Posted: Fri Dec 21, 2007 11:54 pm Post subject:
The Britain Thread
Subject description: read the title please old boy
Explanation:
A while ago I got told to stop posting UK related stuff in Don's "Emergency in My Pakistan" (or whatever it was called) thread. I'm bored and it's 11:45 here (Grenwich Mean Time, obviously).
This thread is for PRO british stuff/trivia only; I don't want to see "England IS TEH SUXX0RZ" or other random crap here.
What I would like to go here
Trivia facts from anywhere relating to great britain; for example: what a Dalek is, Funny UK related stuff and the inevitable political satire and cartoons of the prime minister.
THE BIT FOR PEOPLE WHO THINK I'M ARROGANT
I recognise the British nation as a whole has screwed up in the past and that there are may flaws with "modern" Britain; please don't highlight these, I live here; if I want to see them I'll step outside. _________________ Yes, work on MV continues. It is not forgotten. QUICK_EDIT
Yeah! I'm all for this thread. There are not alot of British people here, sadly.
Here are common British superstitions (I Personally don't believe any of it, but alot of people do).
Good Luck
1. Lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England.
2. Lucky to touch wood .
3. Lucky to find a clover plant with four leaves.
4. A horseshoe over the door brings good luck. But the horse shoe needs to be the right way up. The luck runs out of the horse shoe if it is upside down.
5. On the first day of the month it is lucky to say "white rabbits, white rabbits white rabbits," before uttering your first word of the day.
6. Catch falling leaves in Autumn and you're have good luck. Every leaf means a lucky month next year.
Bad Luck
1. Unlucky to walk underneath a ladder
2. Seven years bad luck to break a mirror.
3. Unlucky to see one magpie, lucky to see two, etc..
4. Unlucky to spill salt. If you do, you must throw it over your shoulder to counteract the bad luck.
5. Unlucky to open an umbrella in doors.
6. The number thirteen is unlucky. Friday the thirteenth is a very unlucky day. Friday is considered to be an unlucky day because Jesus was crucified on a Friday.
7. Unlucky to put new shoes on the table.
8. Unlucky to pass someone on the stairs.
Food Superstitions
Egg - When finished eating a boiled egg, push the spoon through the bottom of the empty shell to let the devil out.
In Yorkshire, housewives used to believe that bread would not rise if there was a corpse (dead body) in the vicinity, and to cut off both ends of the loaf would make the Devil fly over the house!
Animal Superstitions
Animals feature a lot in our superstitions as they do in superstitions around the world.
Bear - One ancient British superstition holds that if a child rides on a bear's back it will be protected from whooping-cough. (Bears used to roam Britain but now they are not seen on our shores)
Raven - In some parts of the UK meeting two or three Ravens together is considered really bad. One very English superstition concerns the tame Ravens at the Tower of London. It is believed if they leave then the crown of England will be lost.
Bat - It is said to be badluck if you see bats flying and hear their cries. In the middle ages it was believed that witches were closely associated with bats.
Sparrow - If a Sparrow enters a house it is an omen of death to one who lives there. In some areas it is believed that to avoid ill luck any Sparrow caught must be immediately killed otherwise the person who caught it will die.
White rabbit - In some areas black Rabbits are thought to host the souls of human beings. White Rabbits are said to be really witches and some believe that saying 'White Rabbit' on the first day of each month brings luck. A common lucky charm is a Rabbit's foot, but not for the Rabbit.
Peacock feather - It is thought very unlucky to have the feathers of a Peacock within the home or handle anything made with them. This is possibly because of the eye shape present upon these feathers i.e. the Evil-Eye associated with wickedness. QUICK_EDIT
Friday night, 10:30pm, walking down a alleyway after coming back from Sainsburys to do some shopping for a late dinner when you happen to walk past a group of chavs, what turn out to be pissed, what happen to think you beat them up in school even though they where still learning out to crawl when you was in school. Then ending up running for almost 2 miles while these drunken twats chase you and throw bottles at you.
Good Luck:
Going down the Skatepark the next day for a mild jam to find out the twats the night before decided to turn up, then remember (some how) who you are, attempt the same thing as last night, just in turn for the whole skatepark to gang up on them.
Oh dont you just love the UK
PS: Shopping was fine, had a lovely dinner Last edited by CCHyper on Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:32 am; edited 1 time in total QUICK_EDIT
England is the largest and most populous country in the British Isles.
England covers an area of some 130,395 square kilometres. It has a population of 49,138,831 people (as of the 2001 UK Census).
The official language is (of course) English. The currency is the pound sterling (£).
England is governed as part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (UK), which is a member of the European Union.
The UK is a constitutional monarchy. This means it has a royal family and the reigning monarch (currently Queen Elizabeth II) is the official head of state. In practice the monarch is a figurehead and the country is governed by a democratically elected government led by the Prime Minister (currently Tony Blair).
The government is elected by a general election which must be held at least every five years. Elections can be held more frequently at the will of the Prime Minister.
The UK is divided into 646 constituencies. A number of candidates stand for election in each constituency and voters within the constituency vote for their preferred candidate. The candidate getting most votes becomes the Member of Parliament (MP) for that constituency.
