closing tag is in template navbar
timefactors watches



TZ-UK Fundraiser
Results 1 to 42 of 42

Thread: How other Countries see us

  1. #1
    Craftsman
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    sussex uk
    Posts
    633

    How other Countries see us

    I’ve just got back from Israel. Whilst there I was talking to some Russians. I’d not heard this one of theirs before. “ Il leave like an English man”. Quite a common saying for them apparently when they are planning on leaving a social gathering lol 😂
    Any one else heard any gems?

  2. #2
    Master
    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Petersfield, Hampshire
    Posts
    6,308
    How does an Englishman leave?

  3. #3
    Master blackal's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Scottish Borders
    Posts
    9,520
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeremy67 View Post
    How does an Englishman leave?

    Before it is his round………………………..

  4. #4
    I'm aware of a French or Irish exit - you leave quietly without announcing your departure.

    Maybe an English exit is more of a commentary on recent events - announce it as loudly as possible and then trip as the door hits you on the way out, and then get rained on.

  5. #5
    Craftsman
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    sussex uk
    Posts
    633
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeremy67 View Post
    How does an Englishman leave?
    According to them very quietly without saying goodbye.

  6. #6
    Master BEZELBOY's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2008
    Location
    Suffolk
    Posts
    1,304

    How other countries see us

    Quote Originally Posted by blackal View Post
    Before it is his round………………………..

    Probably because the Scottish have drunk it all.......

  7. #7
    Master blackal's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2012
    Location
    Scottish Borders
    Posts
    9,520
    Quote Originally Posted by BEZELBOY View Post
    Probably because the Scottish have drunk it all.......

    You snooze………………………… you lose!

  8. #8
    Grand Master number2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    North and South.
    Posts
    30,564
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeremy67 View Post
    How does an Englishman leave?
    On all fours throwing up in the shrubbery...
    "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

    'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.

  9. #9
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Everywhere, yet nowhere...
    Posts
    13,708
    Quote Originally Posted by lew07 View Post
    I’ve just got back from Israel. Whilst there I was talking to some Russians. I’d not heard this one of theirs before. “ Il leave like an English man”. Quite a common saying for them apparently when they are planning on leaving a social gathering lol 
    Any one else heard any gems?
    What were their views on Putin's special operation in Ukraine?

  10. #10
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    18,998
    Quote Originally Posted by Onelasttime View Post
    What were their views on Putin's special operation in white Palestine?
    Bit of a typo there. FTFY

    Separately I think leave like an Englishman means once they've squeezed every drop worth having out of the country and filled up the British museum with loot.

  11. #11
    Master reggie747's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
    Location
    The Mersey Riviera
    Posts
    7,184
    Quote Originally Posted by blackal View Post
    Before it is his round………………………..
    Surely that's a Scotsman 🤔

  12. #12
    Grand Master Saint-Just's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2007
    Location
    Ashford, Kent
    Posts
    28,934
    There is a French expression, «*filer ŕ l’anglaise*» which amount to the same thing and which you amusingly translate as taking a French leave
    Same thing with capote anglaise and French letter.
    'Against stupidity, the gods themselves struggle in vain' - Schiller.

  13. #13
    Craftsman
    Join Date
    Nov 2016
    Location
    sussex uk
    Posts
    633
    Quote Originally Posted by Onelasttime View Post
    What were their views on Putin's special operation in Ukraine?
    Good question. We largely avoided that subject but when we did touch on it they bought up the fact that The Ukrainians are by no means angels and have chapters in their history they would rather everyone forgot.

  14. #14
    Master
    Join Date
    Jun 2015
    Location
    Edinburgh
    Posts
    3,040
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by lew07 View Post
    Good question. We largely avoided that subject but when we did touch on it they bought up the fact that The Ukrainians are by no means angels and have chapters in their history they would rather everyone forgot.
    Not sure "invading your neighbours and razing cities to the ground then deporting inhabitants to the frozen East" is one of them though.

    Anyway yes, leaving like an Englishman refers to leaving quietly without saying goodbye

  15. #15
    Master
    Join Date
    Jul 2009
    Location
    Brum
    Posts
    2,219
    I’d have left when I’d found out they were Russian.

