TheaterFire

What’s something that’s normal in the UK but weird elsewhere?

Posted by DifferentCastle@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 129 comments

For me it's the fact we have washing machines in the kitchen??

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129 Comments

C4rb5@reddit

Lunch is lunch, dinner can be lunch , sometimes dinner is tea, otherwise tea is tea, unless it’s in the afternoon and no one knows what supper is.
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Supper is the snack after your pre-bedtime snack, but before your bedtime snack
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PipBin@reddit

Growing up supper was the main evening meal, but we were posh.
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ChefPaula81@reddit

We were northern and not posh, so that was tea.
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VixenRoss@reddit

Although sometimes, it’s a posh evening meal. Especially if it’s by candlelight. There are people famous for their “candle light suppers”
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hdptfa@reddit

As a foreigner in the UK - saying ‘you alright?’ as a greeting
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mimi-17@reddit

As a UK person living abroad - agreed! If I say that, people are genuinely confused and bewildered. Similarly: saying ‘not bad’ when people ask how I am. Everyone thinks I’m suicidal.
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Key_Milk_9222@reddit

That's because you're breaking the social contract, the correct answer is either "fine, you?" or "good, you?". If you're feeling extravagant you can say "can't complain/grumble". 
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CentralSaltServices@reddit

Often the answer is a mirror of the question, depending on how it's asked. "Yorite?" "Yorite?"
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Are ya?
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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

Washing machine in the kitchen.
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Where else ya gonna put it???
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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

Laundry/utility room in most parts of the world apparently!
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CharringtonCross@reddit

There are some lunatics that put it in the bathroom
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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

I suppose it that's where you take off your dirty clothes it makes sense! Know someone what had there's in a room that had an airing cupboard section which had a door on the back for towels to come out and dirty laundry straight in !
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V65Pilot@reddit

Yup. Had a washer and dryer in a room, specifically for the washer and dryer. Even had a deep sink and storage shelves, along with a counter for sorting and folding laundry. The room was bigger than one of "bedrooms" in the house I live in now.
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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

Very jealous, my washer and dryer are wedged in the airing cupboard next to the tank ! I know we are privileged !
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Weird 🤣
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LNGBandit77@reddit

Pomp and circumstance
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GuybrushFunkwood@reddit

Chilling out on a Friday night in town with your friends watching 2 tramps fight with a seagull over a bag of dropped chips.
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Helpful_Librarian_87@reddit

Ahhhhh, Glasgow
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LNGBandit77@reddit

Any town outside the M25
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Objective-Resident-7@reddit

Nah, you don't get seagulls in Glasgow. They just look like seagulls.
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wankmarvin@reddit

Seagulls are just Gulls.
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Objective-Resident-7@reddit

True.
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Aromatic_Pea_4249@reddit

And placing bets as to who will win. 🤣
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Stcasxx@reddit

Queuing, manners..
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Educational-Yam-4243@reddit

Would you prefer a free for all?
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Stcasxx@reddit

No, I wouldn’t prefer it. Was simply stating what is true
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ChefPaula81@reddit

No it’s just hard to understand how the rest of the world can’t just get in a queue and wait their turn, especially the yanks!
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StrawberryF5@reddit

Hot cross buns, Christmas crackers, Uncle Joe's Mint Balls and sticks of rock.
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facialtwitch@reddit

Trying on shoes in shops without feet covers
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foulveins@reddit

separate hot & cold taps at least in my experience, totally not the norm anywhere but here
View on Reddit #53232157

V65Pilot@reddit

Drives me insane..... but, there is actually a reason for that. Houses that run a combo boiler with no cistern don't need them though.
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Objective-Resident-7@reddit

I'm Scottish. We don't have separate hot and cold taps in modern houses. But it's interesting. The reason for separate hot and cold taps is due to preventing the spread of legionaries disease. The cold water tap came from the mains, but the hot water came from a water heater usually in the loft, or attic. This was to provide pressure. They were separate to make sure that you always drank safe water. It's fine to mix the two water sources as long as you don't give the bacteria time to multiply. That really means less than about a metre and a half of length of mixed water. The mixer tap prevents all of that. The hot water is hot and the cold water is cold until it meets. The fact that the UK still has separate taps is because it had hot and cold water before many countries and because it figured out that legionnaires disease was a potential problem. But today, every tap in my house mixes water just like anywhere else in Europe.
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FYIgfhjhgfggh@reddit

Not just legionnaires disease. It's to stop potential backflow of dirty water into the drinking water.
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Objective-Resident-7@reddit

That does, yeah, but the separation of hot and cold water is a different thing.
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ThereAndFapAgain2@reddit

To be honest I haven't seen separate hot and cold taps in someone's house since I was a kid. Everyone I know switched over to the normal ones years ago.
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Djinjja-Ninja@reddit

As with anything like this that is intrinsically British, [Tom Scott has a good video on it.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HfHgUu_8KgA)
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pslamB@reddit

A slowly dying phenomenon I would say. It's rare to encounter this in modern bathrooms and kitchens
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tmstms@reddit

