The "DON'Ts" of UK Culture | Easy English 125

Oh, you definitely hear some tuts,

and then someone would have the  confidence to say something.

And that's you? - Hmm... sometimes.

Depends on my mood.

You just get like... - you get confused people.

You get a lot of people looking funny at you.

Oh, in the UK it's a very simple answer.

People would just... jump.

Would fly! - Yeah!? - Sadly, that is the case.

Yeah, everyone hates it, when you do that,

so never, never do that.

Hiya, welcome to Easy English.

So a few weeks back,

I made an episode on things not to do in the UK

and it got me wondering, what  do the people of Brighton

think is the biggest 'not to do' in the UK?

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Here we go.

As a native Brit, give me one of  the 'dont's' of British culture.

You must never stand (to)  the left of an escalator,

especially when in the London Underground.

Yeah, everyone hates it when you do that,

so never, never do that.

So the first thing that comes into my mind is

don't jump forward in a queue. - Right, okay.

Queue in a nice, neat order.

Don't jump the queue.

Okay, never say 'pants' instead of 'trousers',

'cos that's just wrong.

It's trousers. Pants are a different thing.

Okay, so then, what are  pants? - Pants are underwear.

I discovered here, queues.

You know, we don't queue elsewhere in the world,

so that was a good thing.

And then there was the  off-licence closing at 11pm.

Well, when you sort of, you get in someone's way,

or you get to a door at about the same time,

then we always say sorry automatically,

when actually most of the time,

it's not your place to say sorry. - Right.

It could be them, but you say it automatically,

it's a reflex response.

I think that's one of our  automatic cultural ways in the UK.

Yep, so would your answer sort of be;

don't be afraid to say sorry too  often, or something like this?

Never be sorry to say... er...

sorry.

Sorry! - Sorry.

A cultural 'don't'...

You can word it in another way  so that you can say 'do this'.

Okay, so some something, I think  that we do a lot in our culture

is apologise frequently.

Probably quite meaningless sometimes,

but sometimes it's an apology  for inconveniencing someone else.

So; ''I'm really sorry I've  just inconvenienced you''.

''Oh, I'm so sorry. Oh, I'm so sorry''.

And we end up running around  apologising to everyone,

probably not really meaning it.

And so then, what... what is it that your kind of,

let's say you're... you're speaking to me

and I'm like, a non-native Brit.

Are you telling me; don't be  afraid if I apologise to you,

or don't be afraid to over apologise to us Brits.

Oh yeah, you can over apologise,  all you want to us Brits,

because I think we probably love it.

So if you're... if you're standing,

you have to stand on the  right and if you're walking,

you walk on the left.

Obviously, it's very busy in London.

I don't know how many people live there,

but there's a lot of people  and there's a lot of people

you don't want to annoy there.

Okay, so what would happen...

let's say I get up on the  left and I just stand there.

What happens? - You'll  probably got into an argument.

I've seen it... we've seen it happen, haven't we?

Huffin'. - Yeah! A lot of huffing, a lot of er...

''move out of the way'', barging,

this, that and the other. Bit of an argy-bargy.

Oh, okay. - But yeah, that type of stuff.

Do you know what this person meant

when they said the word 'argy-bargy'?

barging, this, that and the  other. Bit of an argy-bargy.

'Argy-bargy' is British slang for a quarrel,

argument or for a fight.

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What would be the sort of, punishment,

if you were to jump the  queue? - Oh... - With Brits?

Well, that would be to go back to the queue

and wait half an hour. - But  would you sort of, reprimanded,

if you were to do it, d'you think?

Yeah! - Would you really?  - Yeah. - I always kind of,

consider... - I do, if people jump the queue.

Oh, really? You call it out? - Yeah.

That's quite direct, because us Brits typically,

are quite passive aggressive, right? - True.

That's true, yeah. - In my  mind, you'd hear a few tuts.

Oh, you'd definitely hear some tuts.

And then, someone would have  the confidence to say something.

And that's you? - Hmm... sometimes.

Depends on my mood.

There's a term; 'that's pants', right?

Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Right? - Yeah.

And people are not saying that's like, 'trousers'.

