What is Britishness?

[Emerald]

It's funny... Ireland's a small country which hasn't had much of an impact on the world, so instead we fill our history books with anti-British propaganda...

The violence of the IRA isn't cool in the slightest, but I love the craftiness of us Irish during earlier times...

[Ponch]

Ireland's a small country which hasn't had much of an impact on the world...

Come on, Emerald! Don't be like that. You guys gave the world Dustin the Turkey! We are forever in your debt

[Emerald]

Dustin is a plague on our society. He's like the KKK and the Nazis and OJ Simpson all rolled into one...

[Tuomas]

That's quite a lot of impact then

[Emerald]

That's quite a lot of impact then

It proves what a shallow pond Ireland is

[Blackthorne]

I hate generalizing, so don't hate me for it.

But, oddly enough, when I think of "British" I still think Imperial. 

Bt

[Disco]

It's funny... Ireland's a small country which hasn't had much of an impact on the world.

Oh now I wouldn't say that. I live about 4,000 miles from Ireland, and yet the town I live in has a Bennigans and a proper Irish pub. Also, the next town over has quite the St. Patrick's day festival and parade 

[Huw Dawson]

I'd say Britishness is a quiet optimism. I think a good example is the Carlsberg advert with the polar explorers.

Britishness is that sort of cultural thing where you can appreciate "daft" programs, like Top Gear.

Britishness is the feeling to do something. The Independant was a strike against the biased newspapers (The Mirror, Mail, Telegraph, Times etc), Little Britain was a strike against the sit-com, and so on.

Britishness is the feeling that, yes, The Lib Dems will never again be in power. But we'll keep going, and make our mark on the political spectrum in our own way.

In my opinion, though, Britishness is best summed up by Churchill's motto - Keep Buggering On.

- Huw

EDIT: And us Northerners think that the further south you go, the more classist you are. Aristocrats and the East End, sort of thing.

[Jack Sheehan]

I like Bill Bailey's definition of Britain:
'Well 65 per cent of our days our overcast so as a nation we're infused with a wistful melancholy.'

[SSH]

duh, people, look it up... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britishness  !

[Stupot]

duh, people, look it up... http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Britishness  !

Already did, but that focuses more on the political view of Britishness which is not really the context I'm talking about.

Thanks for all the ideas so far.  Keep them coming, I'm finding it really interesting.

[InCreator]

I've never been in UK (although I'd love to), but this is how it feels via media and books:

British? Old. Retro.

Like old cities, ruins of strongholds, old-looking architecture - even "new" buildings look very much 1930'ish

Football. The football in Britain seems to be what Islam is in Middle East. Cultlike. Same goes for Monarchy, queen.

I should mention that this probably means a lot of britishness for me: cultlike belief and sticking to logically stupid or useless things. Like STILL not using metric system, driving on left, history-long geographical isolation, not following any stereotypes (british tv & movies are best example for this), etc. Doing everything "our own way", not important if it's the best way.

Weird addiction to beer. Pubs.

Slang. I can understand US movies without subtitles, but British ones, with all the "sods" and "chaps", add an accent, are quite cryptic.

Gothic. Stereotypical new British band plays Goth Rock of some sort. Things look gothic. Black is very common colour. 

Everything has this "Bioshock" game feeling to it. Cabs look like ones gangsters drove in 30's USA, buses look like this, buildings looks like this, everything looks like this. Retro.

Those few british I've met, are a bit gypsy-like, serious, introvert and with somewhat faked aura of confidence and strength. You know, to hide a bit childish happiness and craziness underneath.

[Shane 'ProgZmax' Stevens]

merdes rosbifs!!

...fuck the roast beef?  TYRANT!!

[Pelican]

Funny, not long after this thread popped up, I got a forwarded joke email about 'Being British'. Figured I may as well post it for giggles.

BEING BRITISH.

Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV.

And the most British thing of all?

Suspicion of all things foreign!

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 Xmas cracker-pulling accidents.

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 trying to open 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 were admitted to hospital with fractured skulls incurred whilst throwing up into the toilet.

[Emerald]

That is hilarious!

Although most of those would apply universally, not just in Britain...