In Britain

[dadyassa]

Being British is about driving in a German car to an Irish pub for a Belgian beer, then travelling home, grabbing an Indian curry or a Turkish kebab on the way, to sit on Swedish furniture and watch American shows on a Japanese TV.

And the most British thing of all? Suspicion of anything foreign.

Only in Britain ... can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.

Only in Britain ... do supermarkets make sick people walk all the way To the back of the shop to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.

Only in Britain ... do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries and a DIET coke.

Only in Britain ... do banks leave both doors open and chain the pens to the counters.

Only in Britain ... do we leave cars worth thousands of pounds on the drive and lock our junk and cheap lawn mower in the garage.

Only in Britain ... do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won't miss a call from someone we didn't want to talk to in the first place.

Only in Britain ... are there disabled parking places in front of a skating rink.

NOT TO MENTION...

3 Brits die each year testing if a 9v battery works on their tongue.

142 Brits were injured in 1999 by not removing all pins from new shirts.

58 Brits are injured each year by using sharp knives instead of screwdrivers.

31 Brits have died since 1996 by watering their Christmas tree while the fairy lights were plugged in.

19 Brits have died in the last 3 years believing that Christmas decorations were chocolate.

British Hospitals reported 4 broken arms last year after cracker pulling accidents.

101 people since 1999 have had broken parts of plastic toys pulled out of the soles of their feet.

18 Brits had serious burns in 2000 trying on a new jumper with a lit cigarette in their mouth.

A massive 543 Brits were admitted to A&E in the last two years after opening bottles of beer with their teeth.

5 Brits were injured last year in accidents involving out of Control Scalextric cars.

and finally.........

In 2000 eight Brits cracked their skull whilst throwing up into the toilet.

[catgate]

You can now understand why foreigners are flocking to our shores in "droves". ;)

[andsome]

Not all strictly true. Belgian beer is good but British beer is best. Cheeseburgers are a no no if you value your innards. There are probably more cars in the UK from companies of Japanese origin than from German, and many are made in British plants. Most American are NOT worth watching.

[Thos]

None of the "only in Britain" things are true though for some reason we like to think they are. As for the "not to mention" things (oh, dear, now I've mentioned them!) there are similar queer figures for every country.

Thos. :)

[CurlyWhirly]

3 Brits die each year testing if a 9v battery works on their tongue.

I wouldn't have thought that a 9v battery can kill someone unless they were a small child perhaps?

In 2000 eight Brits cracked their skull whilst throwing up into the toilet.

How on earth did they manage that?

[andsome]

In 2000 eight Brits cracked their skull whilst throwing up into the toilet.

How on earth did they manage that?

The mind boggles. :D

[catgate]

.............. there are similar queer figures for every country.

Thos. :)

I can think of one, who represents (theoretically) the whole of Europe, but you must refer to him as "Gay" not queer.

[andsome]

.............. there are similar queer figures for every country.

Thos. :)

I can think of one, who represents (theoretically) the whole of Europe, but you must refer to him as "Gay" not queer.

I object to both words, when they are used entirely out of the TRUE context. Gay is a word meaning happy and joyful, and is also a shortened form of a rather attractive female name GAYNOR. Queer is also entirely out of context in some usages and could be found by some to be objectionable. If the intention is to refer to sexual orientation, then there is NOTHING wrong with two good old fashioned English words, namely homosexual and lesbian. Neither of these can possibly cause offence. I hate this constant erosion of the English language.

[Thos]

If the intention is to refer to sexual orientation, then there is NOTHING wrong with two good old fashioned English words, namely homosexual and lesbian. Neither of these can possibly cause offence. I hate this constant erosion of the English language.

I meant queer in it's true sense, that is, "similar odd figures"

Thos.

[gordythegouge]

This is quite a sad occasion for me......I find myself agreeing with Andsome!!! As someone who's first name is Gordon and who was raised and bred in Scotland......I've taken great exception to the "Gay" adjective when used to describe males with preferences for their own sex! I have nothing against them... each to their own......but I do object to the hijacking of that word... I haven't danced the Gay Gordons for over 30 years because of the amount of stick handed out.....all in good humour of course... but the joke wears thin after the 100th reference!!!! Hands off Gay!!!!! (?) :lol:

[Watchful]

Those figures will be roughly the same in any civilized society and probably more so in the States ;)

[-pops-]

I think there are some very old fashioned attitudes being aired here. If English is to be regarded as an evolving and continually developing language - which it is as is being constantly demonstrated by an accelerating slovenliness in speech - much brought on by this awful text-speak, then it must be accepted that the meaning of words change as well.

