9 Weird British Things I AVOID 

If you haven't seen last week's video... please watch, so you know I LIKE lots of Britishisms as well!!! ❤❤❤ ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-jNUiwkhdu_4.html

It is called a 'toast rack' and is the best thing since sliced bread! As for initials, in the UK people would never use a person's first name on first meeting. I was completely stunned when I was greeted on a domestic flight in Australia, by the cabin crew using my first name! The Red Phone Box was designed by Sir Giles Gilbert Scott. Do look him up, he has a very interesting life story and family history.

We have separate washer/dryers at home, but my wife always dries our washing outside weather permitting, it’s fresher and much cheaper.

It is a toast rack - not tray and in sinks with two taps there is usually a plug so you fill the basin to wash your hands and pull the plug afterwards, Cheers

The 1st initial thing helps to avoid over familiarity in formal situations. First names are used when you are friends or family. A complete stranger using my first name, on first introduction, is a bit presumptuous and makes me feel a bit uncomfortable.

2. Separate hot and cold taps are very common in the UK especially with slightly older properties or for those wanting a period look to their bathroom. I was always told it stems from the risk of mixing hot and cold water associated Legionnaires disease. It's not hard, test the water temperature with your hand in the basin/plug in, rather than under the tap. I do not like mixer taps as you often end of with a glass of warm water from when the tap was last used! xxx

We don't usually say "Are you alright?"... This is is a question..... We usually say " Alright" or "Alright mate" (in the west country). This just means "Hi".

Sorry Dara but I have to challenge a few of these... Credit cards using initials being a security risk is somewhat odd when I watch so many American TV shows where the parent sends their teenager shopping with THE PARENTS credit card. Weight in stones - when we diet we will still lose a pound or we will want to lose ten pounds. It isn't difficult to understand what a stone is. Temperature - strange that you think Fahrenheit is more precise. What can be more precise than water freezes at 0 and boils at 100? Greetings - once you understand it there is no issue. No worse than a fake 'have a nice day' at the end of a conversation. Toast and taps I'll agree with you!

Your perspective is so funny! I think Celsius is just as accurate and 0 degrees is freezing and 100 degrees is boiling point just makes sense! Also we in the British Isles don't understand why Americans use the dryer so much when you have an economically friendly solution of hanging your clothes outside! Etaoin aka babyinacorner

"Are you alright?" Is almost always used literally but "alright?" is usually delivered with a totally different intonation and is just another way of saying "Hi".

Nice sis your explaining style really good I like it thank you so much for sharing sis

I can't bite my tongue any longer! I put up with it in your other video when you talked about the full English breakfast, but I can't take it any longer....it's a toast RACK!!!! Not a tray, a rack!!!!!!! Ahhhhhh, nice to get that out of my system! Hmmmm....has an issue with first initials, then cites an example of a family that knowingly gave all the kids the same initials as the parents! Maybe...oh I dunno...maybe if they didn't do that the use of initials wouldn't be a problem? 😂

5. Return addresses is common with business mail and when sending parcels but uncommon on hand written letters. Our post code system is very specific to an average of 15 houses per code so it normally gets where it is intended. Royal Mail will open letters if they need to, to return, but very very rare and there will be special stickers attached. I have seen news stories where letters reached the intended person with just a first name, a town and a brief description of the person! xxx

I love your videos and you get better and better with each one. Some really eye-openings things on here.

The toast rack, is great! If there is any toast left after having your hot breakfast, you can have it nice and cold with non melted butter and Maramalade. Just the best.

Also, I have started greeting people, even here at home, with “Hiya!” Because this was said constantly to me in British shops during a 3 week trip ... I started saying it back and now I love it. Quick and to the point and cheerful. Hiya, Dara!

Very few countries now use the Fahrenheit scale, most use Centigrade as the official temperature scale or freely switch between the two. Only America seems to want to cling on to this archaic means of defining temperature.

