The British in Diary
- Feb. 4, 2024, 11:32 a.m.
- |
- Public
I saw an American women comment on something saying that British culture is incredibly dull and bland, and the USA is made up of all the people who were “sensible enough to leave”
For some reason there was no option to reply, but this really wound me up. So I’m going to rant about it here instead. How ironic that she was posting this on the World Wide Web, using a computer, which she is powering using electricity. ALL OF WHICH WERE INVENTED OR DISCOVERED BY BRITISH PEOPLE.
Yes I’ve been petty enough to make a list of some of the most famous British people and British inventions, which I am going to post below.
William Shakespeare, William Wordsworth, Geoffrey Chaucer, JRR Tolkien, JK Rowling, Roald Dahl, Jane Austen, Brontë sisters, Ian Fleming, George Orwell, Agatha Christie, Lewis Carroll, Beatrix Potter, Mary Shelley, Bram Stoker
BBC, Ricky Gervais, Monty Python, Red Dwarf
Telephone, TV, computers, internet, vaccines, electricity, telescope, toothbrush, steam engine, electric motor, waterproof, passenger train, photography, antibiotics, jet engine. A lot of western culture wouldn’t exist at all if it wasn’t for most of these things as a HUGE part of our culture relies on computers, the internet, electricity, T.V and photography.
Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, Alexander Fleming, Alan Turing, Michael Faraday, Rosalind Franklin, Isaac Newton
Rock, metal, punk, Black Sabbath, Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Rolling Stones, Elton John, Queen, David Bowie, Adele, Sting, Kate Bush, Rod Stewart, Ed Sheeran, Tom Jones, Peter Gabriel, The Who
Christian Bale, Tom Hardy, Benedict Cumberbatch, Michael Caine, Ewan McGregor, Cillian Murphy, Idris Elba, Tom Hiddlestone, Ralph Fiennes, Daniel Radcliffe, Kate Winslet, Colin Firth, Sir Ian McKellen, Sir Patrick Stewart, Jude Law, Sean Connery, Judy Dench, Maggie Smith, Hugh Grant, Ben Kingsley, Liam Neeson, Kenneth Branagh, Alec Guinness, Alan Rickman, John Cleese, Cary Grant, Rowan Atkinson, Charles Dance, Michael Gambon, Bill Nighy, David Tennant, Charlie Chaplin, Laurel and Hardy, Daniel Day-Lewis
Football, rugby, golf, cricket, tennis, curling, snooker, darts, hockey, table tennis, badminton, netball, squash, bobsleigh, boxing.
Just look how dull and boring we are!
ETA Obviously this isn’t a full and comprehensive list of every British person that contributed to our culture, this is just what came out of my brain as I was writing it. If there are any errors, I’m sorry, I’m not an expert. If there are more English people / things on this list, that will be because England has a higher population than Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. There are no sportspeople on this list because I know nothing about sport, but I did include all the “big” sports that were invented by the British. Do not be offended.
Last updated February 04, 2024
Babe In Toyland ⋅ February 04, 2024
Whatever you do, don't go on any of the ancestry groups on Facebook. They'll drive you mad! One minute they're all like "och aye, granda was a Scotch so I'm Scotch and even have a thistle tattoo!" then when real Scots take the gentle piss, they resort to "oh my god, you're so rude! I'm glad I don't live there!"
I actually love it for that reason....
Lucretia Babe In Toyland ⋅ February 04, 2024
Lol "scotch". It's so true though.
Deleted user ⋅ February 04, 2024
As an American, I can say fuck them. The ignorant rules that disparage other cultures. People say Americans have culture of some kind, but I'm beginning to think it's the culture, the stupid looking at our politics. Everyone has an opinion, and that woman's was based on sheer ignorance and stupidity. May you and your family have a good day peace and love from a Yank.
Bomb Shell Deleted user ⋅ February 04, 2024
Thank you for being one of the good, intelligent ones! 😊
Deleted user Bomb Shell ⋅ February 04, 2024
Yeah I try to see people as people all over the world. My only bigotry is toward the cruel and stupid that want to make the world a worse place.
