The Off Topic Topic

[Josquius]

Although overall Britain is awesome, I have developed this theory that being an island in pre-commercial flight they were not as physically exposed to ideas criss-crossing via people moving around as the continent, and that has resulted in... idiosyncrasies. Like the faucets.


Building-wise, I once read a long blog post by a Hungarian construction worker who worked a lot in both countries. It was a very detailed analysis of differences which I have nearly all forgotten, but the point of it was that the outside structure and longevity of British homes are superior to Hungarian ones, but the insides are substandard compared to Hungary.

The opposite was more true though.
Water based rather than land based transport was the primary means of transport historically. The uk had huge links with our neighbours.
Maybe there's a particular just before flight gap where trains were plentiful but planes not where it holds true?

[Tamas]

Well I am just not aware of any non-islander Europeans being that peculiar about some stuff. Like the faucets. Or carpet in the bathroom, neither of I had ever heard of before landing here. 

[Sheilbh]

Although overall Britain is awesome, I have developed this theory that being an island in pre-commercial flight they were not as physically exposed to ideas criss-crossing via people moving around as the continent, and that has resulted in... idiosyncrasies. Like the faucets.

Yeah - I'm with Tyr that the opposite was true. Pre-commercial flights the UK was a global power and an empire it was very linked to international movements of people and goods to a really unusual degree compared with other European countries (pre-war especially). It's like the thing a couple of weeks ago when people were saying we were going to be cut off and have to be self-sufficient like in the 1950s. Which resulted in loads of corrections by economic historians because we imported far more of our food in the 1950s (and even more in the 30s or the 1910s) than we do now.

I blame this on the psycho-sexual weirdness of the British - especially our elites who love their drafty big uncomfortable miserable homes and their time in private schools: all punishment and deprivation etc

I think about that clip of someone recommending Christmas gifts on the BBC. She recommended one of those self-warming mugs and the host was like "I don't agree with them. If you don't drink your tea in time then you have to take your punishment and drink the tea cold"

[Richard Hakluyt]

I would add that 6m Brits live abroad, close on 10% of the total, and the country continually exports many of its more venturesome folk.........leaving the homeland apparently more conservative than it really is.

The carpet in the bathroom thing.......sensible people don't do this; I think we need to engage in some class analysis  . It is fairly clear to me that the people who put carpets in bathrooms are lower-middle-class tories who polish chairs in some low grade office job and think they are better than useful people such as plumbers and gas service technicians.

[Josquius]

Do people still put carpets in bathrooms?
I remember my parents place used to have one, though  I think it was there when we moved in and they replaced it at some point when I was a kid. Struck me as a 70s/80s trend.
Maybe when fitted carpets became a thing we grasped it a bit too enthusiastically. My partner finds the prospects of fitted carpets in any room to be odd.

Well I am just not aware of any non-islander Europeans being that peculiar about some stuff. Like the faucets. Or carpet in the bathroom, neither of I had ever heard of before landing here. 

I think you can blame the EU, and the UK's failure to engage, for a lot of this. It standardised a lot across Europe.
If you look about though you can still find a lot of countries with oddities.
Swiss plugs (and ye olde corner heaters), Spanish rail gauge, I'm sure plenty in Scandinavia but none come immediately to mind, etc...

For the water-based transport dominating thing, just consider where Hungary has its capital.

[Richard Hakluyt]

I agree with your partner Tyr; don't like fitted carpets at all. Unfortunately the floorboards in my house will require upgrading before I can get rid of ours.

[Sheilbh]

I would add that 6m Brits live abroad, close on 10% of the total, and the country continually exports many of its more venturesome folk.........leaving the homeland apparently more conservative than it really is.

There are quite a lot of Brits abroad but I'd query if it leaves the UK more conservative because some might be venturesome - but a fairly big chunk in Australia, say, just want to move to the UK plus sun. I think Australia and New Zealand are about 33% of UK emigrants and the US and Canada are another 30% and I'm not sure they're necessarily less conservative (by contrast about 25% move to the EU - overwhelmingly France, Germany and Spain).

The carpet in the bathroom thing.......sensible people don't do this; I think we need to engage in some class analysis  . It is fairly clear to me that the people who put carpets in bathrooms are lower-middle-class tories who polish chairs in some low grade office job and think they are better than useful people such as plumbers and gas service technicians.

Always need to engage in some class analysis I'm with Tyr I don't think I've ever actually seen it. To me it's a very 1970s thing - like avocado bathroom suites (which are making a comeback ) - I think it might be generational as much as class.

The lack of blender taps is just a national disgrace that makes no sense.

Swiss plugs (and ye olde corner heaters), Spanish rail gauge, I'm sure plenty in Scandinavia but none come immediately to mind, etc...

There's differing rail gauges in Eastern Europe too - normally based on whether a country was ever occupied Russia

[The Larch]

I'd say that many of the Brits abroad are anything but venturesome, based on many of the ones we get over here. What they do is self-isolate in Brit ghettos where they reproduce the UK and never engage with the locals at all, not even learning the  language after several decades living here.

[Richard Hakluyt]

Spain drew the short straw there 

[The Brain]

I'd say that many of the Brits abroad are anything but venturesome, based on many of the ones we get over here. What they do is self-isolate in Brit ghettos where they reproduce the UK and never engage with the locals at all, not even learning the  language after several decades living here.

Have you seen the ones who stayed in the UK? They're basically hobbits.

[Duque de Bragança]

Swiss plugs (and ye olde corner heaters), Spanish rail gauge, I'm sure plenty in Scandinavia but none come immediately to mind, etc...

There's differing rail gauges in Eastern Europe too - normally based on whether a country was ever occupied Russia

Unfortunately, it's the Iberian rail gauge. Although thanks to high-speed lines the international gauge has reached Spain through Catalonia. Eventually, the network is to be converted but it will take a long time, with some new lines being designed for accommodating the standard gauge (three rails).
OTOH, British (and French!) trains drive on the left, unlike most Continental ones.
The French situation is more complicated by the Alsace and Moselle, where trains drive on the right.

PS: Brits are infamous for not learning the language in places like Algarve or Madeira. For some reason, in France the pressure to learn the language is stronger.

[Threviel]

When campervanning around Normandy a few years ago we came upon brits. Nice we thought, we can talk to those and perhaps have some friendly encounters.

Well, apparently brits are insular and unfriendly and any contact attempt was shot down quickly and efficiently.

[Richard Hakluyt]

That is a pity in a way; the old gauge permits more spacious rolling stock. I used the system a lot on a prolonged visit to Spain in 1980, there were trains back then with delightfully spacious compartments and netted luggage racks that could also serve as hammocks when I needed to rest 

[Sheilbh]

PS: Brits are infamous for not learning the language in places like Algarve or Madeira. For some reason, in France the pressure to learn the language is stronger.

Also class. The Brits in France are more likely to be upper middle-class and take great pride in (showing off) how local they've become, want to learn the language etc (and have the resources to do it more effectively).

[Sheilbh]

That is a pity in a way; the old gauge permits more spacious rolling stock. I used the system a lot on a prolonged visit to Spain in 1980, there were trains back then with delightfully spacious compartments and netted luggage racks that could also serve as hammocks when I needed to rest 

I really like the very broad gauge trains you get in Eastern Europe too - travelled round bits of Ukraine on train a couple of years ago and they were very spacious