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Quirky???


Just Katie
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Reading through TU's thread about a joke doing the rounds in France, Miki mentioned that the French are taking the pee out of the Brits, who purchase a pile of stones, live in a caravan, freeze in winter and boil in summer amongst our "quirky ways".

Could someone elaborate (with examples) as to why the French think we are quirky?

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Not all the French, I only know a teeny weeny percentage !!

We act so differently,

We dress so different

We act so very differently,

We don't have traditional times for certain drinks

Some don't think we debate logically, we tend to debate with the heart and not the head !!

We come over and raid the supermarkets for cheeses, the beers and wines,...nappies and toilet rolls and scratch their heads as to why  (but then some of them do it to Spain !!)

Oh me 'ead hurts, will think some more later. Nice thread Katie, are you writing a book ?

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[quote user="Just Katie "]Could someone elaborate (with examples) as to why the French think we are quirky?[/quote]

'Quirky' is the polite way of putting it, Katie. I think they think we are mad, in fact I have been told we (the English) are.

Personal examples:

Leaving your family.

Not conforming to expected behaviours relating to gender. No matter how hard French women work, if I do the same people are all 'ooh la la' about it, and it is a constant source of amusement (probably masking horror) that I don't cook.

Paying a fortune for an old wreck of a house, when...you know the rest.

Not relishing the prospect of 5lbs of meat at lunchtime.

Retiring when you have potentially many years of working life ahead of you. I agree with them on that.[Www]

 

 

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Having sarnies for lunch, and NOT having them at 12:30 precisely.

Eating gherkins just for the sheer hell of it, and NOT having pate or charcuterie with them

Then there was the "getting caught eating a bowl of pasta before going next door for an apero" incident, but I think we got away with that one by relating it back to the sarnies above: i.e. we'd only had sarnies for lunch and would thus be falling down drunk after half a glass of kir if we didn't have something proper to eat first

Spending a week gardening, decorating and building, and calling it a "holiday"

Having stuff to eat other than meat at a barbecue

Just knowing someone who is a vegetarian

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Certain eating habits are considered quirky by the French (or at least by some of my French family or friends).

- eating Marmite - many French are puzzled by this, and find it an acquired taste

- eating cheese after pudding - I suspect this is considered barbaric.

- eating mint sauce with roast lamb.

Many others, no doubt. Just talking about food  keeps it at a safe level, though[:D]

Personally, I enjoy challenging people's narrow-mindedness sometimes, especially French attachment to food tradition, as I do not subscribe to the idea that all that is French is normal and right. I think that everyone benefits from a bit of hybridisation[:)]

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"- eating mint sauce with roast lamb."

 

and even better ............eating jam with meat!

You have all no doubt heard that the British don't really own the homes they buy in the U.K.the houses etc. really belong to the State or the Queen. (I think they don't quite understand leasehold and freehold.) [:)]

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[quote user="You can call me Betty"]

Having sarnies for lunch, and NOT having them at 12:30 precisely.

Eating gherkins just for the sheer hell of it, and NOT having pate or charcuterie with them

Just knowing someone who is a vegetarian

[/quote]

So true Betty[:D]

Not doing things in couples. Even in the UK, my French friends used to comment on the fact that they didn't understand why so many Brits could do activities and go out so often in male or female groups without their OH. 

I've found here, it's still very much expected that when one goes out, it should be with one's OH if one is in a relationship. Sports activities are different. I'm talking about going to dinners, clubs, concerts, holidays etc. Etrange!  Or perhaps it's just me and my friends that are etrange but it always seemed the norm to me in the UK. Which is it?

EDIT: Also, people do not receive social security benefits in the UK. If you are unemployed, there is no help at all from the govt. I loved that one[:D]

 

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Well I think the French are quirky.  I went for an apero with Twinkles husband while she was in work[6][:D] when he told me we were leaving to eat. 

"Jeepers", I said, "Is that the time"? and necked back my Pastis.  There was uproar in the pub with everyone waving their arms about and making a fuss.  I must admit, they made me feel a bit cheap.

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I think that there has been something on french tv about leasehold recently as I have been asked about it a lot, and then when we discuss it, it is decided that it exists in France too.

Les Anglais are considered eccentric.

That we all eat jam with our meals thing. I remember eating at a friends. What an odd lunch that was.  Batavia was served with dressing and bread. Then pate with bread. Then the cheese and bread came and then fruit. And there was me thinking where's my dinner. And that was it. I had had it............And during this lunch I had a woman sat opposite who told me that les anglais ate jam with their meals. She had that poise that is just done so well here, head held high and lightly tipped back so that she really was looking down her nose at me. And she was not having it, no matter what I said to her. And then she uttered the words 'pourtant c'est vrai' and looked away from me and engaged in conversation with someone else. I was dismissed.

A friend was so impressed by le flegme anglais when there was a gun shot near Prince Charles a few years ago (in an auditorium, if I remember correctly). She really thought it was wonderful and just so british.

I'm just help the myth along that we are odd anyway, so what can I say about this really.

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When we first bought our house, I was told that the English have lots of money because they don't eat much.

A French acquaintance said that the English were 'plus mailn' than the French. The evidence for this was that he'd visited England about twenty years earlier and seen lots of roundabouts in the road and his nearest town just had their first one.

Hoddy
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  • Driving on the 'wrong' side of the road
  • 'Strange' banknotes and currency (when most of the locals here still think in francs)
  • Bizarre Imperial measures (they're right about that!)
  • Wanting halfway decent lighting in (for example) a lounge, rather than something lit like a dungeon
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I missed a funeral once, because I don't check my mail every day. That was regarded as quirky.

I thought the quirky part was that no one came round and mentioned it, but there you go. Another lesson learnt.

[quote user="Just Katie "]AND, when will you ever get over the fact that as soon as he saw ME, he left YOU?[Www][/quote]

But Katie, wasn't that because you had some Refreshers, and Twinks didn't?

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[quote user="Gardian"]

  • Wanting halfway decent lighting in (for example) a lounge, rather than something lit like a dungeon

[/quote]

Bad example there, Gardian!! You should, of course, have first pointed out that wanting a lounge, or at least, wanting to use one, is often regarded as a rather eccentric affectation. Why sit in a comfy chair by the fire when you've got a plastic-covered dining table to spend the evening at??

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