I have friends from the US and they say they are amazed by our history, our old architecture etc. But you have to realise there's consequences to history as well as positives. Yes old architecture is lovely, but it means we have a lot of old housing stock which makes it very difficult to do certain things. Such as US visitors moan how narrow our roads are and kerb parking. But you have to understand that a lot of houses here were built before cars were invented or cars were widely financially viable for people, particularly working classes. Hence a lot of older houses have no driveways so today's owners have to kerb park and the roads are just the old cart tracks that have been tarmac over and because of hedgerows and verges and ditches it's impossible to widen the road. It is a legacy that previous generations left us along with the old architecture, the monuments etc.

9. Red phone boxes are becoming increasingly rare in the UK and are now often becoming Listed structures that are protected by law. Pissing in phone boxes is a city thing and I have only ever seen escort services advertised in central London phone boxes - as it is the tourists that use these services! xxx

If an office door has an initial such as 'A Bloggs', people who are not on informal terms with the occupant are expected to address him/her formally, eg Mr Bloggs or Ms Bloggs.

I totally agree about the combo washer/dryer although while in Amsterdam I learned to dry everything on the radiator and I now dry everything by hanging - I think clothes last longer. I have to disagree on Celsius. I love that 0 is freezing and 100 is boiling. So much simpler. And I like the first initials - in professional life, it came across more formal and respectful.

What I find really weird, and sad, in the US is their use of genetically modified ingredients. That is really not good.

When I left school I became an apprentice for the Post Office, the phone and mail government organisation. Eventually I became a Technician with a South Wales mining valley to look after. Phone boxes (Kiosks) was one of the items I looked after. The things I found inside cannot be discussed on a family channel. What we used to do was use a pre-decimal penny (yes, I'm that old!) about an inch in diameter and wedge the door open for fresh air. We used to suffer from vandalism so a lot of my time was spent removing broken glass to make it safe. The really old mechanisms in the boxes used old pennies, tanners (six-pence) and shillings (12 pence). Four pennies for local calls, any thing else dial 0 for the Operator, they would tell you how much and to put the money in. Press button A when the caller answered, or button B to disconnect and get your money back. Red was the traditional colour because the Post Office looked after both Mail & Phones. Very few are different, some phone boxes are other colours. Mail boxes are always red except some painted gold to commemorate ones used by gold medal winners after the 2012 London Olympiad.

It's said that for decades the upper class in England didn't know toast was supposed to be warm, it was always cold by the time it got to the dinning room.

I'm a Londoner and agree with you on that one. Red phone boxes in London should be permanently locked so they're just minor tourist attractions and can't be used as urinals!

#1 Combo washer/dryer are not very common here, as many houses have a special laundry room or a basement. The reason why many people use the drying line is: a) it's a lot cheaper and b) it's better for your clothes. #2 Separate H & C has been very common here until the 1960s, but now we have combined taps #3 Here in Luxembourg kitchen and the dinning area are separated and my mother uses a toast tray every day for my dad's toasts. Here most houses don't have open kitchen, because most people don't want to see their messy kitchen while eating and the don't want to smell the kitchen odours everywhere. #4 Regarding the initials: well here in Luxembourg you are not supposed to call somebody, who you don't know, with his/her christian name, you are supposed to say "Hello Mr/Mrs/Miss....". We rarely put return addresses on our letters either. #6 The universal measurement here in Europe is "KG". #7 Celsius team here too 🙋‍♀️, like everywhere here in Europe. Thanks for this entertaining video 🥰

Nice video! I love the fact that some red phone boxes are turned into little libraries. So cute!

This greeting "Are you Alright?" has only really been used for around 20 years. Most of my life nobody said that silly greeting. So much in Britain has changed in the last 50 years. I preferred it 50 years ago. Just a small observation regarding word usage by Americans. We do not use the word 'bunch' when referring to a group of people. We only use the word 'bunch' when referring to flowers or a bunch of grapes, which makes sense to me.