  16. #16
    Master Ruggertech's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2019
    Location
    Deepest darkest South Wales.
    Posts
    7,058
    Quote Originally Posted by Maris View Post
    I’d have left when I’d found out they were Russian.
    Especially when they started trying to justify the 'special military operation'. Beasts.

  17. #17
    Grand Master ryanb741's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    London
    Posts
    19,615

  18. #18
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    I was asking a French girl that very question today.

    She was polite and diplomatic,I would say woke and stupid.


    The big building site near my house told me they couldn't turn of the lights (bright enough to light the south of England and dazzle aircraft overhead) at night in case someone broke in and injured themselves.

    I mean what on earth is this nonsense.

    Meanwhile in Germany.



  19. #19
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Everywhere, yet nowhere...
    Posts
    13,708
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    I was asking a French girl that very question today.

    She was polite and diplomatic, I would say woke and stupid.

    Care to elaborate?

  20. #20
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by Onelasttime View Post
    Care to elaborate?
    its all around, I gave 2 examples in my post.

  21. #21
    Master
    Join Date
    Jan 2010
    Location
    Coming Straight Outer Trumpton
    Posts
    9,385
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeremy67 View Post
    How does an Englishman leave?
    I assumed it involves curtains & polishing but…

  22. #22
    Grand Master Chris_in_the_UK's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2004
    Location
    Norf Yorks
    Posts
    42,912
    Quote Originally Posted by Onelasttime View Post
    Care to elaborate?
    You know where this is going.........
    When you look long into an abyss, the abyss looks long into you.........

  23. #23
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    18,998
    Are you even English?

  24. #24
    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Are you even English?
    Where are Raffe and Daddel when you need them. Usually you can’t shut them up.

  25. #25
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2017
    Location
    Down south jukin
    Posts
    5,257
    Blog Entries
    1
    Quote Originally Posted by wileeeeeey View Post
    Are you even English?
    I know what you did as well,it’s probably time I told the forum.

  26. #26
    Grand Master Onelasttime's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2014
    Location
    Everywhere, yet nowhere...
    Posts
    13,708
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    its all around, I gave 2 examples in my post.
    So being polite is woke and stupid?

  27. #27
    Grand Master hogthrob's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2007
    Location
    Essex, UK
    Posts
    16,843
    Quote Originally Posted by Saint-Just View Post
    There is a French expression, «*filer ŕ l’anglaise*» which amount to the same thing and which you amusingly translate as taking a French leave
    Same thing with capote anglaise and French letter.
    Is it the Irish goodbye, the French exit, or to leave “the English way”? Depends where you live

  28. #28
    Grand Master Sinnlover's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    London
    Posts
    10,942
    Quote Originally Posted by Onelasttime View Post
    So being polite is woke and stupid?
    So is being diplomatic apparently.


    I would say posting before thinking is clearer evidence of stupidity.

  29. #29
    Grand Master Raffe's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2012
    Location
    Lëtzebuerg
    Posts
    38,754
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    I know what you did as well,it’s probably time I told the forum.
    I am dying for it. Please please.
    Someone who lies about the little things will lie about the big things too.

  30. #30
    Grand Master number2's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2011
    Location
    North and South.
    Posts
    30,564
    Quote Originally Posted by Raffe View Post
    I am dying for it. Please please.
    +1
    "Once is happenstance. Twice is coincidence. The third time it's enemy action."

    'Populism, the last refuge of a Tory scoundrel'.

  31. #31
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    18,998
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    I know what you did as well,it’s probably time I told the forum.
    r u a dj?

  32. #32
    Grand Master Passenger's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2014
    Location
    Cartagena, Spain
    Posts
    24,801
    I think recently we've come to be viewed by much of the so called developed world with not a little pity having shattered a couple of generally accepted notions about our capabilities, pragmatism and statecraft. I suspect some in the ROW see us as an opportunity for exploitation.

    More colloquially, historically speaking as a people with a penchant to drink excessively and misbehave in public.


    Curious now, spill beans bwest...
    Last edited by Passenger; 26th May 2023 at 10:54.

  33. #33
    Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
    Location
    Cornwall
    Posts
    3,435
    When I lived in Germany some 20 years ago, I was told they referred to the uk as Monkey Island - I think the literal translation is island monkeys (Inselaffe)

  34. #34
    Quote Originally Posted by Raffe View Post
    I am dying for it. Please please.
    Hang on, let me get my popcorn and get comfortable!

