar
Amor Vincit Omnia
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 33791
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:34 pm
CW-watches: 4
Location: Norfolk, UK

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

It’s a question of necessity. English is, at present, the lingua franca of the business, communication and entertainment world. It may change, but for the moment you can go almost anywhere in the world and be addressed in English. You don’t expect the same treatment if your mother tongue is Dutch or Portuguese.
Steve
Linguist; retired teacher; pilgrim; apprentice travel writer

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time


Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. (Max Ehrmann)
User avatar
hughesyn
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 1770
Joined: Tue Apr 08, 2014 8:01 pm
CW-watches: 5
Location: Hertfordshire, UK

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by hughesyn »

Small countries that don't have films dubbed into their own language or a native film industry tend to speak excellent English.
In Scandinavia and Holland they watch US and UK TV in English, so they tend to speak it better than half the actual UK population.
English football is also quite popular there.

It's worth learning a bit of French because one often encounters hostility trying to speak English there. For some reason French people seem to resent using English even if able to.

As a Brit, I could never see the point of learning languages unless you are going to live somewhere for a number of years.
Everyone should learn English. Simples.
C8 Pilot Mk II Vintage; C5 Quartz Mk II; C4 'Phoenix', C5 MMXV FLE, C7 Automatic Chronograph
User avatar
Amor Vincit Omnia
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 33791
Joined: Sat Jun 11, 2011 7:34 pm
CW-watches: 4
Location: Norfolk, UK

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by Amor Vincit Omnia »

hughesyn wrote: In Scandinavia and Holland they watch US and UK TV in English
Poor blighters. I wouldn’t inflict that on my worst enemy.
hughesyn wrote: Everyone should learn English. Simples.
Especially the British and Americans.
Steve
Linguist; retired teacher; pilgrim; apprentice travel writer

Take nothing but pictures, leave nothing but footprints, kill nothing but time


Avoid loud and aggressive persons; they are vexatious to the spirit. (Max Ehrmann)
nordwulf

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by nordwulf »

hughesyn wrote:It's worth learning a bit of French because one often encounters hostility trying to speak English there. For some reason French people seem to resent using English even if able to.
I took the ferry from Calais to Dover a few months ago and even there the French border patrol refused to speak English. And with so many international visitors passing through, you would expect some kind of courtesy. But as mentioned in this thread, most British don't master French so can you really blame the French not wanting to speak English? The French don't speak Dutch so at least I have a good reason to complain. :)

But government leaders do the same thing. I am pretty sure Merkel doesn't speak/understand French and same for Macron with German, even though they are the largest countries in the EU.

Next topic: What is it between the French and the British?? :lol:

As a native English speaker, how do you view the difference in English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish accents?
User avatar
TigerChris
Senior Forumgod
Senior Forumgod
Posts: 3244
Joined: Tue Mar 21, 2017 2:51 pm
CW-watches: 1

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by TigerChris »

nordwulf wrote:
hughesyn wrote:It's worth learning a bit of French because one often encounters hostility trying to speak English there. For some reason French people seem to resent using English even if able to.
I took the ferry from Calais to Dover a few months ago and even there the French border patrol refused to speak English. And with so many international visitors passing through, you would expect some kind of courtesy. But as mentioned in this thread, most British don't master French so can you really blame the French not wanting to speak English? The French don't speak Dutch so at least I have a good reason to complain. :)

But government leaders do the same thing. I am pretty sure Merkel doesn't speak/understand French and same for Macron with German, even though they are the largest countries in the EU.

Next topic: What is it between the French and the British?? :lol:

As a native English speaker, how do you view the difference in English, Scottish, Welsh and Irish accents?
I was going to refrain from posting here for fear of getting in trouble again!! But, please answer me a question. Why do the Americans insist on calling English people 'Brits' or 'British'? I am not British, I'm English!
nordwulf

Re: The British Isles - questions and observations

Post by nordwulf »

I am not an American but you can't blame foreigners being a little bit confused about what's what on your islands. The UK, Great Britain and England are the same thing for many people.

  • Similar Topics
    Replies
    Views
    Last post