In my neck of the woods most of us just use the greeting is”ALRIGHT!”

As a Brit, I agree with the washer dryer combo! I live in a 2-bed flat so there is no space for a laundry room or a separate dryer. I can never count on them to fully dry a load so I end up hanging it out anyway! Also laundry rooms in apartment buildings are super rare/basically nonexistent, so unless you go to a laundrette (again, not that common at all) you kind of have no choice. 😟 The initials thing is also odd and we used to have the same experience. My mum and brother have the same initials so there's been a lot of accidental letter openings of important stuff like bank statements and HMRC letters. 😅 I have to say that I've watched a few of your videos so far and they are great. It is so refreshing to see different content (not just driving on the left and kettles!) about your experiences as a visitor/now resident. 🙂

Hahah loved this video! However I personally think that having a separate faucet for hot and cold water is cool for some reason. 😂

Hi Dara & Ian! Loved this episode! I still can’t get used to separate cold and hot water faucets in older British homes...🚰🚰 fortunately all the newer buildings got tap mixers

Well.. you are so right on all the facts.. any one who has watched all your videos and have not visited UK.. will definitely feel so confident and comfortable with things around here.. great video..!! :)

People in the uk don’t dry their clothes on the line because it’s takes so long in the combo washer/dryer… we dry our clothes on the line whenever possible because… why on Earth not? I did it weird that most folk in the us don’t hang their clothes out to dry.. it’s crazy not to, for all sorts of reasons that don’t take much thought to figure out

1. In the UK, big houses tend to have utility rooms with washing machines and sometimes tumble dryers. Small houses and flats tend to have washing machines only in the kitchen due to space. Tumble dryers are less common in the UK partly due to space but also because we use gas/oil fired central heating to radiators in most homes and these are on for a significant part of the day for most of the year and are perfect for drying clothes - my mum hangs hers next to the boiler when it is on for hot water only in wet weather in the summer. I have never needed a tumble dryer. Hanging clothes in the garden is the norm in the summer. I have only come across a combo washer-dryer in a flat when I was a student once and would suggest there are most common in flats due to lack of garden, small space and where heating systems are more likely to be electric. From my limited experience of washer-dryers, I agree these are very bad at drying clothes. What I find odd, is American films/TV shows that show apartment blocks with shared laundry room facilities in the basement. You would never see this in the UK. xxx

My family haven't had a dryer in about 30 years. We just use wire airers that hook over the radiators. Apart from my parents bedroom. My dad is convinced the clothes suck all the heat out of the room like a black hole. XD Don't blame the toast rack. Blame the architect for designing homes where the dining room and the kitchen are at polar opposites of a house. Our current home was exactly how you described and we noticed it straight away when we moved in, calling out the architect for designing it that way. The initials is mainly formal. In school we HAD to call all our teachers Mr 'This' or 'That' I still remember first going into college the first rule was NOT to call the lecturer by his second name. When he said to call him 'Clive' I remember a few gasping at the audacity of doing that. I'm a bit creative with the initial thing though. When ordering Birthday or Christmas presents online I use the initial of my middle name as a 'code' at checkout to let myself know when it arrives that it's not something I should open in front of family. At work greetings are kept short and simple or you risk facing the bingo player's wrath if they miss a called number. And believe me it's a scary sight. Even when our fire alarm was tripped one time from someone smoking outside our back door, one customer had to drag her friend out who was playing linked game. She won too. "Woo! I won!" with her friend responding: "Yeah, burning for £100 is SOOOO worth it!" PS: Sorry for the long comment

Zero C is water freezing 10 degrees is cold 20 degrees is warm 30 degrees is hot Blood temperature is around 37 degrees C Water boils at 100degrees C. Your oven will have the temperature on the dial. What else do you need temp for?

