Being British #5

[padfootsgirl1981]

Hi! Well it usually differs quite a bit. But I do know that we had some snow where I live at the beginning of February. It really depends on where a bouts in Britain. The highlands of Scotland tends to get rather a lot of snow from November time probably all the way through to the beginning of February. Generally I think you're safe with having it snowy in February.

Hope that helped!

[L_edge]

Hi there, I was hoping if you could give me some help…

Is there a place somewhere in Britain where well off (although not necessarily very rich) people can buy themselves a cottage? The equivalent of cottages for the middle class outside of Toronto (Wasaga) or New York (Hampton’s). It doesn’t have to be near a beach, but somewhere in the country, maybe near a forest. The place should have a "reputation" for being a respectful place for a family to spend their time there...

In Agatha Christie's books I read about Devon, is that place anything like what I’ve described?

Thanks…

[AurorKeefy]

As a general rule, possibly.

It depends where you are of course. Being about fifteen miles from the sea and in a relatively low area, it's unlikely to snow here, but it happens. Go further inland, especially in the higher areas, and it becomes much more likely. If, to be reasonable, we're talking the Hogwarts area, I would say that it would quite likely for it to snow during February. It still counts as the British winter, and I certainly wouldn't say it was unrealistic. If it works for your fic, then go with it.

EDIT: And on cottages, Devon doesn't sound unreasonable. If you have the money, you can find a cottage in a respectable place just about anywhere. Cornwall would be another classic one, some parts of wales, and - if you prefer your cottages a little more isolated and inland, you could do worse than just out in the country in Lancashire/Yorkshire.

[Nutz-chan]

I know poof and pounce and shirtlifter are all terms used to refer to gay men, but I was wondering if there was a specific one that was popular in the mid 90's?

[emmaholloway]

i've only ever heard poof... it probably changes depending on where abouts you are

[Nutz-chan]

Thanks, now I've got another question. I know I saw the answer in (I think) the Being British #3 thread, but I can't find the thread. If two inexperienced young wizards sat down at a bar in Southwest England, how would they ask for a beer...like just a beer in a smallish city?

Does that make any sence...I know there was a long post about this in a previous thread...if someone can find me the link to the thread, I don't mind searching through it...

[rita_skeeter]

Does that make any sence...I know there was a long post about this in a previous thread...if someone can find me the link to the thread, I don't mind searching through it...

Sorry, but all previous Being British threads were deleted in the recent spring-clean.

[emmaholloway]

they would probably ask for a pint but i am not really sure.

[AurorKeefy]

You...you deleted that?



That post was my finest hour! The only time I've actually been able to contribute something of worth and make a flatulence joke on these boards! I'm tempted to curl up into a ball and cry at it's loss!

For the meantime, I am going to give you a one paragraph version of it, that misses all the brilliant subtleties of the full length version.

Drinks of beer in the UK are served in Pints and Half-Pints (a Half). If a guy goes into a pub for a beer he almost exclusively has a Pint. These days girls will have Pints too, though in Harry's day they would probably of had a Half. Ninety percent of beer served in pubs is Lager - the other ten percent making up Cider (effectively beer made from apples rather than hops), Bitter, Mild and Stout. To all reasonable intents and purposes a male under the age of fifty will drink Lager. All, again to reasonable extent and purposes, will be called beer in the context.

For your example, the wizard would ask for either "A pint of Lager", "A pint" or "A lager". With the multitude of different brands on offer, you would do well to avoid using anything more than "A pint", and to avoid the actual ordering process altogether.

If you really need to know the specifics, please pm me and I will try and repeat my last post here with the details. I would gladly repost that here, but - in a piece of irony not lost upon me - I am too p****d (where in England said word equates to drunk rather than annoyed) to be capable of posting the entire thing.

For the moment I will sit here and lament the loss of my finest hour here on the boards.

[Diamond Quill]

If this year was any indication then yes it WOULD snow in February. This year where I live we got about a foot and a half of snow in the first week of Feb which was the most snow some Brits had ever seen lol. Also when it snows in Britain the whole country practically shuts down because noone knows how to deal with it. One thing to note about the snow in England is that it will snow on a random day between late December and late Feb and then the snow will melt after a couple of days. It doesn't tend to stick around for weeks and weeks. It's different in Scotland though, I think snow lasts a lot longer there.