The term "gay" meaning homosexual came about in the 1970s -1980s after the Wolfenden Report which made certain homosexual activities no longer a criminal offence. Gay in the homosexual context is an acronym - Good As You as an indication that vilification of a homosexual should no longer be acceptable in a human or humane society.

Using "gay" as an adjective in this way is nowhere near as derisory as "pooftah", queer and numerous other euphemisms all indicating a societal division or the almost clinical term "homosexual".

Before claiming words as your own exclusive property to have your own exclusive meanings, ponder how the meanings of other, less contentious words and phrases have changed during your lifetime.

If you think I know too much about this, perhaps I do but, I have spent a lot of time and effort over the years working with gays (I will not be cowed into not using the word) and their parents helping them come to terms with a deeply emotional and, for many, traumatic situation that is not of their making.

My younger son is gay - and proud of it. He has been in a stable relationship with his partner for almost fourteen years (longer than many marriages these days). He is not a mincing queen neither is his partner (my "son-in-law"). Both are successful in life, my son owning his own multimillion pound graphics business and son-in-law a senior captain with a major airline.

[Thos]

I agree with you, pops, about the evolution of language. All of our language has evolved from other words and we would have difficulty conversing with English people of some centuries ago because of this evolution.

I, personally, have difficulty accepting homosexual acts but have no difficulty accepting those people who are in those relationships.

Thos.

[Watchful]

Quote: Gay in the homosexual context is an acronym - Good As You as an indication that vilification of a homosexual should no longer be acceptable in a human or humane society.

I didn't know that pops, thanks for enlightening me. In that case the word 'gay' meaning happy has not been hijacked at all :)

BTW, this subject has gone a bit off-topic don't you think ;)

[-pops-]

Thos, without getting too explicit, there isn't anything a gay person does in the bedroom that is not indulged in by a very large number of so-called "straight" couples on a regular basis - even though they may not normally admit it. The Kinsey report and many subsequent works have lain proof to this.

Pushkin, yes it has gone a bit off topic but I felt I couldn't let things just pass without comment.

I have made my point and shall consider my contribution at an end unless someone has a pressing reason for me to comment further.

[gordythegouge]

I am enlightened!!!! :)

Appologies for any offence taken.....none intended!

[catgate]

Development of modern sexualized usage

The use of the term gay, as it relates to homosexuality, arises from an extension of the sexualised connotation of "carefree and uninhibited", implying a willingness to disregard conventional or respectable sexual mores. Such usage is documented as early as the 1920s. It was initially more commonly used to imply heterosexually unconstrained lifestyles, as for example in the once-common phrase "gay Lothario",[2] or in the title of the book and film The Gay Falcon (1941), which concerns a womanising detective whose first name is "Gay". Well into the mid 20th century a middle-aged bachelor could be described as "gay" without prejudice.

A passage from Gertrude Stein's Miss Furr & Miss Skeene (1922) is possibly the first traceable published use of the word to refer to a homosexual relationship, though it is not altogether clear whether she uses the word to mean lesbianism or happiness:

They were ...gay, they learned little things that are things in being gay, ... they were quite regularly gay.

The 1929 musical Bitter Sweet by Noel Coward contains another use of the word in a context that strongly implies homosexuality. In the song "Green Carnation", four overdressed, 1890s dandies sing:......

Much more here:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay

The word was used regularly in Round the Horne on radio on BBC black and white radio in the '60s.

[Watchful]

So it isn't an acronym then? as in G.A.Y

[catgate]

So it isn't an acronym then? as in G.A.Y

Not according to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gay , and I used to have a couple of old Grundig tape recordings of Round the Horne, whereon it was used to such brilliant effect by Kenneth Williams and Hugh Padick. Then there was Larry Grayson in his early days.

[andsome]

Maybe I'm old fashioned regarding language, probably an old stick in the mud. I just find myself irritated by so many changes, such as calling a person a 'chair' instead of chairman or chairwoman, and the use of 'like' several times in a sentence, when clearly it never did belong there. There are many more examples, too numerous to go into.