Why are English people so cold and unfriendly?
Why are English people so cold? Perhaps this is the reason so many foreigners fail to integrate properly into society in the UK? I am a foreigner totally grateful to the UK for giving me a passport (married to a Brit for 21 years) as the chances of being killed where I come from are pretty good.
However, in all the time I spent living in the UK (five years in total), although I'm blue-eyed, blonde and speak perfect English with just a 5% accent, I am always regarded as being foreign. All my friends are foreign too mainly because we have come to realise we are all in the same boat.
My best friend is Swedish and has lived here in the UK for about 12 years. Even after that length of time living in the UK she says I am still the only person who has ever invited her home for a coffee!
We're told we have to be patient and that it takes time for an English person to trust you (say four years of knowing you), but then once they are friends with you, they are the best friends in the world. Well, I'm afraid I've given up trying and hoping.
Is it perhaps because your mothers never breast fed you and thus did not expose you to the first essential human warmth that we should all know? Or is it because you really are all xenophobic and your government, in its multicultural tendencies has failed to realise this basic truth? Perhaps it is just because you are SO polite, politically correct and you really don't want us to be here, so instead of telling us sincerely, you pretend to put up with us because you really don't want to become our friends?
Since first moving to the UK, I decided to move away again and have lived abroad for seven years. During that time I have never failed to make friends with the locals, and quickly too. So why are the English so aloof with foreigners?
By: Andypandy
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What a load of xenophobic, ignorant, uninformed drivel.
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For me the most unfriendly people are scottish. They take the 1st place in my top 10 chart. They say others "" We are friendly". You are friendly, yeah, but friendly on purpose. If an Australian stays in front of you, you are friendly, if this is Chinese, European or Asian, then scottish creatures show fingers, swear or being very very arrogant. They say what do you do in our country, but they themselves love to go on holidays to other countries, often in the countries of the people they have been arrogant to. So from now when I see scottish in my country I am not going to be that friendly as they expect. I am gonna give them what they deserve.
I haven't seen so stupid and lazy people so far. Lazy in any meaning of the word. They don't go to school/college, most of them are miserable, not very good looking. Women are amazing. If you haven't seen fat pigs, walking in short skirts, welcome to see and laugh. Men have the same problem - over-weight. Both naturally racists.
scottish are just my favorite topic to talk. I can talk a lot, always share everything about them. scottish are real racists. They are evil. They are nasty. I hope nobody will ever work together with scottish. You must know that you gonna do all the work, while they are chatting. This is normal for the scottish, they don't like working, they like watching other working. I dont think that there is a huge difference between english and scottish. scottish are actually english's servants, members of the english family, so they are all the same,,,,,with the small difference that english are more polite and a bit more clever, scottish are just poor villagers, rurals and retarded, they have no manners.
So, yeah, I don't know so many english, but I have heard the same, sure it's true from what my friends have told me.
I hate scottish, because I hate unfriendly people and racists
I haven't seen so stupid and lazy people so far. Lazy in any meaning of the word. They don't go to school/college, most of them are miserable, not very good looking. Women are amazing. If you haven't seen fat pigs, walking in short skirts, welcome to see and laugh. Men have the same problem - over-weight. Both naturally racists.
scottish are just my favorite topic to talk. I can talk a lot, always share everything about them. scottish are real racists. They are evil. They are nasty. I hope nobody will ever work together with scottish. You must know that you gonna do all the work, while they are chatting. This is normal for the scottish, they don't like working, they like watching other working. I dont think that there is a huge difference between english and scottish. scottish are actually english's servants, members of the english family, so they are all the same,,,,,with the small difference that english are more polite and a bit more clever, scottish are just poor villagers, rurals and retarded, they have no manners.
So, yeah, I don't know so many english, but I have heard the same, sure it's true from what my friends have told me.
I hate scottish, because I hate unfriendly people and racists
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hmmm, English people in general do tend to be pretty anti-social creatures. I'm English, and have a hard time trusting or making friends with people my own age that I've been around for the majority of my schooling life. I think there are two phrases that are best to describe and Enlishman: 'stiff upper lip' and the one about an englishman using a newspaper as a shield from reality, almost. I don't know why, but the english DO tend to be a bit on the anti-social side. I think that once an englishman's trust is earned you'll probably still be doubted from time to time, and if you DO ever break their trust then you'll never get it back. In my opinion the english aren't racist, but cautious, mostly or maybe it's just that we wouldn't want to offend a foreginer. Well, whatever, hope this makes sense.
