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Thread: Proud to be British?

  1. #1
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    Proud to be British?

    Very proud to be British Because...

    Only in Britain...
    can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

    Only in Britain...
    do supermarkets make sick people walk all the way to the back of the shop to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

    Only in Britain...
    do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a DIET coke.

    Only in Britain...
    do banks leave both doors open and chain the pens to the counters.

    Only in Britain...
    do we leave cars worth thousands of pounds on the drive and lock our junk and cheap lawn mower in the garage.

    Only in Britain...
    do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

    Only in Britain...
    are there disabled parking places in front of a skating rink.

    NOT TO MENTION...
    3 Brits die each year testing if a 9v battery works on their tongue.

    142 Brits were injured in 1999 by not removing all pins from new shirts.

    58 Brits are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers.

    31 Brits have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in.

    19 Brits have died in the last 3 years believing that Christmas decorations were chocolate.

    British Hospitals reported 4 broken arms last year after cracker pulling accidents.

    101 people since 1999 have had broken parts of plastic toys pulled out of the soles of their feet.

    18 Brits had serious burns in 2000 trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth.

    A massive 543 Brits were admitted to A&E in the last two years after opening bottles of beer with their teeth.

    5 Brits were injured last year in accidents involving out of control Scalextric cars.

    and finally.........

    In 2000 eight Brits cracked their skull whilst throwing up into the toilet.

    RULE BRITANNIA!!
    We have all your working biros and we're not afraid to use them.

    Leave a box of used postit notes and a box of paperclips inside the filling cabinet and things won't get nasty.

    Yours,

    The Office Gremlins

  2. #2
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    Re: Proud to be British?

    LOL. Sorry if you did not mean for this to be funny.

    A question or two from this side of the pond if you would?

    Cracker pulling?

    A&E?

    Scalextric cars?
    Steven "redwood973" Wood

    "Man does not fail. He gives up trying."

  3. #3
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    Yes it is meant to be funny

    A&E - accident and emergency - basically where you go when you have an accident , in a hospital, rather than surgery, for example.

    Scalextric cars - erm basically it's a brand name for those little plastic cars that race around a plast ic track, with little metal grooves in it, all operating on low voltage lectricity. You probably have something similar under a different brand name.

    Crackers - I'm sure I've seen those on american TV - basically a card tube covered in crepe paper with two flayed ends. two people pull from either end, and there's a small bang (a tiny gunpowder cap) and someone ends up with the 'big' end, which contains a small toy, and usually a lame joke and a rubish paper hat
    Ta Muchly

  4. #4
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    Re: Re: Proud to be British?

    Originally posted by redwood973
    LOL. Sorry if you did not mean for this to be funny.
    It was meant to be amusing.

    A question or two from this side of the pond if you would?
    Go for it.

    Cracker pulling?
    A British Christmas tradition. Crackers are brightly decorated tubes of cardboard containing a tissue hat (normally a crown) in a garish colour, a cheap plastic toy and a cheesy corny joke. Running through the tube is a piece of card with small cracker on it (think pop gun). Before the Christmas meal begins it is tradition to offer the cracker to the person opposite you - you each pull at both ends, what follows is a pitiful crack, the tube breaks open and you watch as the above mentioned contents spill into the gravy.

    it's a British thing I suppose. Pointless.

    A&E?
    Accident and Emergency - known, I believe, as the ER in your hospitals. Informally known in this country as Casualty. Usually where the family end up on Christmas Day evening when one of the children swallows the aforementioned small plastic toy from one of the crackers.

    Scalextric cars?
    You have these toys in the USA I'm sure. Scale model racing cars racing around a plastic track of varying length powered by an electrical current through the bed of the track. A racing game for the pre-Playstation generation.

    I think my best bet here is to give you a link to their site.

    www.scalextric.com
    www.scalextric-usa.com

    Have fun!
    Last edited by JonA; 01-12-2004 at 10:05 AM.
    We have all your working biros and we're not afraid to use them.

    Leave a box of used postit notes and a box of paperclips inside the filling cabinet and things won't get nasty.

    Yours,

    The Office Gremlins

  5. #5
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    Thanks guys. Now that I know what they are. . .I have seen crackers. . .seen them on Are You Being Served? which runs Saturday night on Iowa Public Television.
    Steven "redwood973" Wood

    "Man does not fail. He gives up trying."

  6. #6
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    Scalectrix is a brand name for slot cars. Remember, Brits never, ever use a generic term when a brand name will confuse Americans.

    However, not a single one of those "Only in Britain" is solely British - every single one of them is endemic to Canada and the US, and probably other Western countries...

  7. #7
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    Originally posted by redwood973
    Thanks guys. Now that I know what they are. . .I have seen crackers. . .seen them on Are You Being Served? which runs Saturday night on Iowa Public Television.
    Oh God! Not that infernal sitcom.

    Proof that crap British sitcoms don't die. They get exported.
    We have all your working biros and we're not afraid to use them.

    Leave a box of used postit notes and a box of paperclips inside the filling cabinet and things won't get nasty.

    Yours,

    The Office Gremlins

  8. #8
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    Wow...I read that and I'm still proud to be second generation out of Britain. I must be sick.
    Davy Jones

    "Frightened? My dear, you are looking at a man who has laughed in the face of death, sneered at doom, and chuckled at catastrophe! I was petrified."
    -- The Wizard of Oz

  9. #9
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    Actually, I'm English, not British! If the Scotish, Welsh and Irish (well ok Northern) can pretend they live in another country, then so can ! !

    We evern have a real government too !

    *Runs away from the flames*
    Ta Muchly

  10. #10
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    Originally posted by Owen E Oulton

    However, not a single one of those "Only in Britain" is solely British - every single one of them is endemic to Canada and the US, and probably other Western countries...
    Stupidity doesn't recognize borders.

  11. #11
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    Originally posted by JonA
    Oh God! Not that infernal sitcom.

    Proof that crap British sitcoms don't die. They get exported.
    Hay, I like "Are You Being Served?" It's funny!

    Another question: I love watching "Prime Minister's Questions" on C-SPAN. Why is before someone speaks some people stand up, and then sit when the speaker begins?
    Steven "redwood973" Wood

    "Man does not fail. He gives up trying."

  12. #12
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    Originally posted by whiteknight
    Stupidity doesn't recognize borders.

    Nor do nukes!
    Old Age And Treachery Will Triumph Over Youth And Skill

  13. #13
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    Originally posted by redwood973
    Hay, I like "Are You Being Served?" It's funny!

    Another question: I love watching "Prime Minister's Questions" on C-SPAN. Why is before someone speaks some people stand up, and then sit when the speaker begins?
    It's so that the speaker is aware that the member wishes to ask the prime minister a question.

    I was expecting you to ask why does the PM keep saying "I refer the Honourable gentleman/lady to the reply I gave a moment ago".
    We have all your working biros and we're not afraid to use them.

    Leave a box of used postit notes and a box of paperclips inside the filling cabinet and things won't get nasty.

    Yours,

    The Office Gremlins

  14. #14
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    Wonderful. Tho I heard the 'sigs in front, meds in back' one before.
    The darkness inside me is a lot scarier than the darkness out there....

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