Most MPs belong to one of the major political parties (Labour, Conservative and Liberal Democrat). The party with the most MPs forms the government and its leader becomes Prime Minister.
If a party has more than half of the MPs (ie 324 or more) it has a majority. Provided all its MPs support its policies it is able to get all its policies made law. If no party has 324 MPs there is said to be a hung parliament, in this case the government will need the support of other parties to get its policies made law.
The Prime Minister chooses a number of Ministers (usually MPs from the governing party) to take responsibility for key areas of government. Eg the Chancellor of the Exchequer is responsible for financial policy, the foreign secretary for foreign policy, the home secretary for immiogration and law & order etc.
The UK parliament consists of two Houses, the Commons and the Lords. The 659 MPs sit in the House of Commons, this is where proposed laws are debated and voted on.
The House of Lords is the second chamber of Parliament and must approve Bills (proposed laws) before they become Acts (law). The House of Lords is not democratically elected and currently consists of 706 members (or peers). 92 or these peers sit by virtue of hereditary peerage, ie they inherited their place in the Lords. The remainder are senior bishops, senior judges or are appointed by the Prime Minister (officially by the monarch on the Prime Minister's advice).
Since 1999 Scotland and Wales have had their own devolved assemblies (parliaments). Strangely there is no English parliament, Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish MPs all participate in the making of English law.
Joined: 26 Nov 2002 Location: Algae Colony On Mars
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:59 am Post subject:
The best music ever came from the UK: Radiohead, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, The Who, Queen, Iron Maiden, the list goes on. Granted, the majority of music coming out of Britain now is just Libertines or Arctic Monkeys ripoffs and since neither were that brilliant in the first place the music scene is a bit crap currently. Especially Snow Patrol. _________________
Quote:
This is sexier than what this forum was supposed to tolerate. - Banshee
1. Lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England.
last i checked black cats were unlucky. Black cats havent been good luck since like the 16th century when they became associated with witchcraft.
Also, saying 'touch wood' or touching wood is not lucky in itself, but to say 'touch wood' (and touch something wooden) after making a statement is supposed to ward off bad luck.
Clazzy wrote:
The best music ever came from the UK: Radiohead, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, The Who, Queen, Iron Maiden, the list goes on. Granted, the majority of music coming out of Britain now is just Libertines or Arctic Monkeys ripoffs and since neither were that brilliant in the first place the music scene is a bit crap currently. Especially Snow Patrol.
last i checked black cats were unlucky. Black cats havent been good luck since like the 16th century when they became associated with witchcraft.
Also, saying 'touch wood' or touching wood is not lucky in itself, but to say 'touch wood' (and touch something wooden) after making a statement is supposed to ward off bad luck.
I've just been relying on what I've seen / heard. I Did find something funny about the black cat thing, though. Despite the fact I've seen Good Luck card's with Black cats on them, myself. QUICK_EDIT
Australia is still under England's rule And yes, last time I checked black cats in England are good luck.
No it isnt, when was the last time our primeminister ever passed an Australian law. The australian head of state is the British Monarch, as she is the head of the Commonwealth of Nations, her position is entirely symbolic and she holds no legal power over any nation other than Britain. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Location: Star Kingdom of Manticore
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 4:11 am Post subject:
Clazzy wrote:
The best music ever came from the UK: Radiohead, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, The Who, Queen, Iron Maiden, the list goes on. Granted, the majority of music coming out of Britain now is just Libertines or Arctic Monkeys ripoffs and since neither were that brilliant in the first place the music scene is a bit crap currently. Especially Snow Patrol.
Hey, I like snow patrol! _________________ "Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't want to live there." -Adam Young QUICK_EDIT
The best music ever came from the UK: Radiohead, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Led Zep, The Who, Queen, Iron Maiden, the list goes on. Granted, the majority of music coming out of Britain now is just Libertines or Arctic Monkeys ripoffs and since neither were that brilliant in the first place the music scene is a bit crap currently. Especially Snow Patrol.
Hey, I like snow patrol!
But this is the Britain thread, your opinion is invalidated automatically. QUICK_EDIT
I'm wondering how chavtastic is UK since I left it's sunny sunny shores 2 years ago? Seems like the country is being ruined by incredibly dumb teens wearing burberry and cheap knock off trackies. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 29 Aug 2007 Location: Village of Creston, British Columbia.
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 6:49 am Post subject:
Well seeing as how this is trivial. Kool-Aid is banned in the UK because of some cult that drank it and killed a bunch of people(I might be missing something as I heard this a loooong time ago). Well at least Morpher, there ain't any interfering teenagers about . Oh and can anyone guess why the province I live in is called British Columbia _________________
Oh, fuggerbuggerrit! QUICK_EDIT
I'm wondering how chavtastic is UK since I left it's sunny sunny shores 2 years ago?
Dude, you don't want to know.
..About the Black cats. I always assumed they where bad-luck too, cause on the majority of films I've seen (Mostly not British), Black cat's where considered, Unlucky.
But over here in my part, they're on Good Luck cards and everything, seriously:
I have to say, Britian produces some of the best quality TV, films and music.