The washing up bowl in the sink.
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diond09@reddit

My dad used to bring the washing up bowl into the front room and bathe his feet and cut his toenails in it. We thought it was normal behaviour.
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V65Pilot@reddit

We were posh, we had a second bowl for this.
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ddttm@reddit

Less water to get enough depth to do the dishes in a thorough fashion. In my mind anyway.
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Mental_Body_5496@reddit

This!
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oudcedar@reddit

Never understood that but I grew up in a sink-only household. My experience of washing up bowls were in a particular kind of house which was different to my parents in a few ways, usually washing up bowls, shoes off inside compared to keeping them on, and weird dangly string bead curtains into the kitchen.
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TitiCamarasayshello@reddit

Beans on toast is regularly met with shock and confusion whenever I bring it up with people from overseas.
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mcf74@reddit

Deep fried confectionary
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WastedSapience@reddit

In my experience, that's not even normal in Glasgow, let alone the UK.
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Drawing the line at mars bars, but an Oreo is too much to deep fry? Or just cause Oreo’s are American and we aren’t buying their shit anymore?
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WastedSapience@reddit

Have you replied to the wrong person, maybe?
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Looks like I did. 🤣 I’m gonna leave it there now though, just to baffle people with the out of context randomness
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mexicocaro@reddit

Nahhh Deep Fried Oreo’s are a thing in Mexico. Pretty sure it must be a US export.
View on Reddit #53232271

Ok-You4214@reddit

Dogs and children in pubs
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Aromatic_Pea_4249@reddit

Dogs ok (they generally behave), children no. It's not fair on anyone, let alone the children as they get bored.
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Dogs stink. Not fair on the pub customers
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Key_Milk_9222@reddit

Pub customers stink. Not fair on the dogs. 
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Never smelled a pub customer that stinks of “wet pub customer” but the smell of wet dog is offensive to anyone with a nose! Especially in the pub
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jimmy2moves@reddit

Almost every pub has a children's menu and provides crayons. Children are people too
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OhWhatAPalava@reddit

No they don't. What a weird comment
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Beneandhot@reddit

Clog Dancing.
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queenofthepalmtrees@reddit

Morris Dancers.
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Agreeable_Strength51@reddit

Turning the heat on and off throughout the day. Other cold countries switch the heat on at the start of winter and it stays on until spring is warm enough to turn it off til next year.
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mhoulden@reddit

Plugs that you can use as caltrops.
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ClevelandWomble@reddit

You rarely stand on one twice, that's for sure. Even worse than Lego
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Pure_Recognition_715@reddit

Paying so much Tax
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Weary_Bat2456@reddit

Counting things in feet and yards
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Not if you were born after 1901! No jk, but I was born early 80’s and we learned metric first and barely touched on converting metric to imperial in high school. It’s a nightmare being 14 years old and finding that the numerous local dealers only sell weed in ounces or fractions of an ounce and you’re thinking “talk fucking English FFS”.
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colin_staples@reddit

Err... America?
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WastedSapience@reddit

Weight in stones and ounces.
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Mr__Skeet@reddit

Paying a privately owned company an extortionate monthly subscription for water - the most essential human resource.
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Rodolpho55@reddit

Correction. Paying a foreign owned company.
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Mr__Skeet@reddit

Not entirely correct. NatWest pension fund owns a large stake in South East water for example.
View on Reddit #53246806

ChefPaula81@reddit

They were also correct, they’re privately owned abroad
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osmin_og@reddit

Sandwich for lunch
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Not uncommon in the rest of the world, just often has a different type of bread
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CentralSaltServices@reddit

Spotted Dick
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ChefPaula81@reddit

Richard has *acne*, it’s not his fault
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Clear_Cabinet9323@reddit

Doing an entire gram of mdma in one sitting
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ChefPaula81@reddit

You come down yet?
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Breakfastcrisis@reddit

I feel seen
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sklatch@reddit

Calling someone a cunt in an affectionate way.
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3xonblack@reddit

I think that belongs to the Aussies more than us
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ChefPaula81@reddit

We do it a lot too, in the pub, at work, in the local shop, by text. Yea British defo cal each other cunt as much as the Aussies do
View on Reddit #53245907

No-Locksmith6662@reddit

Scotland has entered the chat.
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Physical-Bear2156@reddit

Having a king, unless you're playing chess, obviously.
View on Reddit #53244025

Throwing_Daze@reddit

Bookies on every high street. The explosion of online gambling is a controversal issue in many many countries because they didn't have much gambling in general. People in other countries find it strange that there is (/was?) a daily newspaper about nothing but horse racing.
View on Reddit #53243222

Academic_Visual116@reddit

Pantomime
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colin_staples@reddit

Oh no it isn't!
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Competitive-Log4210@reddit

Sorry had to say this. Oh yes it is!
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Academic_Visual116@reddit

🤣🤣🤣🤣
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alltorque1982@reddit

Free healthcare...
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cgknight1@reddit

