7 Things We Learned In The UK (British Culture) 

Very pleased there's atleast one American who can pronounce Leicester correctly.

The UK also have overseas territories.. Mainly to annoy Argentina and Spain 😉 😂 😂

Remember many people will have a coffee to wake up in the morning and then have cups of tea throughout the day

It would be the utmost rudeness not to offer a guest a cup of tea the moment they walk through the door.

While it's an incredibly tired old cliché to say that when visiting England you *must* get out of London (as is so often shouted by Brits at American visitors), in your particular case I'm so glad that you did venture beyond the capital while you were over here. Having watched many of your past videos and got a small sense of the kind of people you are and some of your interests, I do think that you'd be happiest in rural villages and small towns that have a good sense of community. Such places retain a sense of Englishness (in attitude, way of life, and surroundings) that has long since been lost in the UK's bigger cities (many of which have become totally unrecognisable in recent years). I have a feeling that you'd be very much at home living somewhere in the scenic English countryside rather than in the middle of chaotic frenetic urban sprawl.

I’m so impressed by grace she pronounced all the British place names right

I feel like in the UK if a some lads come to do work on your house and you Dont offer them a cup of tea people are gonna think you're really strange. Theres a reason its called a builders brew. Like, offering a tea to the plumber or home hairdresser is Ingrained.

We tend to call school students "pupils" and reserve "student" for those in tertiary education.

The English never burnt “witches”, it was mostly Scotland or Germany that burnt “witches”, we hanged them instead and we made it into a festival where people would go and have a picnic whilst watching the hangings. Weird I know 😂

I’ve seen two RU-vid videos of Americans making a British cup of tea. One even put it in the microwave (horrors!). They also both put lots of milk in so it looked like watery milk. Please can you explain properly to your American fans how to make a proper British cup of tea. Your channel is so great and you’re the only ones I’ve seen who know what they are actually talking about. Keep up the good work xx

When you say 'student', you mean pupil. You don't get to be called a student until you go to university in the UK.

I'm actually drinking a mug of tea and having a slice of Victoria Sponge whilst watching this video.

i think it’s pretty important to learn the differences between england, the uk and britain because a lot of people i know from the uk that aren’t from england get very offended by the mistakes.

There is even a children's song about the different cathedral bells, and what ringing them means.

With regards to placenames, the ending -ingham means 'the homestead of ...'s people' in Anglosaxon. Historically, Nottingham was originally called Snottingham - you have to pity the guy called Snot! - and the radio show 'I'm sorry I haven't a clue' once claimed that the people of Scunthorpe inexplicably declined to follow their example ...

There was a move many years ago to abolish uniforms but the parents hit back as kids would come home as dedicated followers of fashion and it was found that it was a lot less expensive for kids to wear uniforms than not ...Just think how expensive sneakers (trainers) are and the results of pester power

Coffee consumption in the UK has increased and tea consumption declined in the last fifty years because of the increased use of drinks machines in offices and factories. Coffee from such machines is not too bad but tea is ghastly.

I really respect the amount of research you do, and how genuinely interested you are in British culture. I never comment on videos usually but just wanted to say I really enjoy your videos and think you are a great couple. Cheers!

I grew up close to an old parish church and they used to practice bell ringing every Thursday night too. Then, of course, on Sunday morning the bells rang for church services. I loved to hear them and really miss it. 💒

Greetings from someone imprisoned in quarantine in Hong Kong. Your videos have helped the time pass. One observation....when you say "student" we think "university student" who is usually at least 18 - you're referring to "school pupils" or "school children" wearing uniforms

There is a large class system so it doesn’t really matter for most people so there are distinctive classes but I don’t think that generally it has a huge effect on who people talk to or really anything like that

also our monetary levels for 'middle class' differ to the uk! in the uk 'middle class' refers to higher incomes than in the us. it seems like our middle class encompasses a wider range of income levels generally.

In regards to the bellringing. You do get automation from the clock hammer to chime on the hour and potentially playing something like westminster quarters. However the clockhammers are released when you are going to actually ring the bells (so they won't try and strike the bells when being rung which could cause a fair bit of damage). I spent a lot of my childhood around them as my dad was the tower captain of our village church. I learnt to ring myself when I was about 6 or 7 but I haven't been up in a tower for near a decade now.

