American? 12 things you should know about the UK

There are no degrees of uniqueness like pregnancy.

When you live on a crowded island, which is too densely populated, being excessively polite is a survival tactic..
Otherwise we would be beating the * out of each other. It doesn't oesn't always mean it's sincerely meant. It can be very nuanced and mask annoyance, exasperation or hostility. Enjoy! :)))

A Standing Order is a fixed sum but a Direct Debit varies according to variations in the amount owing from month to month.

UK has DIRECT DEBIT & STANDING ORDERS
The difference being that with Direct Debits the other person controls how much is taken out of your bank account, which can lead to nasty surprises. Whilst with Standing Orders YOU control how much is sent out, no nasty surprises.
DD = money is taken
SO = money is sent

Several comments on direct debits & standing orders.

Perhaps the most important difference is you can instruct your bank to "pay back" a direct debit if you're not happy with a payment. If you don't cancel a standing order before it's paid out you're on your own in trying to get your money back from the recipient. Both payments could be refused by your bank, if you don't have enough money in the account, or both could cause you to go overdrawn if you have an agreed overdraught. Not everyone realises they do if they've never gone overdrawn before & didn't read the terms & conditions properly.

Also sort codes aren't unique to you, they're the banking equivalent of the post code. They tell the paying bank which bank holds the account to transfer the funds to. Be extra careful to get the account number correct and always fill in the account name. There's a bit more chance an error will be stopped if the name & number don't match. Some people transfer a small amount to confirm with the recipient the details are correct if the amount they want to transfer is too large to risk.

When the Tour de France came here, we had thousands of visitors by train & the majority tried to get back on the train soon after the stage finished. Our railway station has an entrance on each side of the tracks, so queues formed at both and went in the same direction, the larger crossing a road bridge over the track until the ends of both queues met. The ultimate British dilemma, being simultaneously in two queues going in opposite directions. 😂

acclimatised is what we usually use. You used both acclimated and acclimatised.

When asked “can I get” my answer is usually “I don’t know, can you get it” the correct way is “ can I have”

Don't forget.. if you like to gossip it is a perfect place to live.

National Insurance Number. Is the Social Security number. You need to use it if you are contacting the Department of Work and Pensions.

PS. Fish and chips is good tasting food.

Don't forget there's other countries in great Britain apart from England. Americans I believe don't like being called Canadian and vice versa, and Britons other countries don't like being called English.

We are much chattier than you say we are, chatting to strangers even is quite acceptable

A catalogue of misinformation.

How about 13) A lot of Brits have a touch of eccentricity, of which they are quite proud, with a dark sense of humour thrown in for good measure...This includes the Ladies as well, I should add.

As my mother would say 'manners cost nothing'.

Who is this lady talk for or to is this for the American people ...if it is .some of the comments are bullshit by the way thats an American saying not english

Happy you are comfortable in the UK , you have certainly posted enough videos !
Life is changing here , so enjoy our idiosyncrasies whilst we still have them !

Post office and the Royal Mail are two different entities ...the scandal with the Post Office was down to a glitch in a Japanese system and complete incompetence from the bosses of the Post Office and the Japanese developers and management....and supported by useless politicians

We also pay fir things by Pay Pal, Bank Transfer, Debit card, Phone linked to bank acct & finally cash!

Your National Health Number changes! Ive had 3

1- I have never seen a form in this country that has an option for `lord` or `lady` of any description. Doctor might be an option, otherwise you tick `other`
2- This country is the size of California
3- Direct debits and standing orders are the same thing here. It jut depends on which end sets them up as to what it is called

Queing is not uniquely British. This is utter c---. If there was no queuing habit there would punchups and fights everywhere and people know it. Thats the way we are. Queuing avoids this

I dont find us to be particularly polite. Often the very opposite

You do have to have a National Insursnce number to live,vwork and pay raxes or claim benefits here. You were lucky. Between 1987 and 2022, I wasn't registered with a doctor and when zi went into hospitsl in 2022, my old nzhS number could nit be foubd, so I was issued a new one.

Hiya. I found it interesting that you used "acclimate" and "acclimatise" (US/UK) in two different parts of the video. Do you often find yourself interchanging colloquialisms? Stay safe. All the best to you.

You said "Tea" is one of the mainstays of British life - and yes it is hugely popular and has been for a very long time - BUT - in the last year or two Coffee has become the UK's most popular drink for the first time ever. So things may be changing.

I was horrified in the USA how nobody says please or thank you when getting a drink at the bar

I was always brought up with my mother saying,
Please and Thank you doesn't cost you anything but means a lot to who ever revives it.

I wouldn’t saying queuing is a British thing, I would say it just isn’t a US thing.

'Acclimated' (sic) is that a real word? Acclimatised is the correct word. Why do Americans just make word up?

Don't forget that when one is asked how you are, one's answer should ideally be "not too bad" never how one actually feels even if you are seriously ill. The question is not a request for information but an addition to the greeting. Now that's British.🙂🇬🇧

There are vanity plates in the UK. They’re called cherished numbers. You can retain this on selling the car and reassign later.

It is not Marquess, It is pronounced Markee (like the French pronumciation)

Useful points, as usual. Thank you. The bit about first and second class post reminded me of the story that in the Second World War some German spies were caught because they tried to buy Second Class train tickets - British trains only had First Class and Third Class carriages. That sounds odd but the story is that one railway tycoon declared that "no Englishman should have to travel second class." The Midland Railway abolished Second Class, and improved its Third Class provision as a way of competing for passengers.

We don't say acclimated, we say acclimatised. (with an s, not a z).

Giving way is competitive: who ever goes first has lost!

on the subject of giving way, flashing your headlights to allow another driver to come through or out of a T junction but woe betide the recipient of this benevolent act if he or she fails to give a little wave or flash of hazards in thanks. i live for that wave.

Plus sorry.

l am english and object on principle to being required to use a title

Post code is at the bottom of the address

Make sure you go to the right paypoint at the car park as some are shared

I’m not alone..there are a few of us left

i was born in Scotland 1939 now us citizen i do have abritish passport also. would i be on the NH S registry? if i dedcided to live in UK how would I apply ....just doe indo...thinking of stayunf for a year possivly buy a cottage😊

Don't 4get to speak quietly !

Welsh, Scottish, England or Eire things I think, Get real

Northerners are more approachable.

Social security number is a National Insurance number or NI number - assigned to you at birth and integral to almost all government dealings and much more. You are usually only given it when you reach 16 but it is assigned at birth and unique so exactly the same.

SUNNY England?
Where 's that exactly?

Uk is a very very dirty country. There is dirt literally everywhere

Long ago, I worked for the UK division of an American company, so I got to travel the the states a lot. My experience was that you really should not try to generalise American behaviour, or attitudes. It's a really big country and there really are big differences across the attitudes of, say, a person from LA, to someone from the MidWest...