'That's pants', which kind of, would mean like...

It's rubbish.

I don't quite know why. - No.

Why pants are like, equivalent to...

British humour, I think.

It's just like pants; toilet humour.

that's the... - But would you say that?

Is that something that people could say,

if they came into Britain and  like, something was rubbish?

Yeah. - Yeah. - Yeah. - Like;  'that's pants'. - Yeah, probably.

I don't say it, but...

I probably would, why not?

Do you think there are no...

that the rules kind of, change in London,

the sort of cultural, unwritten  laws of British culture?

Well, if you... if you think  London, Paris, New York, etc.,

people walk fast, speak fast, have  no time to say hello or goodbye,

thank you, etc., to an extent. - Yeah.

So, it's... it's the price  of, in quotes, ''progress'',

or is the sweet taste or accurate  rather taste of capitalism.

But let's say that, you've called up a lift

and you're waiting with someone.

And then, you both... the  door opens and you both go,

even though you've called it... called it,

so maybe it's your turn to go in.

You kind of... oh! kind of, clash.

That's exact... a typical one, actually;

that you'll actually... you call the lift,

you're waiting for it, the door opens and

someone's in front of you and you say; ''sorry''

and really, it's not your place to say sorry,

it's just... and it may  be, both of you said sorry.

Yeah right, that's usually the  kind of, general scenario, right?

Both of you will probably say sorry. - Absolutely.

But it's not generally, you're apologising,

or they're apologising, really? - No, in fact,

it comes out of you without you  realising that you've said it.

Yeah, so would you... would you say; don't just...

you don't have to use it as  a sort of, a guilt admission?

No, I'd just say that ultimately,  it's a reflex of politeness.

Aren't people in Britain insincere then,

if they're just constantly  walking around saying sorry?

That's a good question.

Maybe Brits are a little insincere, who knows?

I think it's just erm... yeah,

it's just a cultural, politeness thing.

We sometimes, can be overly polite.

Someone could bump into me and I would apologise.

I was gonna ask... - It's one  of those things, isn't it?

Are you a 'sorry' person?  - Oh, all the time, yeah.

I run around, apologising for things all the time,

that probably... was not really my fault.

And yeah, I probably wasn't actually sorry,

but anyway, it just slips out.

Makes you think now that, didn't  Elton John have that song;

'Sorry seems to be the hardest word'?

It's kind of... - Maybe not here.

It's, yeah... not at all, It's  a bit of a lie from Elton John.

'Cos it's probably the...  the easiest word you can say.

Depends if you're sincere  or not though, doesn't it?

I often find it a bit strange that you say that,

if you were to do it on the escalator,

people would actually speak up.

D'you think that's the case? - Oh, yes.

No yeah, definitely. - 'Cos us Brits,

are known for being a little  bit like, passive aggressive.

Yeah. - But you'd actually,  verbally, hear someone kind of...

Oh yeah, no yeah, definitely.  But... - Shout at you or... moan?

I wouldn't say shout, I wouldn't say you know,

they go all out and start you know... you know,

having a proper shout up.

But, without a doubt, they'd  say something passive like;

''oh, stand on the right'',  or something like that.

Or; ''just stay in my way,  then'', something sarcastic,

along those lines.

Do you enjoy queuing? - Er... - D'you  think it's a good cultural rule?

Yes. - And then, so then, what are your...

what is your thought on things  like the bar and specifically,

I'm always thinking of the London Underground.

The London Underground. Well  yeah, queuing's not really

come to force in the London Underground has it?

Because, London people are always in a rush,

and therefore don't... don't have the politeness

to decide to queue.

Because of that, it's just like a swarm, right?

Yes, that's just a swarm and it's like;

get on that train before it goes,

even though there'll be one  in two minutes. - Exactly.

Yeah. - And so, on the sort of...

if there was like, a list of cultural rules,

how high does queueing fit or

how high does queueing sit on the English scale?

Pretty high up, I mean it's the  first thing that came to mind.

So it's right up there for me. - Brilliant.

Thanks for watching this week's episode.

Let us know in the comments below;

the biggest 'not to do' that you know in the UK.

And we'll see next week,  

te-ra.