For all my non-UK followers and fellow writers, I have written a New Year’s quick list of 50 things that immediately come across as non-British in fanfiction and RPs. Hope it helps someone out there! Here’s to a brilliant 2016!!
Roommates at British universities are not common – tend to only be people who failed to ask for accommodation on time or are really strapped for cash.
We pick our degrees before we go to university – only take modules relating to that course
Therefore, Harry Styles doing an English degree would not be taking intro to psychology. Sorry guys.
No elementary/middle/high school (primary 5-11 yrs, secondary 11-16 yrs, sixth form college 16-19 yrs) Some parts of the UK have middle & high.
We don’t call it kindergarten
We don’t call university ‘college’ or ‘school’
It’s maths not math here and it’s not separated in schools. You would have one maths teacher, not an algebra teacher and a calculus teacher and a geometry teacher.
People live in far smaller houses than many other countries and they tend to be semi-detached or terraces.
Mom is not a thing – mum for most of the country, mam for the rest.
Pancakes here tend to refer to what other countries call crepes, not American pancakes, bacon is more like Canadian bacon
They and waffles are not common breakfast foods
24 hour clock is used for official business a lot of the time
Target, Walmart and other American stores aren’t in the UK
For that matter, most people I know would say ‘going to the shops’ not to the store
It’s not the grocery store, it’s a supermarket (common ones: Tesco’s, Asda and Sainsbury’s)
Vegetables have different names here
Christmas traditions are different – there’s a good Anglophenia video on it
We have different TV channels – check out the British TV guide here
There is no single University of London – it’s made up of loads of different universities and colleges
There are more cities than London and Manchester, promise. List of UK cities here
All our school years are a year out compared with America since we start reception a year earlier than Americans start kindergarten.
Therefore: Year 4 = 3rd grade, Year 13 = 12th grade
You can get the train to Paris from London – we are pretty connected
I know we’re small, but you can’t drive from the north of England to the south of England anywhere near as quickly as google says you can.
Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland exist
We don’t use euros but are a part of the EU
Tipping is only done on good service at restaurants and is usually around 10%. We don’t tip bar staff, beauticians or hairdressers etc.
Guns are not legal for most ordinary people
Even our normal police don’t carry them
Drinking age is 18 but you can drink beer/wine/cider with a meal from the age of 16 as long as adults are there.
Have to be 18 to buy tobacco
Driving minimum age is 17 – we take two tests, a theory and then a practical one
BBC radio has no adverts. Neither does the TV.
And yes I called them adverts, not commercials.
Degrees tend to be 3 years
No freshman/sophomore etc.
But we do have freshers week at the start of uni – lots of partying and clubbing
We tend to go to pubs for a nice time out with friends, bars are more for like serious partying
It’s the prime minister not president
The royal family don’t all live in Buckingham Palace
England: At A Level (final two years of school), you only take around 3 subjects. So Sherlock wouldn’t have been forced to take xyz if he doesn’t like them.
Zebra is pronounced zeb-ra
Pronunciation is completely different in general really
I never say bugger, git, ass over tits or pretty much any other ‘slang’ American TV suggests we use. I do say bloody if I’m pissed off and there are kids or other people I don’t really want to swear in front of.
A lot of BBC America shows aren’t actually BBC
The Hispanic community just isn’t as large in the UK as the USA, but we have fairly large Pakistani and Indian communities as well as lots of immigration from countries such as Nigeria and the West Indies. (Read – ‘the Commonwealth’ so to speak)
The cost of living in the UK is absurd. Lots of shops that might be fairly cheap in the USA put a mark up on us buying them and they cost a lot more eg. Hollister. Check the UK online store before assuming that it’s as cheap here.