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Author Topic: ...to see ourselves as others see us...  (Read 10282 times)

Offline Highmac

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...to see ourselves as others see us...
« on: October 15, 2015, 05:01:33 AM »
Easily available travel and the internet have combined to make that wish easier to accomplish smile.gif
And since we Brits love to laugh at ourselves, there are plenty of opportunities

Two links - both from the UK newspaper The Independent:
An American intern in London on British food.


An American tourist's view of small-town Britain
Check out the comments - most are good-humoured ("The food is generally outstanding" - This needs to be corrected. Britain's food is merely better than America's food. Don't kid yourselves)
We know that some of these comments are less than accurate, please remember these are fun items in a fun thread, and the views of just two people. Please let's not get too serious wink.gif

And for the curious, here is the origin of that quote... with translation
QUOTE(Robert Burns)
O wad some Pow'r the giftie gie us
To see oursels as others see us
It wad frae monie a blunder free us
An' foolish notion
What airs in dress an' gait wad lea'e us
An' ev'n Devotion

From the Robert Burns.plus website:
QUOTE
This last verse contains the often quoted lines and shows Burns depth of understanding of human nature.
Note the capital P in Pow'r denoting God.
This last verse translates as
Oh, that God would give us the very smallest of gifts
To be able to see ourselves as others see us
It would save us from many mistakes
and foolish thoughts
We would change the way we look and gesture
and to how and what we apply our time and attention.
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Offline gunug

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...to see ourselves as others see us...
« Reply #1 on: October 15, 2015, 08:20:38 AM »
Mushy Peas and Limp Bacon; I'll be right over!  whistling.gif
« Last Edit: October 15, 2015, 08:20:59 AM by gunug »
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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...to see ourselves as others see us...
« Reply #2 on: October 15, 2015, 09:23:46 AM »
QUOTE
Mushy Pea
Be sure to use your knife to eat them, of course! And I love boiled tomatoes for breakfast! yum.gif smile.gif

Neil, is there a translation service available for most of the British dialects? (Of course there are, just search the web! wallbash.gif ) They don't have to be into American "English", 'generic' English will be fine. I once visited a small manually operated railway control tower and understood only every fifth word the man spoke! I suspect it was what is called "Cockney", it was in the "East Midlands" area. dntknw.gif

Be warned there are no translations available for "Valley Girl" 'talk'...
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THERE ARE TWO TYPES OF COUNTRIES
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And the United States = The Banana system
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Offline kimmer

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« Reply #3 on: October 15, 2015, 11:13:03 AM »
QUOTE(Highmac @ Oct 15 2015, 02:01 AM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
An American tourist's view of small-town Britain

He said: The newspapers can be awful
I ask: Has he read an American newspaper lately? I go read a couple of British news sites to get decent news. wink.gif

He said: The reason they drive on the left is because all their cars are built backwards
I say: In my neck of the woods we have many who drive on the left because they either just left the bar (where they spent most of the day), or they are high on our now legal recreational drug. Sadly, this is not a joke around here. sad.gif

He said: Everything is generally older, smaller and shorter
Except for the smaller, that's me!

I love peas, potatoes and sausage; and fries with vinegar. We have an Irish Pub in this area, and I love going there for Bangers and Mash – and yes, served with peas. yum.gif

Fun articles. It would be interesting to see a Brits view of America done in the same manner.

BTW, can someone please translate "gobby" for me.
« Last Edit: October 15, 2015, 11:15:37 AM by kimmer »
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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« Reply #4 on: October 15, 2015, 12:05:49 PM »
"gobby"? Down my way, it's usually followed by "fat"! rolleyes.gif
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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« Reply #5 on: October 15, 2015, 02:59:04 PM »
This is the way others see...

<Mac>
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Offline Highmac

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« Reply #6 on: October 16, 2015, 05:43:13 AM »
QUOTE(kimmer @ Oct 15 2015, 05:13 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
BTW, can someone please translate "gobby" for me.

A person who is extremely opinionated in a loud and almost aggressive way. The kind of person where you know there's no point wasting your breath arguing biggrin.gif

Gob is a slang term for the mouth; e.g. "Shut your gob", usually not said in a friendly way.

On Jim's mention of accents/dialects, even we have problems. The Newcastle (Geordie) accent seems to be popular with drama producers but in our house we have to treat it as a foreign language and bring up the subtitles. Still, having had so many European dramas on TV lately we're getting quite used to subtitles... rolleyes.gif
« Last Edit: October 16, 2015, 05:44:56 AM by Highmac »
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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« Reply #7 on: October 16, 2015, 09:19:23 AM »
Speaking of "Gob...", how about the term "gobsmacked"? I've heard it on this side of the Pond, but heard it last night on the "Great British Cooking Show"! It refers to being extreme surprised, usually personal. As in, "If I don't get sent home after my failures, I'll be gobsmacked!" AT least that's my informal, personal, un-informed definition.

BTW, anyone who thinks "British" food is bland, should watch that show! Check your local PBS listings, as is so often the case, the best PBS shows come from Britain, but that's another story... fortunately, there are many great American PBS programs, also. cheer.gif
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Offline tacit

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« Reply #8 on: October 30, 2015, 04:51:53 PM »
I'm on a book tour of Europe right now. We spent a week in Britain at the start of October, before traveling from there to Belgium and the Netherlands and we're in Germany now.

I like visiting the UK; I have a girlfriend who lives there, and I've always enjoyed the skip across the pond. But I do have to say, as an American, British food can be downright horrifying. (Black pudding? Yikes!)

I'm here with my partner and co-author Eve, who'd never been to the UK before and found the food absolutely terrifying. Especially when I explained to her what black pudding (which is neither black nor pudding) actually is...

Still, we did find a lovely sushi restaurant in London and a wonderful pub in Haddenham that had amazing fish and chips.
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Offline Xairbusdriver

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« Reply #9 on: October 31, 2015, 04:57:46 PM »
QUOTE
...British food can be downright horrifying
Guess you've never watched the British Cooking Show! And it concentrates just on baking! If you don't care for "British", maybe you should try a Balut (Asian "treat"). If you visit Italy, ask about some delicious Casu Marzu (a 'special' sheep' milk cheese). Since you're getting relatively close to Scandinavia, I'll bet you can find some Lutefisk. Perhaps something closer to our US border? How 'bout Escamoles?

Bon Appétite!
getsick.gif


While technically Scottish, I quite like Haggis! yum.gif And any good Pub can supply an inexpensive, hearty and tasty Pluoghman's Lunch! :thumup:
« Last Edit: October 31, 2015, 05:00:16 PM by Xairbusdriver »
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Offline Highmac

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« Reply #10 on: November 01, 2015, 10:15:04 AM »
Like any country, we have good and bad. Being British, we tend not to complain about the bad except in very extreme cases - most of us just don't leave a tip and never go back there. But we do tell our friends smile.gif

We've looked at menus from eateries in the US and continental countries and wondered who ever thought up some of the combinations (though, off the top of my head, can't remember what they were) and no doubt Tacit and others have thought exactly the same about some of ours. What we've been brought up with tends to mould our tastes in food, as with so many other things smile.gif

Visitors to the UK will find lots of regional variations - in the case of black pudding, the Scottish version is very different in taste from the English version, though it's a long while since I had either.

And, Jim, you've got the 'gobsmacked' definition spot on wink.gif

However, I have to admit we do not watch the cookery/chef/baking shows - there are so many we ended up with indigestion  devilishgrin.gif
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