What topics to discuss in a class on British culture?
Posted by Mysterious-Raisin537@reddit | AskUK | View on Reddit | 189 comments
It’s a real subject at my school. We’ve already covered almost everything; I need something unconventional and informal, perhaps something controversial.
Forward-Swimmer-8451@reddit
You want controversial look at northern Ireland and culture here . The history itself is the culture and everything from how you say h to how you express culture is a political statement
maceion@reddit
Britain is tribal nation, with many tribes who instinctively work with fellow tribal members and less co-operative with others.
DrHydeous@reddit
You should spend an entire term on our most important contribution to human welfare - cricket.
BottleKey4858@reddit
The Freddo situation.
Left-Ad-3412@reddit
It's fucking precarious
FlippingGerman@reddit
The more lighthearted option: regional names for woodlice. There are lots of them, with extreme local variation, and if you need a research project you can find as many people as you can and ask them where they grew up and what they called woodlice.
The more intense option: what are some cultural aspects that much of the rest of the world has adopted without realising it’s British? I would suggest the business suit and the Westminster governmental system, but I’m sure there are more.
Present_Air_7694@reddit
Tea.
bossanovasupernova@reddit
pagan inspired rituals. Maypole, morris, harvest festivals etc.
Ambitious-Elk-3350@reddit
They're not pagan inspired. So it would be another dull batch of misinformation, unless you want to debunk all the myths and explain how almost all those 'rituals' were invented by bored Victorians.
elbandito999@reddit
They may not be pagan inspired - although no one really knows - but they're not invented by the Victorians either. The earliest historical mentions are hundreds of years before the Victorians.
Ambitious-Elk-3350@reddit
No, actually people do really know because it's been extensively studied. The few relics of events we have are old Christian, as in Catholic, mostly lost in the years after the reformation. Before that there were blends of Christianity and local tradition.
Bede's account is the sole source of a few mentions, and he wasn't speaking from experience. Bede's account has also been extensively studied and there are plenty of papers you can read on his errors.
elbandito999@reddit
Ah I misunderstood you - I thought you were saying that maypole and morris dancing were invented by the Victorians.
TheWeebWhoDaydreams@reddit
Also important to point out that "pagan" isn't a religion, nor a specific culture (as I often see people discussing it). Pagan just means any pre christian group and their religion and culture. Neo-Paganism is a thing. But there's no "old paganism", "traditional paganism", (or paleo-paganism?)
bex9990@reddit
Weren't the Victorians pagan-inspired with what they made up?
Ambitious-Elk-3350@reddit
No, mostly just wanted it all to be true, so made shit up.
Plenty of academic study on the matter. Start with Ronald Hutton.
Infinite_Crow_3706@reddit
+ christmas and easter
burner90098071@reddit
how a suit is just british cultural attire that spread worldwide to become the default uniform for any government leader and CEO
clawlash123@reddit
Odd things in English language idiom, place names etc is a fun one!
Final_Flounder9849@reddit
Scone etiquette. Cream or jam first? Butter or no butter? Pulling apart the scone or horrifying any onlookers and using a knife?
Dontunderstandfamily@reddit
And pronunciation and the Devon/Cornwall divide
Final_Flounder9849@reddit
I pronounce it scone. Never scone. What about you?
Dontunderstandfamily@reddit
Absolutely, it's clearly scone and not scone.
Final_Flounder9849@reddit
For a minute there I thought you’d said scone!
Dontunderstandfamily@reddit
I would never do that, I am not a heathen!
Final_Flounder9849@reddit
Thank the lord!
Dontunderstandfamily@reddit
Have you covered the political system? Or the NHS - not just its history but also how important it is to Britain culturally (see 2012 opening ceremony referencing it)
Dontunderstandfamily@reddit
Pantomime!
PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit
What age are the pupils?
That'll make the biggest difference.
Mysterious-Raisin537@reddit (OP)
11 graders
fleapuppy@reddit
We don’t talk about children’s age by what grade/school level they’re in, especially as the different countries in the UK use different school systems. You’d just refer to their actual ages
4321zxcvb@reddit
No we dont. They are year 1,2,3 etc vs grade …
Barry_Burton_1974@reddit
Very different in Scotland so we're already lost between two major UK countries. Age works better.