I am currently living in Western Australia, but I will go back and live in England. I miss so much... QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 26 Nov 2002 Location: Algae Colony On Mars
Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 12:15 pm Post subject:
Morpher wrote:
I'm wondering how chavtastic is UK since I left it's sunny sunny shores 2 years ago? Seems like the country is being ruined by incredibly dumb teens wearing burberry and cheap knock off trackies.
Provided you live in an area full of students, you'll find very few. It's a joyful experience. Well, there aren't any in Leeds anyway that I've spotted. _________________
Quote:
This is sexier than what this forum was supposed to tolerate. - Banshee
Wow! This was a rampant success for something I made at nearly midnight because I was bored!
And I'm Sigifying this:
Quote:
I was born in manchester dude.
Please, more random trivia and ramblings of the people, described by so many other nations as:
"Those Damned British!" _________________ Yes, work on MV continues. It is not forgotten. QUICK_EDIT
I'm wondering how chavtastic is UK since I left it's sunny sunny shores 2 years ago? Seems like the country is being ruined by incredibly dumb teens wearing burberry and cheap knock off trackies.
Provided you live in an area full of students, you'll find very few. It's a joyful experience. Well, there aren't any in Leeds anyway that I've spotted.
Your living in Leeds now? My girlfriend lives in leeds, although she's in australia at the moment. QUICK_EDIT
I'm wondering how chavtastic is UK since I left it's sunny sunny shores 2 years ago? Seems like the country is being ruined by incredibly dumb teens wearing burberry and cheap knock off trackies.
Clazzys area might be safe, but down south it bloody isn't. The buggers are everywhere! Every night, every corner shop... QUICK_EDIT
You don't even want to know what It's like around, Birmingham. It's difficult to go anywhere without getting some kind of abuse. (No-one make a comment about my dress sense. Long before I dressed the way I do know, I even had plenty of abuse thrown at me) QUICK_EDIT
Well up North in Lancaster was horrible. Every ASDA, Sainsbury's, or news agents or god forbid.. Spar is just teeming with chav life. And you get abuse by anyone in UK, there is little tolerance held by anyone and always someone wanting to start a fight over how you looked at them or something.
We need more Aro's and TShypers. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Two of the world's best bands did come from the UK - Black Sabbath and Deep Purple. But Bulet For My Emo? Nah. Not even close to a good thing. QUICK_EDIT
Joined: 18 Feb 2005 Location: Star Kingdom of Manticore
Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2007 9:07 pm Post subject:
Clazzy wrote:
Didn't even realise people listened to BFMV, they're not even that good.
Oh and daTS, you managed to spell both boundaries and infinite wrong in your sig.
ehh, i like em.
and yeah, did realize it. That's why it's gone xD _________________ "Reality is a lovely place, but I wouldn't want to live there." -Adam Young QUICK_EDIT
Torchwood was iffy, I think they were trying too hard. I'll probably still watch the next series.
The end of the last series of Dr Who was a bit of a joke (hello Obi Wan..), not that the rest of it was fantastic.
It's not the same without Billie Piper.
Aro wrote:
1. Lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England.
Worth noting it's unlucky to cross paths with a black cat.
Aro wrote:
3. Unlucky to see one magpie, lucky to see two, etc..
Not quite that straight forward though is it
One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told.
We've got some ridiculous superstitions, though I suppose other nations do too. _________________ QUICK_EDIT
Torchwood was iffy, I think they were trying too hard. I'll probably still watch the next series.
The end of the last series of Dr Who was a bit of a joke (hello Obi Wan..), not that the rest of it was fantastic.
It's not the same without Billie Piper.
Aro wrote:
1. Lucky to meet a black cat. Black Cats are featured on many good luck greetings cards and birthday cards in England.
Worth noting it's unlucky to cross paths with a black cat.
Aro wrote:
3. Unlucky to see one magpie, lucky to see two, etc..
Not quite that straight forward though is it
One for sorrow, two for joy, three for a girl, four for a boy, five for silver, six for gold, seven for a secret never to be told.
We've got some ridiculous superstitions, though I suppose other nations do too.
You don't believe in that magpie superstitions do you, Daz?
Yeah, I'm just following what I've heard over the years. The Black cat thing was a bit strange to me in the first place, as in most countries they're considered bad luck, hence why they accompany witches. However, the fact they're on good luck charms, like Bracelets, Good luck card's etc. kind of throws off many of the beliefs. Is it possible that they're considered good luck only in certain parts of, Britain? QUICK_EDIT
Yeah, Doctor Who hasn't been as great as it was before. Billie really worked as the sidekick, for both Christopher Eccelston and David Tennant.
And.. I'm really not looking forward to Catherine Tate being the new side kick. I can't stand her in her series, or the previous christmas special she did.. and I'm very bothered about her coming back .
Torchwood I've enjoyed, though, and I'm looking forward to more.
And The Who kick arse, absolutely fantastic when they're live. _________________ If there is a problem on the forums, PM me. QUICK_EDIT
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The Britain Thread
And yes, last time I checked black cats in England are 
. Oh and can anyone guess why the province I live in is called British Columbia 