A town near me in Wales has an incredible long name which roughly translates to the directions to said town - “ St Mary's church in the hollow of the white hazel near to the fierce whirlpool of St Tysilio of the red cave “. I’ve always called the town Llanfair PG (occasionally Llanfair gogogoch) like most who live near by but it’s actually called Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. It’s easier to say than it looks if you know the basics of the welsh alphabet/pronunciation and it’s a great party trick to my English friends who always ask about it.

i live in a small town in the very north of Scotland where its mostly countryside and small towns and i would definitely say the class system is much much more watered down here, and we all tend to socialise with everyone. For tea and coffee drinking, here its customary to offer a guest a cup of tea or coffee when they arrive and every time they finish their drink lol. I actually end up drinking more tea than usual when im with friends lol. Its also customary to offer any worker (like builder, plumber, electrician, gardener etc) at your house a tea or coffee

All classes, but all can use the NHS....get with the program America! X

To understand the English Class System,you should read: Jane Austin, Thomas Hardy and Daniel Defoe. In Robinson Cruso, Robinson's father praises the Middle-class, the whole of Jane Austin and Thomas Hardy deal with Class Issues. Charles Dickens also deals with the Class System in his many novels.you will enjoy these authors and their works.

I think it's less a case of loving tea but more a culture thing. I suppose it's more a sign off hospitality and generosity. It's something to do whilst having a chat. People aren't obsessed with the flavour, more the comforting factor of a warm drink

Well done Ravens! You get so much spot on - Grace's pronunciation especially. Don't worry about class. Not only do much of us not care at all about it, but it's so subtle that every other person will understand it differently. In the end, for me it's just that we tend to make our friends among the people who use language in the same way, so that we won't fall out through misunderstanding. You two, as offcumd'uns (as my mother would have put it,) can be all things to all men, and class won't affect you at all.

I love how Grace has started to match Eric and his one shirt! 😹 Your videos are the highlight of the week in our house! Thanks guys x

If the bells ring on the hour, possibly half and quarter hour - that’s mechanical. The Salisbury Cathedral clock mechanism dates from the late 14th century. What most parish churches and cathedrals have is a Ring of Bells, usually 6, 8 or 12. They are numbered by pitch going down. 1 is the treble, then 2 is the next lowest etc. The normal way these bells are rung is change ringing. If you ring 132456 you’ve rung one change, there are multiple combinations of changes that can be rung and it sounds wonderful. Change ringing originated in 17th Century England. Some British place names are literally descriptive - Norfolk = the north folk, Suffolk = the south folk. Northumberland = land north of the river Humber, Oxford = where the oxen can ford the river, Axminster = the minster church beside the river Ax .

Not sure it’s correct to say ‘tea is on the way out’. I am tea, tea and more tea.

Check out a jar of Mellow Birds coffee this was the type of coffee largely available in the 70's - one sip and you'll understand why

The word, "student" is an Americanism which only took hold here in the UK in the 1980s. Prior to that, students were young people who were attending university or other post education establishments - technical colleges, nursing schools etc. Children still in mandatory education ie schools, were known as pupils.

You have to visit York it'll take you a good week to see and do everything, it's so historic x

As satisfying as it is that you both love the UK I would still be interested to know your experiences and thoughts of France.

9:27 Well done guys! Usually we just say DEFRA (deaf-ra) - saves a lot of time!

Those town naming conventions were very interesting thanks. As was the coffee/tea war info. When I was a teenager in CT our schools as you said didn’t have school uniforms but there was a Catholic school in the area and those kids did have to wear them. Also, in the area nearby there were some “Rich kids” private schools and they too had to wear uniforms. Love the show! Keep it coming!

I am a resident of Pontefract In Yorkshire, so it was interesting to hear it referred to in the video. Pontefract Castle was one of the most important northern castles. It was one of the last English Castles to remain in Royalist hands during the civil war. Oliver Cromwell’s parliamentary forces finally brought about its downfall. They then demolished it so as to prevent it falling back into royalist hands. Later the grounds were used for the cultivation of liquorice, which was used for medicinal purpose before Dr Dunhill added sugar and invented sweet liquorice. The sweets are still made in Pontefract.