4321zxcvb@reddit
Not saying it isn’t but people do refer to kids by the school year group sometimes It’s not exactly controversial
fleapuppy@reddit
If I asked “what age is your kid?” and you said “year 2” I’d assume you had a toddler
4321zxcvb@reddit
Well you would assume incorrectly. Year two would be last year of infants
fleapuppy@reddit
What’s infants? In Scotland we call school years primary 1-7, then 1st year, 2nd year etc for secondary school. That’s why it’s not useful to refer to children’s age by school year, it doesn’t mean anything to someone who wasn’t in that school system
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
True but that’s the answer to the question, ‘what year are they in?’ not ‘what age are the kids?’
Mysterious-Raisin537@reddit (OP)
Oh I'm sorry, didn't know that. The students are 16-17 years old
Barry_Burton_1974@reddit
When I've had students of that age they've always loved going into the language and dialect differences throughout the UK. Could be a fun topic with a lot to cover.
PolarLocalCallingSvc@reddit
So 15-16 year olds?
Mysterious-Raisin537@reddit (OP)
16-18
Prestigious_Elk353@reddit
Hi OP the responses to this remind me of another aspect of our culture to discuss - pedantry.
Hollyhop_Drive@reddit
Why alcohol was a staple (only way of purifying water), and how tea overtook it for the same reasons.
TomLondra@reddit
You can't drink alcohol. It would kill you. Perhaps you mean alcoholic drinks
Hollyhop_Drive@reddit
No shit sherlock. 😒
Scary_Application_70@reddit
What different areas call a bread roll. It's definitely a roll (I'm from the south of England)
OkPerformance66@reddit
Unless it’s a bap or a cob or…
Barry_Burton_1974@reddit
Bread ball. The only correct answer.
ValuableActuator9109@reddit
Coming in to say teacake. I'm not from England. That's the term I picked up in West Yorkshire (Huddersfield, Dewsbury, etc specifically). I liked it, so I kept it. It annoys all my Scouse neighbours now I live in Liverpool.
francisjosephmurphy@reddit
Why is this so far down the thread?
And not just the name, but the size, consistency, crispness and level of darkness of dome.
For example, a Glasgow area morning roll (aka Morton's Roll) is a bakery fresh breadstuff that surpasses any parisian stick. While a "well-fired," roll is one if those fuck-ups that becomes a tasty institution.
But finding them much beyond the greater Glasgow area is like finding pakora beyond same.
That is a totally other talking point. The different Indian restaurant menu items in different parts of the archipelago depending on from where the majority of immigrants from India settled. For example the Balti Belt in the Midlands of the aforementioned pakora patch.
Scary_Application_70@reddit
I love nothing better than a good old Crusty Roll, with lashings of butter.
samcialist@reddit
It's a batch!!
Jemima_puddledook678@reddit
It’s a bread roll if you need everyone to understand, but everyone knows that the actual term is teacake.
Scary_Application_70@reddit
Naaaa definitely a Bread roll 😂😂
drivelhead@reddit
That's easy!
https://youtu.be/O98qd7-dAaU
Sudden_Leadership800@reddit
I think everyone calls it a roll no? You do of course mean baby baguettes right?
Scary_Application_70@reddit
Definitely a roll
azp74@reddit
This is a good one. Guaranteed to cause fights.
Barry_Burton_1974@reddit
Look up weird local village sports and competitions like Gurning and Cheese Rolling. There are some wacky ones.
Prestigious_Elk353@reddit
“we’ve already covered almost everything” about a series of nations with history spanning two millennia, an incredible diversity of regional cultures for such a small space, that has evolved continually with changes in population, industry etc. that’s quite an impressive thing to have achieved.
what sort of things have you covered?
gives a better change of giving you something obscure to cover.