A washer/dryer or home laundry machine will take the same length of time as two seperate machines and you don't have the inconvenience of having to move the stuff from one machine to another. It is possible that some machines don't have such a hot tumble drying action but many are as hot as a stand-alone tumble dryer. People use washing lines because it's the most hygienic way to dry clothes and the U/V light in sunlight also has a sterilising effect! Can't stand soggy toast, whether it's from being put on a cold plate or from being soaked in butter. It's impolite to address a stranger by their first name. My bank cards all carry my first name. Mail should carry initials because that is formal. We don't have too much of a problem with our postal service because we use more precise postal codes. Nothing wrong with °C. The precision associated with Farenheit is fine from a specific measurment point of view but I shouldn't think there are many people who can physically tell the difference down to even 2°F. The use of the words 'what's up' as a greeting came from America.

Hi this is the first video of yours I've watched and I like what I see 👍🏻 the only point I'd like to make is regarding the initials on mail. As a postman/mail carrier I've seen plenty of different ways to address a letter. Mostly here in Britain though it tends to be a mixture of full name with title (Mr/Mrs etc) or title with initials and surname. A return address isn't as common as it should be unfortunately. Of course if you have a superstar postie 😎 who's been on the same round for 13 years then any ambiguously addressed letters do tend to find their actual intended destination. Looking forward to seeing more of your channel in the coming weeks.

7. Fahrenheit being more precise? Celsius/Centigrade is used the world over and for science in the USA. Its just what you are used to. As a kid, I was taught Celsius as school and learning water freezes at 0'c and boils at 100'c makes a lot of sense. What was difficult was growing up in a world where adults still used Fahrenheit. Now, the weather is always broadcast in Celsius only and pretty much everyone in the UK understands it and is the norm xxxx

we enjoyed it a lot. Cheers.

I’m British, and with you on toast racks. I think that it is an archaic class thing. Large houses with staff had toast racks, because it was a long walk from the kitchen. Hotels and BB just carried on with this.

Enjoy your videos however, the toast tray is in fact called a “toast rack” . Weight is accurate in stones and pounds. If you are on a diet you still use pounds to measure weight loss. More and more people use kilos nowadays. Temperature is equally as accurate in Celsius and Fahrenheit but easier in Celsius as freezing is zero and boiling is one hundred. Older properties tended to have two taps (faucets) as cold water came direct from the mains water pipes whereas hot water tended to be heated in a hot water tank and could be sitting in the tank for perhaps a day or two. To avoid mixing drinking water (cold) with water that potentially has sat in a tank for a few days, the two separate tap system was used. Newer properties tend to have mixer taps. Americans seem to have tremendous problems with the two tap system as it’s so complicated to mix water to the right temperature you require. Bless them. Using just initials and surname is uncommon in the UK. It is far more common to use someone’s title, then initials, then surname ie Mr J P Smith or Mrs A Jones or Dr S Brown. However, with the rise of feminism came a change in using titles for women and the introduction of the title Ms. Further PC pressure is trying to abolish titles altogether and just using initial & surname only or first name and surname. FYI, it is no longer PC to use the term “Christian name” to describe someone’s first name. Rather, the descriptor, “first name” or “fore name” is now preferred by the easily offended classes. The reason for the use of day, month, year, system is thought to be associated with increasing units of time periods ie a day is shorter than a month which is shorter than a year. It is generally accepted that the USA is the only country that uses Month, Day, Year, system, and therefore it is obvious that the rest of the world is wrong and we apologize most humbly for our delay in changing to the obviously superior version. The use of return addresses on personal mail/post are generally not required as, up until recently, post was delivered the next day, significantly reducing the chance of the addressee moving or dying within that 24 hour period therefore obviating the need to return mail.