You mentioned Bewdley with the derivation of Beau and Lieu and there is actually a place in the New Forest called Beaulieu; it's where the National Motor Museum is.

100m cups a day. Yeah, definitely on its way out.

A town with Regis at the end of their name like Bognor Regis, Lyme Regis or Bere Regis were all either opened by Royalty or had land own by royalty. Bognor Regis was declared with Regis in 1929 by the King at the time.

I'm British and absolutely adore the US and Americans so it's nice to see the love is mutual lol. You two are awesome!

There's a thing you're getting caught out on here at 4:25 . In England we ALWAYS say "state school" not "public school". It's kind of confusing, but in Englnd "public schools" are a specific kind of private school. Most state schools are "comprehensives" which means anyone can go, and a few are "selective" which means you have to pass an exam to get in. Most private schools are what's called "independent schools", which I think are similar to most American private schools, but a small number of the top, most elite, most prestigious and oldest private schools are called "public schools". Places like Eton, Harrow and Winchester. British public schools are a very peculiar institution, and are very closely linked to our class system. Really, they go well beyond just being school and are essentially training camps where you're indoctrinated into the aristocracy. Almost all of them are boarding schools and most are either all boys or all girls schools. 3 of the last 5 Prime Ministers have been to public school; two of them, including the current one, went to the same public school: Eton. And both were in the Bullingdon Club, which is a society for ex public school men at Oxford University. Eton especially has a very particular reputation as the school which a huge proportion of Prime Ministers went to.

Btw public schools means the opposite in the uk

While there is breath in my lungs I will forever drink tea.

Pontefract is more likely to be Brythonic Pont is a common element of lots of welsh place names.

Any town ending caster was originally a Roman camp or fort. The Normans were decended from Vikings, Rollo the Viking was raiding up the River Seine frequently until the French king granted him Normandy. He was also the founder of the Isle of Man.

Interesting point about coffee. Have you noticed that European nations often traditionally get coffee from their ex-colonies? In France it's Algeria, Portugal Brazil, Spain, well, most of South America, UK Kenya and Tanzania. Netherlands coffee is to me some of the best, since it's from Indonesia (Java my absolute Fave) UK coffee in the 1970s was trash. One reason we drink more is that it's one of those (rare) things that has actually got better. A lot better.

Towns ending in “thorpe” are also Viking in origin and are mainly found on the east coast. Places like Mablethorpe or Scunthorpe.

Most parish churches have both automated and mechanical bells. So the hourly bells are automatic but the wedding, christening and Sunday bells are typically done manually with different chimes meaning different things. As a kid I would have to be home by the last ring of The 7 or 8 o’clock bell

Place names in Wales normally describe what is nearby. For example:- Caer - castle as in Caernarfon, Caerphilly, Cardiff (Caerdydd in Welsh) Aber - river mouth as in Aberystwyth, Abergavenny. Bryn - hill Bach -small Castell - small castle Llan - enclosure or church Pentre - village Cae - Field Mawr - big Bont - Bridge

I like how Grace is showing solidarity by wearing same colour shirt. Also it seems like you didn't really learn one thing from the documentary bout class, which is we don't have or say 'low class', it's 'working class'.

Grace you pronounced "Edinburgh" perfectly! 😀

another great informative video thank you so much for brightening up the day

Another interesting city fact is that in Scandinavian-heritage cities such as my own Derby (Darby), any roads that have the word 'Gate' in them, refer to what was found on that road. e.g. Friars Gate was where the local monastery was, Iron Gate had the Blacksmiths.

The hour. half hour and the quarter bells ARE automatic. They aren't rung by people!

Tea is not on its way out.

The meaning of Pontefract is well known and easy to remember, because there's a pub there called The Broken Bridge. Also at 2:11 you put Beamish in there twice instead of Pontefract.

Great video guys , so pleased to see how quickly your channel is growing :)

A good book/movie that’s taught in schools about the class system is ‘An inspector calls’ it’s set just before WW1 but deals with pretty much what you mentioned with Bezos about a very wealthy working class man wanting to be upper class

Omg, i've never been on any video on youtube this soon after posting. Also, please do more wales related videos please? Would love to see you eat some welsh delicacies. :) Cymru am Byth!