Mysterious-Raisin537@reddit (OP)
I agree that this was a loud statement. The course is two years long (10th and 11th grades). During this time, our teacher covered topics not only from the curriculum but also included unusual ones, such as nursing homes. In this course, we don’t focus on history itself, but rather on cultural aspects. Over the course of the year, we looked at many topics, including tourism, food, fashion, holidays, traditions, the banking system, and so on.
drivelhead@reddit
Grades?
Over_Locksmith9670@reddit
grade is how they describe school years in the USA and probably a few other places. 10th grade is year 11
drivelhead@reddit
Yes, I'm aware of that. It doesn't belong in the UK, though.
Over_Locksmith9670@reddit
I don’t think OP is from here so obviously they’re going to use their own terminology
Mysterious-Raisin537@reddit (OP)
Yes, I'm from Ukraine
fleapuppy@reddit
They clearly aren’t from the uk. It’s a foreign school teaching a class on uk culture.
Prestigious_Elk353@reddit
Thank you for explaining.
Did you talk about regional variations of language?
And impact of changing industries and how they shaped culture? Like mining, steel works etc.
Both really interesting insight into culture.
Pristine_Judgment390@reddit
I love music, so would suggest the British Invasion of the 60s, how British musicians “discovered” American singers such as Howling Wolf & introduced his music back to the American public & the interplay of influence between cultures since then. Punk in the late seventies was also an interesting convergence.
Comfortable_Walk666@reddit
Class
anonnym0u5e@reddit
Sports culture, specifically football.
sausagemouse@reddit
The KP vs Golden Wonder battle of the crisp
No-Style8510@reddit
How to make a proper cup of tea and the nuances/hidden meanings behind what we say
Formal-Proposal7850@reddit
Music festivals.
We have dozens and dozens of them. They’re an institution. Americans have only got a fraction relative to the size of the population.
British sense of humour and British comedies as cultural exports. Monty Python, Blackadded, the Office, and now you guys are fawning over Taskmaster (available for free on YouTube).
Craven123@reddit
I think our comedy is pretty unique and would make for an interesting and fun class.
If you want something more ‘academic’ you could look into the importance of our language on the global stage. As a national export, it’s probably the thing that’s kept us so central to the world today - which is not a small achievement for a tiny island nation - and has allowed us to excel across various industries (like TV/media, financial services, literature, global news, etc).
If you want something niche, take a look into the history of the British Empire, the commonwealth, and the cultural impact of immigration to the UK from former colonies (eg, chicken Tikka Masala is considered our national cuisine, Ska music came to the UK from Jamaica and was adopted by British ‘Mods’, our sports - like cricket - have become global phenomena).
CaersethVarax@reddit
Why Lancashire/Yorkshire is better than Lancashire/Yorkshire (Delete as appropriate)
RunawayPenguin89@reddit
The Events/Traditions that only happen in 1 single village.
Or "Morris Dancing, Why?"
Jemima_puddledook678@reddit
Yeah, so many small places have their own traditions. Mine has a game only played here thrice a year where everybody gets in a river and plays something sort of like rugby.
Prestigious_Elk353@reddit
I took my then five year old to watch morris dancing at dawn on Beltane (1st May). so 5am in the morning.
She was excited about the adventure until we got to the town square which is now a car park and she spent twenty minutes in the cold watching a group of middle aged and older white men prancing about with bells on.
She’s never recovered from it and will spend her life asking “morris dancing, why?”
RRW2020@reddit
Ha ha ha ha!!! Morris dancing, why? That’s hilarious.
EnjoysAGoodRead@reddit
The merits of queueing and why people who queue in a long line from the bar rather than along it at the pub should be shot.
drivelhead@reddit
So I thought that said queefing on first read...
Icy_Place_5785@reddit
The class system
drivelhead@reddit
Explain why class 10A is clearly superior to 10B
anchoredwunderlust@reddit
Came here to say that. The ways it was set up and how it totally confuses a more socially mobile era (because middle class is everything from private school landed gentry to “owns a mortgage” and there are people with multiple homes and their own business who will swear down that they’re working class whilst the waitress who went to uni and likes hummus is an elite) and how that’s going with the cost of living crisis, much more concentrated ownership and a wider and wider division in wealth inequality.