  35. #35
    Grand Master oldoakknives's Avatar
    Join Date
    Sep 2012
    Location
    United Kingdom
    Posts
    20,041
    Blog Entries
    1
    Started out with nothing. Still have most of it left.

  36. #36
    Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Isle of Ynys Mon, Wales
    Posts
    3,568
    Blog Entries
    1
    Other countries probs see Britain following the course of the landed gentry/aristocrats from the1940s. Desperate enough to marry in to money, but not yet desperate enough to admit that we will need to admit their extended families also.

  37. #37
    Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Location
    North of nowhere
    Posts
    7,332
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeremy67 View Post
    How does an Englishman leave?
    Via the kebab house?

  38. #38
    Grand Master ryanb741's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2008
    Location
    London
    Posts
    19,615
    I know from a business perspective sometimes Brits annoy people from other countries as we frequently don't say what we think. It particularly bamboozles our Dutch colleagues as in the Netherlands people tend to be very direct and to the point and when they engage with Brits they think a meeting has gone really well, nobody has raised any objections and everyone appears to be happy and then after the meeting you never hear from the Brits again!

    My wife (who is originally from Thailand) admires the road etiquette here - particularly how we go out of our way to let ambulances past (will never happen in Thailand) or wait for someone to park. She also has travelled across Europe and thinks the UK is far more organised than most countries and is much cleaner. She was shocked in particular at how bad and disorganised the German rail system was compared to the UK. Overall for her the UK is the best country in Europe to live in (and far better than the US).

    However food is better in much of Europe compared to the UK - not at a produce level but at an individual knowledge level - she observed the average Brit hasn't got a clue about seasonal local priduce and instead will think of themselves as a foodie for cooking some fancy foreign dish using imported ingredients whereas true chef skills in many countries come from knowing what is in season locally and making the best of that and that skill isn't common in the UK. The actual words were 'how can you be so close to France and Italy and yet get food so wrong?!!?'

  39. #39
    Master
    Join Date
    Nov 2011
    Location
    Berkshire
    Posts
    9,149
    Quote Originally Posted by ryanb741 View Post
    I know from a business perspective sometimes Brits annoy people from other countries as we frequently don't say what we think. It particularly bamboozles our Dutch colleagues as in the Netherlands people tend to be very direct and to the point and when they engage with Brits they think a meeting has gone really well, nobody has raised any objections and everyone appears to be happy and then after the meeting you never hear from the Brits again!

    My wife (who is originally from Thailand) admires the road etiquette here - particularly how we go out of our way to let ambulances past (will never happen in Thailand) or wait for someone to park. She also has travelled across Europe and thinks the UK is far more organised than most countries and is much cleaner. She was shocked in particular at how bad and disorganised the German rail system was compared to the UK. Overall for her the UK is the best country in Europe to live in (and far better than the US).

    However food is better in much of Europe compared to the UK - not at a produce level but at an individual knowledge level - she observed the average Brit hasn't got a clue about seasonal local priduce and instead will think of themselves as a foodie for cooking some fancy foreign dish using imported ingredients whereas true chef skills in many countries come from knowing what is in season locally and making the best of that and that skill isn't common in the UK. The actual words were 'how can you be so close to France and Italy and yet get food so wrong?!!?'
    Amazed at the ambulance in Thailand, but also laughing at the comment about being so close to France & Italy and getting the food so wrong - I can completely agree with the simplicity and flavours of dishes there.

  40. #40
    Master
    Join Date
    Oct 2017
    Location
    Zagreb,Croatia
    Posts
    1,195
    Quote Originally Posted by Jeremy67 View Post
    How does an Englishman leave?
    He BrExits

  41. #41
    Grand Master wileeeeeey's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2017
    Location
    N/A
    Posts
    18,998
    Quote Originally Posted by bwest76 View Post
    I know what you did as well,it’s probably time I told the forum.
    Any update, lord cretin?

  42. #42
    Master
    Join Date
    Sep 2018
    Location
    Isle of Ynys Mon, Wales
    Posts
    3,568
    Blog Entries
    1

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  

Do Not Sell My Personal Information