In olden days in the village, in addition to bells ringing out the times to stop work and pray, 3 bells were tolled as a dying person passed from great illness, to coma, to death - the last bell was the lowest note and known as the corpse bell. It gave people ample time to pray for that person's soul. The bells not only rang to indicate death and dying but would, in a time of plague, tell of which one had succumbed, such as 10 tolls to indicate a man, 8 tolls a woman, and 6 a child. At funerals sometimes a single bell is still rung slowly, but it's usually at weddings you hear a peal, more as a sign of joy and tradition than to chase away evil spirits. Ask not for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.

There is a place in Leicestershire called Ashby-de-la-Zouch. It was called "Ashby" by the way of the Anglo-Saxon naming, but during the Norman invasion the La Zouch family owned the place and thus became "Ashby-de-la-Zouch"

You should look at a Derbyshire village called Eyam that cut itself off to stop the plague in 1666 scarifying many lives. Very poignant in these trying times.

The United Kingdom comes from when King James of Scotland took the English (and Welsh) throne after Queen Elizabeth the 1st died, King James I (I want to say he was the 6th James to rule Scotland) caused the Pendle witch trials thanks to the book (pamphlet) he wrote on daemons or something like that. Great Britain is the 4 component nations together, all of the Viking place names are in the north of England. In the UK we tend to call anyone ins school a pupil and anyone at university a student, also privately funded education= Public school whereas publicly funded education= State school

There is also Anglo Saxon "bury" which means a fortified place such as Banbury, Aylesbury, Shaftsbury

I am loving your content, as per usual! I would really love it if you could do a video on learning about the North of England and the North East of England (as this is where I am from). I think you would be so impressed and surprised by the history and facts of Newcastle upon Tyne. Love you guys! Also!... Perhaps you should do a Geordie dialect /slang quiz, much like you did with Scottish slang.

DEFRA... an acronym almost no-one remembers the meaning of XD well done for remembering it guys!

George Bernard Shaw, is a great example of one of the differences. UK Bernard pron. BURN'uhd USA Bernard pron B'n-ARD

Just a quick thank you for not doing five minute intros like A LOT of channels do, it’s so annoying when you just want to get to the video. So thank you 😊

Most church bells are automatic. My parents parish has two CoE churches within 5 minute walk of each other, one rings every quarter of an hour during the day. It plays a four bar tune and plays a section of it depending on the time. So at quarter past it plays bar 1, half past it plays bar 1 & 2, quater too: 1,2&3 and on the hour it plays them all, along with a number of dings for the hour. As kids it was really helpful because wherever we were in the village you could have an idea of the time without a watch (and before the age of mobile phones). These kinds of bells are a pretty common arrangement across the country and pretty much all use the same tune, with the most well known one being big ben (yes that's not just a big ben thing). The other church bell doesn't ring during the day, but on Sunday morning before the service, the single bell is rung by a person 33 times as a "call to pray". (I loved doing it with my mum as a kid). Bell ringers such as you described are fairly uncommon, although I believe they're actually becoming more popular again. Uniforms in schools are in place for a variety of reasons, but the class system and wealth is one of them. If everyone is wearing the same thing, then nobody knows anyone else's circumstances just by looking at them. It also provides a sense of unity and community. You see someone from another school, you knew that you were supposed to jeer at them. I think that one of the reasons we don't have the 'school spirit' thing that you see in the states is because we wear a uniform. We don't have jumpers or shirts with our school sports teams on because we already spend half our time with the school logo emblazoned on us that we're quite enjoying wearing our own thing and not thinking about school. When I was at school I hated wearing a uniform. Now I'm so glad I did, because seriously waking up every morning and having to get an outfit together for work is such effort. Everyone I know who either wears or has worn a uniform during their adult working life says that they much prefer(-red) it as they never have to think about what they're going to wear.

you said all those places correctly Eric its a Glasgow kiss not Glasweign kiss

Share a common language? You mean separated by a common language. Edit: You mentioned GBS. Fair play.