A lot of people really don’t understand how pervasive it is. Why grind/hustle culture can be frowned on to the extent it is (aside from anticapitalist views obv) or I saw an American video about Burberry and the comments like “oh because it’s accessible to middle class people they didn’t like it” with no understanding of what having more “chav” wags and nouveau riche as their image really means. The fact that whilst you can easily lose “working class” identity, you can’t simply “buy” your way into any other class.
MojoMomma76@reddit
Landed gentry is pretty much by definition not middle class.
Mysterious-Raisin537@reddit (OP)
That’s a really good one. Thanks
RRW2020@reddit
This is definitely silly and should have gone away by now.
mdmnl@reddit
No you need to understand the difference between a fighter, a thief and a magic-user.
BadahBingBadahBoom@reddit
Put on an episode of Downton Abbey and pop out for a tea.
apple_kicks@reddit
One talk I went to about classism that was interesting was differences women and men face in workplace
Men can sometimes lean into being working class when it impresses boss who sees it as masculine. You even get middle class men fake working class traits.
Where as this isn’t case for working class women who are more judged for their background and mask their voice.
wingding456@reddit
Visiting a gatden centre for a day out
procrastination-site@reddit
we got to have a teaparty
deanomatronix@reddit
This guy
double-happiness@reddit
Tea. https://www.orwellfoundation.com/the-orwell-foundation/orwell/essays-and-other-works/a-nice-cup-of-tea/
OFC if you wanted to you could easily pivot from tea to colonialism, the British Raj, etc.
kalendral_42@reddit
Have you looked at the relationship between the different parts of the UK - not just the main 4 (England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales) but things like how Cornwall has it’s own language in danger of dying out, or about the differences between traditional dress in different areas.
You could look at how language has developed geographically (e.g. different vocab used in the north to the south) & what this shows about the local culture/class/economy/etc
You could look at topics like pub culture, football culture vs hooliganism, you could look at different eras of music (cool Britannia/britpop/merseyside era/etc), regional variations in traditional food/drink.
The topics are literally endless
Formal_Produce_8077@reddit
language (mle becoming nationally/internationally used), folklore (festivals, rituals, national holidays), migration and the impact of immigrants on british culture
(i'm a folklorist focusing on black ritish folklore so am v into how traditions are passed on through time/place/space)
Walkerno5@reddit
The history of sport. Very British.
theoneandonlyvesper@reddit
discuss whether there’s a tendency toward self-deprecating humour and criticism in British culture, and how that might sometimes come across as negativity or reluctance to support others’ success
Mysterious-Raisin537@reddit (OP)
Thanks!!!
AndAnotherThingHere@reddit
The importance of the pub
mdmnl@reddit
The dwindling importance of the pub
bahumat42@reddit
Yeah a lot of people aren't paying attention to its erosion from everyday life.
mdmnl@reddit
I'm glad that pubs aren't the only option anymore but I live in a "village" that has had literally thousands of new homes built or approved for build in the past ten years, so the population is increasing significantly and we've gone from two pubs to one pub to none. It's staggering, pun half intended.
Mysterious-Raisin537@reddit (OP)
have already discussed this one
Capital-Database-993@reddit
Specifically flat-roof pubs
hdhxuxufxufufiffif@reddit
Unconventional, informal, controversial ... how about a screening of Rita, Sue and Bob Too followed by a discussion about what you've just seen.
Monsterofthelough@reddit
Note to OP - that film is great but it’s very much ‘this was England in the 80s.’ Plus if you are literal schoolkids you are too young to watch it.
hdhxuxufxufufiffif@reddit
Oh god I didn't notice that they're in 10th and 11th grade. OP, maybe don't watch this film.
Monsterofthelough@reddit
lol. No, it’s definitely not appropriate for that class!
DameKumquat@reddit
We watched it at school as soon as it was on video, age 14-16...
After Blue Lagoon, 9 1/2 Weeks and various others.