About stones and pounds: If I tell you I'm 12st 3lb, how is that less accurate than saying I'm 171lbs? You stopped using stones in the USA, but think about this: Imagine you'd stopped using feet, and instead only used inches. Now I tell you I'm 6'3", and you have no idea how tall I am, until I say I'm 75 inches. That would be weird, right? Can you not see that is exactly what Americans have done with weight? As it is, without doing math, you have no immediate visualisation of how tall 75 inches is, but you know exactly what 6'3" looks like. British people have no idea of a person's build if you say they're 171lbs, but if you say they are 12st 3, we'll know exactly how heavy they are.

Excellent video, highly enjoyable but I must point out that toast is served in a toast rack not a tray.

I don’t know any one who has a washer dryer they are notorious for being crap to put it bluntly. I deliberately had separate taps on my sinks in the bathrooms when renovating last years as I prefer the look here in the UK it is more traditional. Although the bath has a bath filler with shower attachment but with a hot and cold fixtures. Downstairs loo, kitchen and utility have mixer taps. As for the toast sometimes I deliberately wait for my toast to be cold before I butter it depends what mood I’m in! Open living has been popular in the UK on and off for decades, our homes are usually so small it doesn’t make much of a difference, and most people had a table in the kitchen. Putting initials instead of the actual name some how makes it seem more professional and classy. In the UK you would never go up to someone you didn’t know and call them their first name especially in a business setting unless they agreed to it! I don’t get the weight issue maybe I’m being a bit dim? We usually say Alright? We can decipher whether it needs a one word answer back or if the other person is up for a natter.

Toast rack. When bread is toasted it produces water. Breakdown of carbohydrates. The water will make the toast soggy. The toast rack allows the steam to escape so toast will be crisp. You like hot soggy buttered toast. English like crisp toast

I dont know anyone who asks 'how are you?' as they whizz past on a bike. It's always Hi, hiya, hello...

Hi Dara! Are you all right? love your rants! The washer dryer combo exists in France and Italy as well. We stayed in a flat that had the washer/dryer underneath the bathroom sink. I wonder if they just stick it wherever it will fit!

You're right the toast rack helps to keep the toast crispy but it should never be served cold

On the washer/dryer, I saved about 1/3 of my electricity bill when I stopped using the drying cycle and used a clothes horse over my bath to dry stuff!

Hi when you tell the time, do you give it as just minutes, or like us bits use Hours and Minutes? We feel that to be easier, more precise, a bit like weights using Stones and Pounds. Stones gives you the ball park, with pounds for the detail.

I really enjoyed this! I totally agree with the washing machine, I always see that on hgtv and just couldn’t imagine taking that long! Especially with little kids 🤣. I do however like the first initial names, I think it sounds super fancy and dignified. Lol. When I was 16 I got into a fender bender in a very nice neighborhood in California. I was so upset and freaking out because I was terrified of what my parents would say. I was crying my eyes out when a British man came out of his house and asked me if I was alright and then offered me a cup of tea 😂🤦🏾‍♀️.

I had a combo washer drier for 7 years. I used the drier about 3 times and I had 3 small children at the time.

The UK "Y'alright?" is the same as the American "wassup?" / "What's up?" If someone asked me that, I'd think they thought something was the matter.

I'm an old fart and out of habit tend to use Fahrenheit for the temp on a summers day but Centigrade for cold temps. Centigrade makes more sense as 0° is the freezing point of water and 100° is the boiling pont of water. This seems more logical than -32° and 212°.

I actually prefer my toast cold so that the butter sits thinly on the surface.

I agree with the combo washer/drying machines, they are a waste of space in my opinion. I rented a flat a few years ago with one of those horrible things, and only used the dryer a couple of times. It took hours to wash and (sort of dry) my clothes. I grew up with separate taps so I don't really notice them in houses, although there seem to be more single unit mixer taps in UK homes now. I am accustomed to weights being in stones, my peeve is everything is now in kilos, I couldn't tell you what my weight is in kilo's. It took me a while to get used to celsius when the temperature scale changed here years go. Now I can barely remember how to calculate celsius to fahrenheit (it's something like double the number and add 30). I generally just say "alright" to people as a greeting :-)

I can never understand why Americans find Celsius so difficult. It makes much more sense than Fahrenheit. Water freezes at zero and boils at 100. Body temperature is 37. Comfortable room temperature is 21. 30 in summer is hot. Wash clothes at 40. Simple.

