Being British #5

[KJRowling]

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?

Basically the same as England - 60-70 degrees in summer and 4/5, sometimes reaching freezing during the winter

And how much does it rain? Just, you know, whenever? It's not like . . . not a lot, right?

It rains quite a bit... If we don't get atleast a light shower per week we are lucky. It's funny because at the moment it's raining buckets for hours every day bvut last week it was glorious sunshune all week - basically the longer the warm spell the longer the rain afterwards. We get alot of rain in Spring and Autumn, not much in Summer (but weatherwise we go from July to September for Summer) and a lot in winter - and this doesn't often turn to snow unless you live high up.

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.

lol, Yes there are shopping CENTRES - basically like a shopping mall but a different name and we don't have food courts, you just get coffee shops (quite a few coffee shops - you go shopping and at some point you always seem to end up in one...) and a Macdonalds or a KFC.

I'm so sorry. I'm American.

It's ok, we Brits are used to Americans knowing nothing about us... Atleast you don't think we sit around drinking tea and eating scones all day 9I do actually know someone who thought that)

[CCCC]

It's ok, we Brits are used to Americans knowing nothing about us... Atleast you don't think we sit around drinking tea and eating scones all day 9I do actually know someone who thought that)

There are those of us who keep that grand stereotype alive as far as possible. Crumpets are better than scones though.

Also, would giving someone the bird mean flipping someone off in england?

It might, but it's an extremely uncommon term. More so in HP times.

[Hermione_Rocks]

I feel really American posting in here, but do you Brits have huge soda sizes? Like, could you go to a fast food and order a "Big Gulp" or something like that?

[Poppet]

Uh... we don't call them "sodas". Try just naming the drink (like Coke, or Sprite, or something), and the largest size drink that I have ever seen was at the cinema. My friend bought a Coke that was, like, TWO LITRES She couldn't walk after the movie... In McDo, you used to be able to order something "supersized", but they've banned those now. You would probably just call it a large, but in BK you can "go large for 40p!" (I am sad for knowing this - and 40p is like 80c), which takes you up to an XL, which is about, what, 750? 800ml? 'Though this was a fairly recent introduction - its only about three years (maybe four, I forget my age a lot) old.

[apollo13]

Remember, you can also call them soft drinks, if they're non-alcoholic. Yeah, I'd just stick to small, medium, large - that's the safest option.

~Evie

[nikkiolapotter]

I feel so dumb.

Okay, so in England, do you ever 'inch away from something'? Or do you just not use the term at all? Do you guys even use metrics?


So sorry for my ignorance.

[CCCC]

I feel so dumb.

Okay, so in England, do you ever 'inch away from something'? Or do you just not use the term at all? Do you guys even use metrics?


So sorry for my ignorance.

Yes very much so.

We're one foot in each camp with regards to metric, and have been for the past century or so. You measure long distances in miles, shorter ones in metres, a person's height in feet, an object's height in metres. Heavy weights in kilos, lighter weights in both, liquids tend to be metric.

It's also dependant on the age, older people go for more imperial measures, if you're buying something it's almost certain to be metric now (although that's relatively recent).

For some reason we're delaying fully metricating, so we still have a similar-ish system with the USA, Liberia and Myanmar, the only other imperial measurement countries.

[Nutz-chan]

Okay so my bata is British and has never mentioned htis to me, but then again...neither one of us are very observent sometimes... Do Brits spell "realized" like that? Or is a spelled like this: "realised"? My MS Word is set on English UK but it says both are right and I'm not sure...

Also would Remus as a 17 in England say "you guys" ? Is my timing off, do Brits even say that?

*rolls eyes* Man this all would be easier if I had just been born in England like I wish I had been...

[padfootsgirl1981]

Hi! The spelling tends to be 'realised', at least that's what I've always been taught. As for Remus saying 'you guys' I would say that it depended on the context that it is being used in. For example I could see him saying, "Oh come on, you guys, cut it out," but I don't see it being used in dialogue such as, "Hey, you guys," But i wouldn't take my word on the 'you guys' bit as I myself struggle on phrases being used in the right era. I'd just thought I'd give you my take on the matter. I hope I managed to help a little.

[Nutz-chan]

I've got Remus saying to (the first time) James and Peter and (the second time) to Sirius, James, Peter and Lily...hes talking about pretending everything is normal so that they stay friends with him. I dunno if that made any sense...