The huge change in culture in the mid-90s, when 14yos went from 'basically adults who just have to go to school still' to 'safeguarding: teens need it and maybe 16yos shouldn't date teachers or 30 year olds' is enormous and possibly worth discussing in class - the demise of page 3 and acceptable sexual behaviour in the office, too.
Monsterofthelough@reddit
Yeah, as far as I remember there’s no explicit sex scenes in the film and it would be fine to show in a college class. I personally wouldn’t show it to 15 year olds though, their parents might have something to say 😂
DameKumquat@reddit
It's rated 18 so I bet there's rules now against showing even excerpts to under-16s now.
Teacher training is a thing nowadays, too!
Voodoopulse@reddit
Whether only fools and horses was better before or after the introduction of uncle Albert
Prestigious_Elk353@reddit
whether the bar scene is actually the greatest tv comedy moment of all time.
rice_fish_and_eggs@reddit
I'd put the chandelier above that one personally.
TentativeGosling@reddit
I'd put the other chandelier above something soft
rice_fish_and_eggs@reddit
They tried, it just didn't work out.
Immediate-Escalator@reddit
It’s Batman and Robin for me
Rich_27-@reddit
Inflatable dolls in the van for me
CongealedBeanKingdom@reddit
Im on the side of it wasnt.
ray-chill123@reddit
It can't be cos the greatest TV comedy moment of all time is when Basil hits his car with that tree branch
clrthrn@reddit
Talk about queuing. How British people can be in a crowded non linear space but know precisely where they are in the queue to be served and who is in front/behind them too.
nutaya@reddit
Maybe look at all the different countries that have influenced ‘British’ culture? Tea is very British but it’s never been grown here, fish and chips is Portuguese, polo is from Persia, Friday night curries, Freddie mercury from Queen was born in Zanzibar to Indian parents etc etc
It’s a way to acknowledge the history of British colonialism (very definitely a bad thing) with the positive impact of multiculturalism
BaBaFiCo@reddit
Might I suggest the impact of global breweries and pub owning companies on the traditional pub and beer culture of Britain? Or perhaps the difference between pub cultures in the constituent nations of the UK?
tunnocksmystery@reddit
When you say British culture, what do you actually mean? Britain is made up of 4 countries, each with very specific and unique cultures and within those 4 countries themselves there are more unique cultures.
Maybe have a look at Up Helly Aa! This is definitely more niche than the banking system, and a lot more fun!
Conscious_Gur7659@reddit
British comedy. That would be an amazing lesson.
British music.
Football and fan culture. Similarly, Rugby, Cricket or just sport in general.
The BBC.
Wildlife.
Superstitions and legends - Loch Ness King Arthur,
TheWeebWhoDaydreams@reddit
if you truly think you've finished any substantial topic on UK culture, and none of the suggestions here appeal to you. You could discuss how british culture is perceived around the world, and how it's influenced other cultures. You could discuss both positive and negative examples, but here are some positive ones:
How a lot of very old british foods are now American favorites (apple pie and Mac and cheese)
Japanese curry is largely based on british curry.
Worcestershire sauce is also very important in Japanese cuisine (abd I presume other countries too)
I'm food motivated, so those are what I thought of first, but you could try some other areas too.
SpongeFixation@reddit
Ronnie Pickering. As an introduction to viral British videos that have become part of the vernacular.
Immediate-Escalator@reddit
Who?
hellopo9@reddit
You could explore Wales and Scotland more. They often get less recognition when talking about British culture.
Burns night and reading the poem address to a haggis.
Learn some Welsh, and show some stuff from the last Eisteddfod.
Mythology is a good one. Like old legends of how Britain came to be (Brutus of Troy, king lear, Votigern fighting Hengist and horsa)
You could even explore the isle of man, maybe the channel islands.
BromleyReject@reddit
The LBW rule.
Or is it the LBW law?
Anyway. That.
Temporary-Zebra97@reddit
Subcultures would be a good one, I would go for the influence of Caribbean and west Indian culture on skinheads and how fashion and music, particularly bluebeat, rocksteady, and reggae became the glue that brought together a diverse group that felt out of place in mainstream UK at the time.
There is a great BBC documentary on the topic by Don Letts.