Deleted user Bomb Shell ⋅ February 04, 2024
I have a "to each their own" attitude about most things but found this mildly amusing. https://www.huffpost.com/entry/american-things-that-confuse-british-people_n_65bd4b6fe4b0a3aad5a50227
Bomb Shell Deleted user ⋅ February 04, 2024
Ha, that’s great. The drinking age has always baffled me too! You’re 20 years old, you can buy a house, get married, have kids, get a job, drive a car, but you can’t drink a beer or have a glass of champagne to celebrate it all?!
Deleted user Bomb Shell ⋅ February 04, 2024
When I was 18 the drinking age was 18 and like a stupid ass I was drinking much before 18. Marijuana is legal in some states such as my state of Michigan. There are so many conflicts that people have that are just silly to me. If I were to go to England or Europe, I would adapt and try to be as the locals are, and not arrogant and insulting or rude. People need to just be cool. Yes, life is full of disconnects and strangeness. Such as people outraged about Taylor, Swift, the entertainer, and not about child poverty. As for things like accents, we all have one. They are not laughable or something to be imitated. They are just how we talk. I was once asked by a surgeons office what country I was from and I was just down the road from them and told them USA. I can sound like a crazy redneck, and I can also talk like an intellectual. I find history and archaeology, interesting and amazing how your country came to be. The same with Europe. I am bigoted about the fucking idiots all over the world. 👍🏼😄 thank you for the conversation.
Lucretia ⋅ February 04, 2024
Ah yes, because Brit bashing is cool you see. We're colonising bastards and because we're sooooo privileged you can call us whatever you like because it's not punching down... or some such bollocks.
Insert eye roll here.
history of love ⋅ February 04, 2024
Brexit can be added, we invented that.
List heavily skews English rather than British.
Bomb Shell history of love ⋅ February 04, 2024 (edited February 04, 2024)
Edited
We invented a lot more than this list, but the focus was on culture.
England has a higher population than the other British countries, so it always going to be skewed that way. I wasn’t deliberately only listing English people / things, I wrote as many British items as I could think of. Please feel free to add more Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish, I’m happy to edit!
history of love Bomb Shell ⋅ February 04, 2024
Me and the UK aren't exactly on the best of terms right now - because another "invention" is bringing in tighter restrictions of having a non UK spouse/partner which impacts about 70% of non Londoners.
But anyway.
We gave the highest number of independence days.
We have multiple Olympic gold medal winners in multiple disciplines.
We have Andy Murray, 3 time grand slam winner and 2 time gold medal winner in tennis. We have his brother Jamie, who has won multiple doubles and mixed doubles grand slams. We have Emma Raducanu who is the only person so far to ever have won a grand slam from qualifying AND w/o dropping a set (and she was 19!) We have multiple wheelchair tennis winners. We have Lewis Hamilton who has won 8 F1 titles. We have F1 car makers (I think) who have won the construction F1 title. We have,divers, runners, long jumpers, darts, snooker, footballers etc.
We have more modern authors like JK Rowling, Ian Rankin and ones I've never read nor discovered yet
Bomb Shell history of love ⋅ February 04, 2024 (edited February 04, 2024)
Edited
Sorry I don’t know anything about sport so couldn’t start naming sports people. I did mention all the big sports that were invented by the British, though, including tennis. It’s just not possible to list it all, there’s too much. I don’t claim to be an expert, it was all just stuff that came out of my head while I was writing. I did mention JK Rowling, I know she is Scottish for one.
history of love ⋅ February 04, 2024
Your list of actors though. Why did you pick them?
Looking wider - Kate Winslet first came to fame by a Peter Jackson film and then Titanic. So whilst she is British, the people who cast her weren't.
Cary Grant is UK/US dual.
Your list is very male.
Both Michael Caine and Ben Kingsley are Sirs
Bomb Shell history of love ⋅ February 04, 2024 (edited February 04, 2024)
Edited
You are being very critical here, I don’t know why you’re so offended by it. I never claimed that it was fully comprehensive, it was literally just a brain fart and I wrote them down as I thought of them. There ARE more “big” male actors than female. I don’t k ow every single person’s titles or peerages. I’m not an expert in any of this. I’m sorry if I offended you with my choices. It was never meant to be a full and complete list of every British person that has contributed to our culture, it was just a few examples.
Amaryllis ⋅ February 04, 2024
Lol as an American I think British culture is way better...
Bomb Shell Amaryllis ⋅ February 04, 2024
💜 I’m sure every culture has its good and bad points 😊