Another example of william of Normandys names is Belvoir. It means beautiful view and belvoir castle is one of the first Normandy castles to be built. It was named by William the first.

Wandering Ravens - Ringing the changes!

To my knowledge we use Upper, Middle and Working class as opposed to lower class.

For me: Tea = yummmmmy. Coffee = ewwww! I can't stand coffee taste as drink or in cake or chocolates, or any other places it is used.

Since you're talking about place names, time was that if you were on a train going through Castleford and Pontefract it would get announced as 'Cas Vegas' and 'Ponte Carlo'. Doesn't happen so often these days.

It's not just about drinking tea,it's the social get together,it's being polite to your fellow human beings. However if you are on your own its nice just to drink tea or even coffee,along with a biscuit or cake or a cooked breakfast or whatever takes your fancy.

Bezos would be classed as nouveau riche.

Your love affair with haggis is hilarious 😂

I actually live very close to Pendle hill, cheers for the shout-out! Fun fact there a statue for one of the witch's alice nutter in Roughlee

Speaking as someone from the area, Pontefract back then probably was a cool town. It was an important royal residence during the early norman period, now all it has is some castle ruins, a racecourse and plenty of low cost housing estates. Fun fac for.if anyone ever wants to know more about what used to be in an area without doing research look at what they've called their wetherspoons, the one in pontefract is called the broken bridge, the one in castleford town centre is in the old glass blowers and is surprisingly enough called the glass blower and the one at Xscape sits on top of a coal seam called the winter seam, no prizes for guessing what that ones called 🙄

You're ok to say DEFRA (deff-ruh) instead 😁.

Wales only burnt a few, I think 5, witches because Wales and magic has always had a deep connection with our history of druids and other myths.

Generally church bell towers in the uk are automated when they are ringing on the hour. I know my local church has a giant pair of weights that run a mechanical clock. One weight for the clock face and one for the hammer that rings the bell. But usually any musical tune being played is by people.

Ahh I love your videos, it surprises me to hear the things we do in our everyday life that you don't do, we dont notice. I have not yet tried haggis but I will now you mention how good it is. 😅 Thank you again for your videos, it helps me alot.

I’m British but I hate haggis 😂 sorry! ❤️❤️

The clock bells are operated mechanically, the bell ringing you witnessd is called Change Ringing, the bells are controlled by the rope, the art is in keeping the bell on balance and controlling it to alter the order of striking along with the other ringers in the band.

Some churches have automated 'bells' which is actually just a speaker. But if you're lucky your town or village is like mine and has bell ringers. I love hearing the bells ring for weddings, was such a shame to not have that this year.

Nice job guys, very interesting about the origin of place names. Remember learning some of that in school, but I bet a lot of Brits wouldn’t know.

Saxon and Norman stylings are sometimes combined in place names such as Maltby-le-Marsh or Ashby-de-la-Zouche.

The next time that you are in the UK you must try and visit a Victorian Sewage Pumping House you will then see the most amazing 150+year old engineering. Some of these places are just museums but some have been restored and work. Try and visit one when it working they are amazing and the decoration inside has to be seen to be believed. I would like to hear your comments on them. You can check on u tube to see pictures of these places.

Lancaster - Yay my home city. (Yes you did pronounce it correctly) it would have been a fort town and the castle now stands where the fort would probably have been. It is where the Pendle witches were on trial. Also Lancaster still castle holds Lancaster crown court and this court has passed more death sentences than any other court room in the UK and is also the site of the most public executions outside of London.

Another fact for you: In the UK the term 'public schools' is used to refer to private schools. What you would call public schools are referred to as 'state schools'.

I can see Pendle hill from my window as I watch this video . Quite lovely !

Another one for place names. Den in the name. Goes back to Anglo Saxon times. When she south east was covered in forest a den was a clearing for keeping pigs. So where I live Hildenborough means Pig sty near the hill. Borough added on in 1349 to indicate an administrative area. One of the things that makes place names difficult is spelling changes. Without altering the pronunciation. For example near me. Ly became Lyghe now Leigh. Still pronounced as Li, not Lee like other places with that spelling.

Thank you for another smashing video.

Please do come back to the UK more! You’re so welcome here. ❤️