ExpressTruth76@reddit
Rave culture was a massive British culture yes we inherited house from America and some of the earlier techno from Europe
But drum n bass,, garage and many others
Or just the British music culture
4321zxcvb@reddit
And youth culture / subcultures. So much to discuss. If it was my class I’d start with the film ‘everybody in the place’. Which is a class discussion of rave
ExpressTruth76@reddit
Yes mate!!!!!
4321zxcvb@reddit
Did you see the film? It’s on you tube . Well worth an hour of your time for a bit of socio political insight it.
ExpressTruth76@reddit
Yeah he took me down the rabbit hole during COVID
Showed me a load of old footage he had from back in the day
He also explained the whole banning raves done by the Tories
Sleepyllama23@reddit
Queuing, apologising too much…
Zal_17@reddit
Sorry about that
Sleepyllama23@reddit
Sorry for making you feel the need to apologise.
BadahBingBadahBoom@reddit
No that's perfectly alright. I'm sorry it was brought it up.
firthy@reddit
Wait your turn.
Training_Echidna_911@reddit
Panto.
Infinite_Crow_3706@reddit
Oh no it isn't
TomLondra@reddit
Oh yes it is
CongealedBeanKingdom@reddit
The recognition that 'indigenous ' (for want of a better word) languages are growing in Britain and Ireland and maybe why people stopped speaking them in the first place? You could give out post-its with a phrase from gaelic, Welsh or Irish, or cornice on it and see if your classmates can guess which it is. Then they could put it into Google to get a translation and a pronunciation guide.
Id give you good marks for that.
Aggravating_Cloud657@reddit
Meal deals
serious_sleep_issues@reddit
Ther was a lad aged around 16 in M&S yesterday quite astounded that they don't do meal deals. He was walking around and just kept saying, "I don't believe it..... meal deals are a standard thing..... thats just wrong ". Poor lad, wait until he finds out what what being a grown up is like....
DotCottonsHandbag@reddit
I make him right - I’m glad to hear the youth of today have got a strong moral compass and sensible heads on their shoulders.
Title_in_progress@reddit
The utter importance of how to prepare a proper cup of tea.
The idea of pouring milk before adding a teabag and hot water is still highly contested.
And, in my view, quite rightly so.
violoncell@reddit
Cheeky Nandos.
R3DSmurf@reddit
And Greggs
Active_Arugula_7079@reddit
The history of fish and chips (its fascinating and multicultural)
VastOpinion6020@reddit
Read this entire Wikipedia page and take your pick
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/English_folklore
DenieD83@reddit
If you've already covered a lot but want something different but quite culturally unique to the UK (at least versus a lot of other places), how culture, tradition and especially accent can vary wildly by going only a few minutes down the road.
Any_Preference_4147@reddit
Rissoles are only found in South/South West Wales and this is a tragedy. The rest of you are missing out.
Mr_Blott@reddit
Rissoles? You mean the french things?
Any_Preference_4147@reddit
If by "the french things" you mean deep fried balls of corned beef goodness then yes!
Prestigious_Elk353@reddit
Thank you for this, going to make some here in the East Midlands. Sound delicious!
TSC-99@reddit
Similarly Parmos in Boro. At least, proper ones.
tarragon_the_dragon@reddit
depending on the age and level i might suggest: the eisteddfod, maybe some of our christmas and new year traditions if you havent done them (crackers, leaving booze out for father christmas, mari llwyd, going out at midnight on new years eve to greet the neighbours), our ancient literature (arthuriana, beowulf, elegy poetry), britpop and the british invasion, wartime britain (rationing, evacuation, bletchley park), stone circles and burial mounds, some of our mythology (be wary on this one, theres a Lot of very poor scholarship on the topic and it leads to misinformation even in sources you would expect to be trustworthy, stick to academic sources and trust nothing victorian), traditional foods (jellied eels, treacle tart, laverbread, bubble and squeak, crumpets, haggis, bara brith, cornish pasties)
CrazyPlatypusLady@reddit
The difference between Staffordshire oatcakes and Derbyshire oatcakes. Scots ones should get a look in top, but please focus more on the softer English ones.