Dogging.
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PeroniNinja84@reddit

Nope happens everywhere else too.
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CheesyLala@reddit

Fuck's sake Mum
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Miss_Andry101@reddit

I love/hate when reddit makes me laugh out loud when I'm outside, in a public place, by myself. Thank you?
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Agitated-Tourist9845@reddit

Having a window cleaner apparently.
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robjamez72@reddit

Yeah, I was having dinner with a family in Italy once and they couldn’t understand how I could do it as a job. But all their windows open inwards so they can do it themselves.
View on Reddit #53233833

AdhesivenessNo6288@reddit

This just led to a very defensive conversation with my Greek husband before he finally admitted that probably it wasn't that no one ever cleaned the windows when he was growing up, and that it was probably just that the housewives/women in general always did it and as a bloke he never noticed. (He's normally pretty woke but sometimes has an enlightenment moment, even after 12 years of us having these conversations)
View on Reddit #53240477

WeBeSoldiersThree@reddit

Maybe not "weird" elsewhere, but perhaps jot considered okay - Going to the pub most days after work, and just having a singular pint. Also, pub in your own
View on Reddit #53239877

DependentChance5698@reddit

Taking the piss out of your mates, the more intensely the closer the mate. Bantering. Tut tutting when someone skips the queue. Mumbling under one's breath rather than complaining out loud. Arguing over the pronunciation of "scone." Arguing over putting the clotted cream or jam first on scones. Having a garden barbecue in the rain because sunny weather is so rare and unpredictable. Using "twat" (rhymes with "hat") and "cunt" so frequently. Having a panic attack about running out of tea bags. Arguing over putting milk in before or after pouring hot water on a tea bag.
View on Reddit #53238486

mr-dirtybassist@reddit

Drinking tap water, Saying WHAAAAAAYYYYY!! when someone drops a glass
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invincible-zebra@reddit

As a kid, we went to Prague and I will always remember the person at the flat my parents rented making a point of saying the tap water is safe to drink. I was like ‘… it is everywhere, surely?’
View on Reddit #53237400

esn111@reddit

[There's a Stephen Fry Welcome to Heathrow video about life in the UK that touches on that.](https://youtu.be/prfCXLfAnCk?si=MH3ZNV_Db5DogaBj) "I have no idea why we do that"
View on Reddit #53237270

Captain-Obvious-69@reddit

Felching Clubs
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NeddTwo@reddit

Didn't know. Internet search.........oh dear, now I do.
View on Reddit #53234830

Intelligent_Step1666@reddit

Can you give us a very general hint please? Too scared to Google,!
View on Reddit #53236528

NeddTwo@reddit

Depends a) how broadminded you are and b), how squeemish you are. All I can say, without going into graphic detail, is that it involves anuses, mouths, and semen..........
View on Reddit #53237296

badgersruse@reddit

Now you see, we didn’t need to go there.
View on Reddit #53232472

Captain-Obvious-69@reddit

Whats the first rule of felching club? Remember to blow bubbles
View on Reddit #53232717

DrKriegerBot@reddit

And, that's enough Internet for me today.
View on Reddit #53232442

Captain-Obvious-69@reddit

Redditor "Whats felching". *googles "felching"* Redditor "aaand im done"
View on Reddit #53232621

wondered-bongo@reddit

Not having air conditioning
View on Reddit #53232279

farraigemeansthesea@reddit

Given that it rarely is above freezing, what would be the point?
View on Reddit #53237234

Humble-Barber-5088@reddit

Apologising for just about everything.
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colin_staples@reddit

Sorry, but Canadians do this too
View on Reddit #53235965

Melonpan78@reddit

Ditto Japanese.
View on Reddit #53236193

AdonisFineJewellers@reddit

Saying 'ooh, sorry' for a million different reasons, none of which warrant an apology.
View on Reddit #53236184

dobber72@reddit

When I lived in the Middle East every apartment I had and a couple of the villas had washing machines in the kitchen, dryers too.
View on Reddit #53235557

TSC-99@reddit

Yorkshire puddings
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Martinw17@reddit

Getting hammered every Friday and Saturday night and often one of the days in the week too. I think this has changed since my youth but when I was in my late teens and 20s it was considered completely normal - in fact people who didn’t do it were seen as a bit weird. For my brain cells’ sake I wish it hadn’t been so normalised.
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Brave_Pain1994@reddit

Washing Machine in the kitchen, a lot of countries in Europe it's in the bathroom.
View on Reddit #53233063

Medium_Situation_461@reddit

Number plates with “UK” on them.
View on Reddit #53232951

kennyomegabygod@reddit

People arriving on boats
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Ultimate_os@reddit

Tea and coffee making facilities everywhere, like hotels.
View on Reddit #53232669

SaltyName8341@reddit

Going to the pub as an extension to your front room
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UpsetInteraction2095@reddit

Beans on toast and our deep interest in tea and how it's made etc..
View on Reddit #53232126

Global_Geologist8822@reddit

Mushy Peas 
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