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reallyverybored - 14-Nov-11 19:55
I'm English and I have a tendancy to run up to my friends and hug them so not all English people are that way... Do you want a hug? :L
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mikep "Put your money where your mouth is and do so" ??? My case rests M'lord, I concider this horse has fell at the first fence.
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St George - 11-Nov-11 00:53
"I am game to meet any challenge you might make mikep"
Put your money where your mouth is and do so.
"I am game to meet any challenge you might make mikep"
Put your money where your mouth is and do so.
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I am game to meet any challenge you might make mikep. I am not superior to anybody or anything. The nub is whether you understand English, as it is written. It is not for me to educate you, I will however continue to comment on the silly words you sometimes use and laugh at your attempts to educate other posters.
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St George - 10-Nov-11 20:30
Attempting to be patronising and superior, when you are demonstrably unable to achieve the former or aspire to the latter, ill behoves you, unless of course you can explain what you mean by : " .... using words that exist but have no meaning."
Faced with a challenge which you cannot meet, I suspect and hope that we have seen the last of you.
Attempting to be patronising and superior, when you are demonstrably unable to achieve the former or aspire to the latter, ill behoves you, unless of course you can explain what you mean by : " .... using words that exist but have no meaning."
Faced with a challenge which you cannot meet, I suspect and hope that we have seen the last of you.
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English is a strange language mikep, it can be very subtle. The reading matter you have swallowed is tempting you into deep waters, by using words that exist but have no meaning.
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St george - 10-Nov-11 17:38
Trying to be smart, when you are demonstrably not, ill behoves you.
Sally - 10-Nov-11 18:31
"If a person is of Afro-Caribbean or Asian heritage but born here, do you not consider them to be English?"
English no, British, in the legal sense, arguably yes.
Trying to be smart, when you are demonstrably not, ill behoves you.
Sally - 10-Nov-11 18:31
"If a person is of Afro-Caribbean or Asian heritage but born here, do you not consider them to be English?"
English no, British, in the legal sense, arguably yes.
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Mike P -"Caucasian English people? What other types are there?"
If a person is of Afro-Caribbean or Asian heritage but born here, do you not consider them to be English?
St George -What are you talking about? Is pot herb a variant on "pot calling the kettle black"? I have never heard of it.
If a person is of Afro-Caribbean or Asian heritage but born here, do you not consider them to be English?
St George -What are you talking about? Is pot herb a variant on "pot calling the kettle black"? I have never heard of it.
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You donned the cap mikep. English is a beautiful language is it not?
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"The pot-herb is still having a go at the pans. "
Is that supposed to mean something? If it's a euphemism or circumlocution of some kind, why not just spell it out in plain English. That would be appreciated.
Is that supposed to mean something? If it's a euphemism or circumlocution of some kind, why not just spell it out in plain English. That would be appreciated.
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Pot-Herb
Sam, your criticism is fundamentally valid but expressed a little harshly
Pot-Herb
The answer lies in pro-active policing, severe punishment of offenders, not just ASBOs and a £10 fine, The police should be allowed to give troublemakers a crack across the head. If that makes me a 'fascist', then I'm a fascist and proudly so.
The pot-herb is still having a go at the pans. There is no prize for guessing who he is.
Sam, your criticism is fundamentally valid but expressed a little harshly
Pot-Herb
The answer lies in pro-active policing, severe punishment of offenders, not just ASBOs and a £10 fine, The police should be allowed to give troublemakers a crack across the head. If that makes me a 'fascist', then I'm a fascist and proudly so.
The pot-herb is still having a go at the pans. There is no prize for guessing who he is.
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This Mike P has some nerve, nobody wants him here and it's quite clear he doesn't like us so why doesn't he just leave? He won't be missed.
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Theres Nothing wrong with English people. They are one of the most accepting counties in the world. They work on Respect which obviously you racists have none
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What a stupid person you are for your verbal poo above. No wonder English people didnt like you and you never made any friends!
Im English and I dont like you already!
Grow up
Im English and I dont like you already!
Grow up
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My word mikep I am so thankful that you have drawn everyone's attention to my glaring omission of a single word.
I prostrate myself & seek your forgiveness Bless you mikep & may your turnip fields be
fruitful.
using the back door to knock the best country in the England.
Should read.
Using the back door to knock the best country in the world. England.
I prostrate myself & seek your forgiveness Bless you mikep & may your turnip fields be
fruitful.
using the back door to knock the best country in the England.
Should read.
Using the back door to knock the best country in the world. England.
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NativeAlien : “Be wary of Greeks bearing gifts”.
Much of what you've written makes perfect sense and tallies with my own observations, This is sugar from mikep
but I'll add a couple of points. The Bile
shunning close contact and even eye contact with strangers.