Mumming and Wassail and their links to modern Halloween traditions. Please include rap battles with dead horses that appear not just in Wales, but also in the Midlands (Mari Lwyd and Poor Owd Oss). Honorary mention to Padstow's Obby Oss although that doesn't turn up wanting booze and snacks. It just dances. Orkney's Festival of the Horse is also interesting but... I dunno, there's just something about a dead horse exhorting art from humans by threatening their snacks and booze that will always have a place in my heart over others.
"Morris Dancing is an ancient British martial art: Discuss" whether you think this is true or false. Comparative international examples: Capoeira, Tai Chi,Taekkyon, Wushu, Bokator/Silat.
Diggings/Purring. Absolutely nuts.
RudePragmatist@reddit
Discuss the impact of British music globally. Everything from The Beatles, Rolling Stones, Bowie, Amy Winehouse and Judas Priest and the satanic panic.
soton_indies@reddit
Our fantastic painters and sculptors and visual artists
soton_indies@reddit
Our magnificent music and youth culture and subcultures over time. That will keep you busy.
InkedDoll1@reddit
The general strikes of the 70s? Or for something lighter, the punk scene?
TomLondra@reddit
Discuss the life and activities of Thomas Paine.
Boldboy72@reddit
the 17th century Plantation of Ulster and how it still affects the people today through Unionism and sectarianism
ErrantBrit@reddit
Oof, please sure you lead with this in conversations so that if I ever meet you I know to politely leave asap.
Boldboy72@reddit
I was going for the controversial part of the OP's question.
ErrantBrit@reddit
Fair, I might have been a tad harsh in what you were trying to do. In a party, I wouldn’t immediately slink away.
NoisyGog@reddit
What about a little about traditions on the island of Britain?
Have you learnt about Eisteddfods? The Mabinogi? Highland Games? The clearances? The history of Gaelic in Scotland?
What about the linguistic strife?
What a bout multiculturalism? British foods, arts, and languages have benefited hugely from worldwide input (the empire days were problematic, but some aspects eventually led to good things)
soton_indies@reddit
The English Civil Wars, Cromwell, the development of representative democracy in place of the divine right of kings and the primacy of Parliament. The Chartists, the Suffragettes, and the current failure of the two party system.
RRW2020@reddit
The ridiculousness of the jam or cream first argument. How polite we have to be… I said sorry to a woman walking faster than me who walked past me and opened a door for me. Why was I saying sorry?!? We should stop saying sorry to strangers.
CaptainParkingspace@reddit
Sorry.
Best_Vegetable9331@reddit
Scarecrow festivals, Walking Days, fish and chips shops, British pubs.
Zal_17@reddit
A discussion about how adding "ed" onto the end of any noun can be wonderfully descriptive.
"You hear about Dave? He got absolutely hobnobbed last night!"
"Cheryl too. Completely sausage rolled, the daft bint"
VeeMon21@reddit
Greggs!
ErrantBrit@reddit
Fighting, militarism, cuisine (it’s deeper than the stereotype), drinking (beer, cider, whisky), multiculturalism - this is modern British culture.
BillyJoeDubuluw@reddit
It depends on the age group and just how much you really have covered…
There are already some really good suggestions in the comments but to give you a couple I’ve not already seen:
. Minority languages of the British Isles
. The regional and culinary variations of the chip shop and in depth look at the subject
No_Staple_7489@reddit
Biscuits
4321zxcvb@reddit
The post war music scenes / youth culture. But like someone else said it really depends how old the kids are.
British culture archives for inspiration:
https://britishculturearchive.co.uk/photographer-galleries/
Acubeofdurp@reddit
Sayings - how people actually think and communicate.
trin6948@reddit
The inclusion of a pet as an actual human family member e.g. dogs. We speak to our dog like she is human, some people push theirs around in dog prams, they are fed human food (irrespective of whether it is suitable or not)
Avon_gent@reddit
City Vs country culture.
TSC-99@reddit
Gravy and curry sauce are shit down south.
3knuckles@reddit
Sexual freedom
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