Washer/Dryer. No, never had a single one of these, ever. So common to have a washing machine and a separate dryer and a clothes line. Two taps, use a plug to get the water as expected. Toast rack... tastic. I like hot and /or cold toast. Getting older, cold toast to limit the amount of fat from the butter absorbed is better... so boring. Mr KDA thinks, no. Stone is an antiquated measurement that older so and so's still use. My sons measure in Kg's. Celsius, so straight forward. 0 is ice cold. 'You alright?'. I always liked a red phone box, always good for when you need to relieve yourself (ask your husband). Good vid, thanks a lot. Cheers

Do Brits use Imperial measurements for weight, though? I'm quite an oldie now, and I'm more comfortable with metric... But I still use imperial (miles) for driving distances!

Totally agree about cold toast. My trick is to have that toast almost burnt and when it goes coldnits crispy and nice with loads of butter and jam

Centigrade is so easy to use - 0-10, wear a coat and jumper, 10-20, wear a coat or jumper, 20-30, wear normal clothes, 30-40, dress to keep cool.

Interesting...I told you I'm from RI and I never thought about it but a lot of the homes there are built very British...our dining area was in another room that wasn't necessarily near the kitchen...and the bathrooms had to the two faucet things and we called water fountains...water bubblers (just thought I'd throw that in there).

We don't usually say "are you alright"...it's mainly just the one word "alright" 🤣🤣

Lived all my life in the uk, and never had or lived in a home with a combi washer/dryer, nor do I know anyone who has one tbh. The initial thing is done by personal choice, and to stop people stealing your identity (especially post). Just cos you don't understand measurements does not mean it is less precise, 14 lbs is 1 stone, the same just as precise.

I like hot toast, most people do here, that toast rack is mostly a hotel thing, note an average UK home, I dont know anyone who uses one of them. Also, LOTS of UK homes have 'mixer' taps, not the two hot and cold ones you mentioned, i do.

My kitchen anf dining room are right next to each other with a serving hatch in the wall between them. There is a bolt on the hatch because my cat sleeps next to it in the kitchen and if it isn't fastened he escapes and comes upstairs to shout through the bedroom door at 2am.

We have a washer and a separate dryer like most people.

The original reason for two taps was safety, hot water before the advent of combi boilers was heated and stored, and the regulations did not allow stored water to come into contact with fresh water outlets. Nowadays most taps (faucets) are mixer taps as the water heaters are also fresh water outlets, no stored water. Hope you can understand my ramblings.

I usually prefer my toast crisp when I want to eat buttered toast and marmalade so then a toast rack is essential. On the odd occasion I eat meat pate on toast I prefer hot buttered toast. By the way, there's nothing more frustrating than trying to dip a soggy soldier into a soft boiled egg yolk.

I'm not too sure how Fahrenheit is more accurate than Celsius. It's only in the last 15 to 20 years that the weather temperature has been expressed in Celsius and it does take a long time to adjust. I suppose the point at which you are fully converted is when you can judge whether it's hot, cold etc without doing a rough conversion. By the way, "stone" Is an imperial measurement not to metric one. Controversial question of the day, when is the USA going to go metric? I think most of your scientists already are and your currency definitely is (244 pence in the pound before the 1970s). In the UK we are officially metric, but we still have miles and pints etc! Looking forward to the next video

8. The greeting in the UK is "y'a'right" or "alright", and as you say, it is often done in passing and is more of an acknowledgement like Hi, hiya, or hello and to some extent both people are asking and stating that they themselves are okay at the same time as a single word. The response to alright is alright. If people say "Are you all right?" in full and clear words, then they normally mean the question in full and expect a real response about your well being, but again still a greeting and generally expect a positive response which DOES includes 'not bad'. People don't want to hear all your life woes! If they are expressing concern about well being for someone upset or in trouble, the tone of voice will be different xxx

