Help with British culture?

Question

It's pretty basic stuff. I just need some simple info on the following:
- Okay, apartments. Are the floors numbered as they go up? Like, if somebody had a room over Holmes and Watson's it'd be 321-B Baker Street?
- Could y'all give me a list of commonly used British slang and the American equivalents?
- What kinds of makeup brands are found in drugstores?
- List of common drinks and meals?

Yeah, I know, it'd be more practical to go there myself, but I'm a penny-pinching college student. Darn the luck . . .

Thanks!

Answer 1

You've had some good answers. I would just like to emphasise that what you call the 1st floor, we call the ground floor. Our first floor is what you call the second floor...and so on.



Apartments are flats. Some use the first number of the floor as the first number of the flat (ie on first floor, every number would start with a 1). Some flats are just a,b,c etc. There is no universal rule.



Some old buildings have been divided into flats. They usually use a, b, c etc. Sometimes extra buildings have been placed between existing buildings. They are also labelled a,b,c etc. There are a few ancient buildings where this has happened and they are numbered in fractions! eg 7 1/2 8 1/4 etc.



It's not unusual to have no number 13. That applies to houses and floors, even in new developments, With new houses, it's often 12a, or missed altogether.



There are too many different words to list here. However, a favourite is "f a g". To us, it's a cigarette.



On cars, what you call a trunk, we call a boot. What you call a hood, we call a bonnet. What you call a sidewalk, we call a pavement.



In food, what you call fries, we call chips. What you call potato chips, we call crisps.



We call a drugstore a chemist. I'm no expert on make up but I think many brands are international. They can be bought in supermarkets, too.



The most popular drinks for men is beer or lager. Some are particularly fond of "real ale" (brewed in the old fashioned ways). Cider is also popular. Wine is popular among the middle classes. Many have become "wine snobs" Coke is a favourite among teenagers. We have some home grown drinks like Dandelion & Burdock (most popular in the North).



We are famous for "fish & chips". However we love curries. It was once said it had become our national dish. Since travel became more affordable, food from all over the world became popular. I may eat food from three different continents in a week. You may or may not be glad to hear that McDonald's have outlets everywhere!

Answer 2

- In Tall buildings we have the ground floor then the first floor, second floor and so on!

- I could give you a few slang phrases, but if you wanted me to give you a list then I could end up being here all night! If something was really good, so if a party was really good, we would say that party was jokes! We don't say refridgerator, we just call it a fridge! We often call apartments flats, or a real slang phrase would be a gaff, so if someone says to you, 'Hey you should pop round my gaff tonight' they mean 'Hey you should call around to my flat tonight'! We don't say cell phone, we just call them mobile phones, so someone might say 'I will use my mobile to ring for a takeaway' they mean 'I will use my cell phone to call for a take out'! We say bloody a lot, if someone is rude to me I might say 'Don't be so bloody rude!' or if the weather is bad I would say 'This weather is bloody awful'! Often we call a TV a Telly, or a more slang phrase would be the box, 'Is there anything on the box' = 'Is there anything on the TV'! Lots of people instead of saying Thankyou, will say Cheers, so if you went to the corner shop (convenience store) and bought milk you might leave and say Cheers, but if you go into a real upmarket restraunt you would be better off to use more standard English! I will leave it at that for slang and phrases!



- Here they are not called Drugstores, they are called Chemists, the most popular ones being Boots and Superdrug! You will find most of the popular makeups in here, such as Rimmel and Maybelinne, okay I am a guy so I'm not going to be able to tell you much about makeup to be honest!



- Common drinks and meals??? Hmmm, maybe it would help if I told you what I ate today, I had nesquick cereal for breakfast and toast and tea. We are well known for drinking our tea here and we also like coffee! Water is obviously going to be a popular drink! Orange squash, we also have all that coca - cola, fanta stuff etc. I love Cornish Pasties, they do nice ones in some places here! Sausage rolls are nice for a snack! For dinner then you could eat anything, meat, poultry, vegetables, potatoes, rice, pasta, English food, Indian, Chineese, Mexican, Italian! There is lots and lots of variety when it comes to food! We have McDonalds, KFC, Pizza Express, Pizza Hut, Domino's Pizza, Burger King, Subway etc. etc. You can also get alcohol here beleive it or not, lol, like Beer, Budweiser is a good American beer, Cider, Vodka, Wine, practically every alcoholic drink you could imagine and more!



Oh, lol, I thought you were coming to England, what college do you go to, I go to Oxford! :)

Answer 3

-All 4 countries on the British Isles have different cultures! And apartments are flats around here. As for Sherlock Holmes and Watson, fictional characters. 221-B is an Abbey National bank. it never existed until the books. But yes, if someone was 3rd floor they would be numbers 300+ although we tend to start with 1, so they'd be 30+



- Apartment = Flat, Cookie = Biscuit, Store = Shop



- What makeup can you think of cause that would be in any shop from supermarket to pharmacy



- Common? Us Scots like Haggis, the English like their pies, Welsh like their cheese on toast and the Irish like their potatoes and stews. There is no Common meal! Drinks, any alcoholic drink we can get our hands on or coca cola, Irn Bru, Sprite, Water, Fanta, Tea, Coffee. Nothing common.

Answer 4

No such thing really as" Brittish " culture- we are a pretty diverse amalgam of various nationalities , habits and cusoms . Remember NO " apartments " - just flats . Numbering is usuallly 1/1,1/2,1/3 etc starting at the bottom or ground floor . Afraid am not conversant with American slang but in Britain slang words vary greatly from area to area In London , Cockneys use rhyming slang ( apple and pears = stairs ) whilst in Glasgow a woman is often referred to as " hen" and a baby as a " wean "( pronounced wane )



" Drugstores " are called chemists or pharmacies . Could go on but would take for ever I am afraid.

Answer 5

from being a british native (sheffield) with an american girlfriend i shall try to help you bridge the gap.some british slangwords and their US translations:-

****-***

arserape-a severe telling off (i came home from school late and got arseraped by my mum)

belting-something really good(belting weather today)

bollocks-testicles

bollocking-same as arserape

chunder-to vomit

fit-attractive

grass-taddletale (tim grassed on me to the teacher)

nowt-nothing (in the same way that owt is something)

pissed-drunk

pull-to hook up with somebody

quid-a pound (in the same way that buck is a dollar)

snog-a passionate kiss

wanker-tool/asshole



apartments are often called flats and the main difference in the uk is the first floor is the first one upstairs (so the second floor to an american) the ground floor is just called the ground floor.

britain isnt known for its cuisine but we brits love it. roast dinners, fish n chips and a nice meat pie go down a treat with a pint of proper yorkshire ale.

british people are generally not as openly patrotic as americans and are usually more proud of their home region than the uk (eg NEVER call a scottish/irish/welsh person english or they will not be happy) british culture is hard to describe because it is so diverse, the same can be said for accents. you can travel an hour down the road to a town with completely different accents and ways of life. the best way to learn about this is to experience it, come to britain, get out of london and see the country for what it is (and it doesnt actually rain as much as people think). good luck