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Archetype British ex pat.


Logan
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[quote user="Renaud"]

I missed the 'jeans' reference too.

The bit I would add to the pen portrait of the ex-pat in the bar at 10am is that this unfortunate is sure to be wearing shorts. One thing that British males over 35 should never do. Always a presentational disaster. Better to wear Jeans like Clarkson.

[/quote]

Rubbish!

I wear shorts as often as possible, always with casual shoes and  no socks !

I am 50 odd plus vat , have nice legs and a wee bum.

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[quote user="5-element"]

I'll have to differ on the shorts question.

Mr. 5-element looks great in shorts! Long legs, slim and muscular (athletic type!). Now, I wish I could apply this description to myself.[+o(]

[/quote]

 

You'll be off to bed early then!

"nudge nudge know what I mean"

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[quote user="Renaud"] don't all shorts wearers think that they look good in shorts?[/quote]I assume that they must.  There cannot be any other explanation for some of the abhorations one sees!  Unless of course they just don't care, so long as they feel comfortable (a perfectly valid sentiment really.)
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[quote user="Blanche Neige"]

Be they British ex pats or Summer visitors, some of the people who go to the local supermarket in short shorts, vests and strappy tops should be shot at dawn!

They are usually the last people who should be seen in such clothes.

[/quote]

Good descrition Blanche, I agree with you.I prefer a more continental style, self coloured shorts covering the knee, shirt, and smart shoes without socks, I have never owned a sleeveless vest , had a tattoo, baseball cap ,shell suit, and haven't worn trainers for twenty years! 

 

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Blanche Neige

You are spot on in your description.  The only horror to beat that one are overweight women who wear pink or flesh coloured leggings (yes, they do; I used to see them all the time in the seaside town I lived in back in the UK) and to team up with the leggings, they wear clingy tee-shirts with spaghetti straps.

I often wonder how all that sort of outfit manages to hold together the contents!

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[quote user="bosie"]Why are British people who go to live abroad are "ex-pats" yet people who go to live in the UK are "immigrants"?[/quote]

Wikipedia writes thus:-

An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence.

Immigration is the movement of people from one nation state to another. While human migration has existed throughout human history, immigration implies long-term permanent residence (and often eventual) citizenship by the immigrants:

In other words in the heart of the expat lies a desire at some point in life to return to the mother state. An immigrant yearns for permanent acceptance and has rejected the country of origin for good.

Another test is the expat reads the newspaper of the old country whilst the immigrant reads a local journal in the language of where he has settled. Norman Tebbitt’s cricket test could be another but I have never thought that an accurate indicator. How many of you will cheer France against England or your own country come the Rugby World Cup?

 

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[quote user="Bugbear"]

Jeremy Clarkson is just an entertainer and actually has very little knowledge outside of his 'scripted' performances.

You should check out his 'public' views on motorcycles. In real life (and I've met him) he shows very little similarity to his 'public' face.

Just laugh at the funny bits and ignore the rest.

[/quote]

Agreed....showman and damned good at it.  To be taken seriously, naaah

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One thing for sure with this thread, is that just about everyone is opposed to the stereotype, which makes it even more surprising that a recent thread in the driving forum was so quick to stereotype all BMW drivers without so much as a eyebrow being raised...hence my rather flippant reply to it... :-))
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  • 2 weeks later...
While we traded in our his n hers BMWs a few years ago and now own just one diddy citroen, I still reckon its pretty obvious I'm an expat.

We tend to eat outside way more than the French. I do find myself in shorts/clamdiggers and flipflops a bit more than locals (scandalously I'm over 35!).  I go running (rare to see a Frenchman jogging round these parts - tho different in Nice).  I don't always have bread with my meal.  I like a fairly substantial breakfast from time to time. I like a cuppa tea.  While I tend to read French papers I prefer British TV.  I probably do drink more (and more expensive) wine than the locals.  I own soup spoons.  I  like a spicy curry. And marmalade. And marmite. I can't understand the popularity of Johnny Halliday.  I do understand how roundabouts work.

Bizarrely, despite only visiting Belgium briefly on 3 or 4 occasions, I seem to have developed a Belgian accent!  I have been mistaken for Belgian 3 times in the last 3 weeks ... strangely I do just love mussels and chips.

I like being  a little different.  Vive la difference!

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