Saying 'You all right?' has to be said in the correct tone of voice. Saying it with a furrowed brow and a concerned, level then rising tone of voice is not a greeting. The greeting is said in a quick, rising tone - it makes ALL the difference

Just curious if you had a few drinks or needed to go to the loo your desperate and its a bizzy place area and you cannot find anywhere private or public convenience yes sadly phone boxes have and are used in desperation like peeing in door ways you can't tell me in bizzy cities in America people don't get caught short when you got to go you look for the best option ...

Actually, we Brits use C for cold temperatures and F for hot ones.

Hi Dera, I always greet friends especially males with “alright mate” I’ve never really considered it until now and u in guess it’s a bit weird because I don’t ask it as a question, expecting an answer, it’s purely a substitute for saying hi or hello. On thing I think really weird about Americans (especially is stores of hotels) is when they say goodbye they always add “have a nice day”, it really grates my gears and sounds so false and patronising! Do you agree or is it just being nice? Keep up the good work, cheers, Simon

A washer/dryer is an excellent solution for a couple or single person living in a small flat but, as with all appliances, you must read and understand the manual (RTFM)! small washer / dryer may be able to wash 8Kg but only dry 6Kg or less. Typically, they use a condenser system that does not require a vent through an outside wall. If you iron your clothes they are more than adequate.

"Hi, how are you doing?" haha, I was confused that as an immigrant in the US at the beginning, too. People asked, " Hi, how are you?" I was going to answer then they are gone. I said to myself, " Why did they ask if they are't listen?" Now, you know, I just say, "Hi" if I don't have time to listen. "Are you alright? Are you OKAY?"ah, ha, that's why my friends from UK asked that. I wonder why,,, the funny thing then I will tell you, in Korea we greeting like, "Did you eat?" Morning, "Did you eat breakfast?" Did you eat lunch? Did you dinner? " Wired? right I will tell you too. I love RED PHONE BOX.

Just to add, Fahrenheit and Celsius are both accurate measures of temperature - just a case of which you are used to really. Fahrenheit still tends to be used to describe hot weather in conjunction with Celsius although we really only use Celsius for cold weather.

No initials in my case, I had a letter from HMRC this morning and they put my full name, including my middle name, into the address. Yes, I looked you up after you replied to my comment elsewhere. I am enjoying this video and will subscribe.

I wouldn't use a toast rack either for the same reason - the toast gets cold! Asking if you're 'alright' is about politeness too and not a shallow pointless greeting.

Brit replying. Combo washer/dryer was a big thing a few years ago. Most people realised they were not fit for purpose so very few people get them now. I know no one who has serperate hot and cold taps. Tourist probably come across them as they stay in places run for profit where the owners don't think its cost effective to change them. But come to think about it in the 85 hotels I stay in last year I can only recall having hot and cold taps twice. So you must be staying in some bad hotels. I love hotel toast it crisp to the bite and doesn't go soggy when you butter it. All official letters have a return address although it will usually just be a PO box number and a post code. It looked on as a bit odd to all have the same initial in one family but most British people have middle names they don't use. Full names are not shown on letters to prevent identity theft Older people will use stones but doctors etc and younger people will weigh themselves in kilograms British people are less formal than Americans imagine where i live the most common greeting are alrit or ayeup saying hello is only ever used in very form occasions Outside tourist or conservation, where everything has to be keep how it is, you will hardly ever see a red phone box. Long before mobile (cell phones) most of the old traditional phone boxes had been replaced with ones simular to the ones you used to see in America. If tourists didn't want to see them most red phone boxes would have gone years ago.

I agree about the washer/dryer combo... ain’t nobody got time for that!

