Being British #5

[rita_skeeter]

We went a little over the limit for thread number four...so you now have this shiny new one to play with.

As usual, this is where to come to find out about all things cultural: customs, school, food, work, etc.

There are lots of users from the UK and Ireland on our forums, and they've shown us how knowledgeable and willing to help they are ever since this started up. Therefore, please could ONLY Brits answer things in here.

Oh, and remember there's a time difference, so you may have to be patient for answers!

The latest query:

Hello there! I need a bit of urgent help. So, my newest (and as yet, un-submitted) story is called Sapphire Wings and it has a sub-plot line concerning the East End of London. The research I’ve done so far has only helped me find out things about the East End of the past – things like extreme poverty, cockney speech, murderers and muggers, and of course, immigrants. What I need to know is what the present day East End is like. Are there any cool ghost stories surrounding present-day places of the EE? Does extreme poverty still exist? Do the various foreign immigrants (Bangladeshis, Jews, etc) have special communities in the East End? How big is EE? Do people still live without homes there? Which parts of the EE are now for comparatively rich people (like, is Canary Wharf for high-class folks?) and which areas still have extremely poor people.

Please, help!!

Thanks, Amel

[emily_the_poet]

Would papa (refering to a father) be a british term? Also, would giving someone the bird mean flipping someone off in england?

[Poppet]

Would papa (refering to a father) be a british term? Also, would giving someone the bird mean flipping someone off in england?

Papa is generally considered obsolete as a term for "father" in Britain. However, if it was an upper-middle to upper class traditionalist family, it may be used. It is more commonly seen in these circles as a term for "grandfather". And "giving someone the bird", whilst would be understood, would not be used in Britain as such (unless you're like my colleague Ben, who is obsessed with using Americanisms). Flipping someone off is perfectly acceptable, but if you want to use a version of "giving someone the bird", "giving someone the finger" would be your best bet.

Hello there! I need a bit of urgent help. So, my newest (and as yet, un-submitted) story is called Sapphire Wings and it has a sub-plot line concerning the East End of London. The research I’ve done so far has only helped me find out things about the East End of the past – things like extreme poverty, cockney speech, murderers and muggers, and of course, immigrants. What I need to know is what the present day East End is like. Are there any cool ghost stories surrounding present-day places of the EE? Does extreme poverty still exist? Do the various foreign immigrants (Bangladeshis, Jews, etc) have special communities in the East End? How big is EE? Do people still live without homes there? Which parts of the EE are now for comparatively rich people (like, is Canary Wharf for high-class folks?) and which areas still have extremely poor people.

As for this, the East End is one of the poorest places in Britain today, and there is an enormous amount of homeless people there.But then again, in any large city there will be slums and the homeless.

Some parts of the East End have been subject to a number of urban regeneration projects, most notably Canary Wharf, a huge commercial and housing development on the Isle of Dogs. Many of the 1960s tower blocks have been demolished or have been renovated. The area around Old Spitalfields market and Brick Lane has been extensively regenerated and is famous, amongst other things, as London's curry capital, as well as being the home of a number of London's art galleries, including the famous Whitechapel Gallery.

Much of the area remains, however, one of the poorest in Britain and contains some of the capital's worst deprivation. This is in spite of rising property prices, and the extensive building of luxury apartments, centred largely around the dock areas and alongside the Thames. With rising costs elsewhere in the capital and the availability of brownfield land, the East End has become a desirable place for business.

This is a link to a site explaining the various areas of the East End. As to the modern ghost stories, the Jack the Ripper/Leaper/Stripper legends were recently re-surfaced due to a spree of killings which were signed "Jack". Also, Robert Louis Stevenson's "The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde" was set in London. These tales, whilst old, still scare people today. I personally, however, know of no new ghost stories. However, you could probably make a few up: I find that is how most stories as made now-a-days anyway.

[Rita Skeeter]

Would "bite me"--as in a response to an unwanted comment--be considered a phrase used in Britain? If not, is there anything similar?

[padfootsgirl1981]

Erm, I really don't think that I've ever heard "Bite me" be used here, but I'm having the hardest time of thinking of the phrase that would be used instead. I'll get back to you if I have a sudden moment of inspiration.

[LilykinsLove]

Is rubbish bin the correct term for a place to put trash in?

Emma

[AurorKeefy]

The small bins you would find in the corner of classrooms and bedrooms are rubbish bins. The larger ones you would put your weekly (or now bi-weekly) household waste into for collection are dustbins. Recently these have been replaced by Wheelie Bins, which are, essentially, dustbins with wheels. They only really became common in the last ten years.

If it isn't a house's dustbin, and it isn't a classroom's rubbish bin, then it's just a bin. It would also be quite acceptable to call either of them 'bins', and in reality most people would refer to rubbish bins simply as bins in conversation.

Bins contain rubbish. "Garbage" is not used to describe waste, though it may still be used in dialog to denote contemptuous disbelief. Equally trash is used extremely rarely to describe rubbish, but can be used to describe goods of little value or worth. An obviously cheap ring from a jewelry store is trash. A dress that is rather less elegant than it's contemporaries is trashy. A pair of shoes that were once expensive but are now worn to the point of being worth nothing are trashed.

Right, I'm off before my post turns any more materialistic, or before I turn into Stig of the sodding dump.

[Nutz-chan]

Um...I was wondering, what is the 'proper' way to brew tea in Ireland? Like if you have tea leaves...not bags....

[padfootsgirl1981]

Hi! I would say that it didn't really matter, as it would really depend on what the person prefers. There is no set way of brewing their tea, so which ever one you choose should be fine.

[Ron x Hermione]

I have a few questions about the weather in Scotland. How hot does it get/can it get during the summer? How cold can it get during the winter months? And how much does it rain? Just, you know, whenever? It's not like . . . not a lot, right?

Also, does Scotland have, like, shopping malls? Like they do in America with parking lots and cars . . . etc. . . I know I may be being thick, but I have no idea. I know it's not a different world, I just don't want to get anything wrong.

I'm so sorry. I'm American.

~Lindsey