Toast trays are what your grandparents used or at old fashioned B&B's 🤣

The initials thing: it always seemed a bit odd to me that middle initials are so prominently used by producers/writers in the entertainment business, especially in the USA. (eg Darryl F Zanuck [US], Russell T Davies [UK] ).

I totally agree about washer/dryers, they’re useless. We have individual units in a small utility room. Most people under the age of 30 use Kilograms instead of Stone for weight. Celsius is a far better unit of temperature than Fahrenheit! The metric system is just much more useful generally, hence why it’s used by scientists and engineers in the US. Regarding telephone boxes, if you want to see a truly rare one you’ll have to visit Hull. We have them in cream, instead of red, because British Telecom didn’t operate here. Even today we can’t get BT internet, because the infrastructure is owned by KCOM - Kingston Communications. Fortunately they provide excellent speeds anyway, so it’s not an issue.

Hot buttered toast is a must! Never seen those trays, but very interesting. And yes I K Sandland is too close to IDK! Lol 😂

Here in the north east we say you alright as a greeting. Just say in return the same. We aren't asking for your life story or your medical history. Some say just morning or other one word greetings. You might hear someone say to you something about the weather like freezing isn't it or it's hot today as you both pass by each other. I think the reason for this behaviour is we just like being polite or we hate silence.

Sorry to be pedatic, but it's a toast rack, not tray. Also, if you're toast is getting cold, maybe you're not eating it fast enough ! that said, if you put it on a plate, heat it first. Hot toast, on a hot plate, no condesation, voila.

Hull has its own telephone exchange so around Hull / humberside the phone boxes are white not red even more rare

I would not like those toast trays either. Why do they not butter the toast while it's hot before putting them in the trays? (knowing that by the time it gets to the table they won't be hot enough for the butter to melt)? In the US, in the 1930s, the military made my grandfather choose a name because he didn't have a "real" one. His name at the time were initials that didn't stand for anything. So he picked a name at that time and went by it for the rest of his life. My other grandfather also went by initials but his actually meant something, so that was okay. He continued to go by his initials, though, cause he hated his first name. Basically, I'm saying the American military pre-WW2 agrees with you on practicality of names/initials. 😅

Combined washer/driers are the pits, would never buy one id rather stick a dryer on the bench (counter top). Its an historic thing with the taps and lead pipes I believe. Only time I've seen a toast rack is in a b & b or cafe, some of my credit cards have initials come have my first name and surname I think it just depends. Putting a return address is a generational thing in the Uk very few people under 50 do this. Celsius is used world wide there are only 3 countries that use Fahrenheit.

Washer/dryers - we don't have a dryer, I suspect that's true for a large number of British homes. We don't have space for a dryer, and why pay the electricity cost when you can just hang clothes on the line in the garden for free?! Temperature scales, please! Celsius is logical and scientific, Fahrenheit is old fashioned and obsolete 😃! And as for initials, as others have said, I would find it almost rude to be addressed by my first name by someone I hardly know.

Dara...OMG!!! I am not going to RED PHONE BOX in LONDON!!!! Thank you for this great info. Awesome content!!! Thank you for sharing 9 Weird British Things, D. Sandland.

In literature ,many years ago, women writers were not acceptable, so they assumed a male persona . It is still considered ( by men)that a communication from men is taken more seriously and when I had occasion to write to my sons` school I would always sign with an initial and surname .Also ,business letters .

Washer driers are the work of the devil. Here in Scotland we still use an outdoor washing line to dry laundry . Rain permitting!

Washer dryers are useless I agree with that.

Hahaha ,and I thought my mum and aunt could complain. 🤭

Yeah - Red phone boxes, since mobile phones, are becoming increasingly rare. It's only the phone boxes around Soho that have "postcards". The rural ones tend to be (like you say) defibrillators, mini libraries, and art galleries now. I've even seen a coffee shop running from one. Nice to see them getting re-used tho.