The Bile
It has been said that England is the only country in the world where you can travel from one side of the country to the other on a train and not even make eye contact with the person sitting opposite you.
He does not volunteer who said it. The Bile.
It's a small country and parts are massively over-populated, often living conditions are awful. The Bile
Some parts of England suffer from a year round invasion of tourists, and it seems that often the people who live in such places and whose livelihood depends on tourism are the very coldest towards outsiders, and bite the hand that feeds them. This, and much else, bodes ill for next year's Olympic Games, as do many other features of this poisoned chalice. The Bile
This is another example of mikep now using the back door to knock the best country in the England,
Much of what you've written makes perfect sense and tallies with my own observations, This is sugar from mikep
but I'll add a couple of points. The Bile
shunning close contact and even eye contact with strangers.
The Bile
It has been said that England is the only country in the world where you can travel from one side of the country to the other on a train and not even make eye contact with the person sitting opposite you.
He does not volunteer who said it. The Bile.
It's a small country and parts are massively over-populated, often living conditions are awful. The Bile
Some parts of England suffer from a year round invasion of tourists, and it seems that often the people who live in such places and whose livelihood depends on tourism are the very coldest towards outsiders, and bite the hand that feeds them. This, and much else, bodes ill for next year's Olympic Games, as do many other features of this poisoned chalice. The Bile
This is another example of mikep now using the back door to knock the best country in the England,
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NativeAlien : Much of what you've written makes perfect sense and tallies with my own observations, but I'll add a couple of points.
The original topic talks about the 'English' so let's remain with that and restrict comment to that, setting aside the other people who form the population of the British Isles. The English have a deserved reputation for being generally cold, aloof and stand-offish, shunning close contact and even eye contact with strangers. It has been said that England is the only country in the world where you can travel from one side of the country to the other on a train and not even make eye contact with the person sitting opposite you. Often a polite greeting is ignored, acknowledged with a grunt, a muttered 'morning', or at worst a lowering of the newspaper or book and a glare. These are the barriers that people build in order to preserve their personal space and to prevent the intrusion of a possibly boring conversation, the ramblings of a nutter, or a proselytising purveyor of some worthless religion. As with all generalisations, which are based on perceptions, there is an underlying truth and the generalisation will apply to the majority.
Even within England though, there are marked regional differences in the behaviour of people towards others, and I have found that the further one gets from the cesspit of humanity which is London, where it is admittedly a rarity these days to meet an English person, the less reserved people tend to be. To a degree this applies as one moves away from any big city. It's not necessarily true that in the countryside where strangers are a rarity they are received with more warmth, I've met some diabolically unfriendly farming folk and it seems that warmth, or lack of, is defined by regions.
It's a small country and parts are massively over-populated, often living conditions are awful, so it is unsurprising that intrusions are unwelcome, and outsiders come up against the 'small islander' mentality and protectiveness.
Some parts of England suffer from a year round invasion of tourists, and it seems that often the people who live in such places and whose livelihood depends on tourism are the very coldest towards outsiders, and bite the hand that feeds them. This, and much else, bodes ill for next year's Olympic Games, as do many other features of this poisoned chalice.
There are places in England where people are friendly, there are individuals who buck the trend, but by and large, the English are 'cold'.
You say you plan to leave. Where do you have in mind?
The original topic talks about the 'English' so let's remain with that and restrict comment to that, setting aside the other people who form the population of the British Isles. The English have a deserved reputation for being generally cold, aloof and stand-offish, shunning close contact and even eye contact with strangers. It has been said that England is the only country in the world where you can travel from one side of the country to the other on a train and not even make eye contact with the person sitting opposite you. Often a polite greeting is ignored, acknowledged with a grunt, a muttered 'morning', or at worst a lowering of the newspaper or book and a glare. These are the barriers that people build in order to preserve their personal space and to prevent the intrusion of a possibly boring conversation, the ramblings of a nutter, or a proselytising purveyor of some worthless religion. As with all generalisations, which are based on perceptions, there is an underlying truth and the generalisation will apply to the majority.
Even within England though, there are marked regional differences in the behaviour of people towards others, and I have found that the further one gets from the cesspit of humanity which is London, where it is admittedly a rarity these days to meet an English person, the less reserved people tend to be. To a degree this applies as one moves away from any big city. It's not necessarily true that in the countryside where strangers are a rarity they are received with more warmth, I've met some diabolically unfriendly farming folk and it seems that warmth, or lack of, is defined by regions.
It's a small country and parts are massively over-populated, often living conditions are awful, so it is unsurprising that intrusions are unwelcome, and outsiders come up against the 'small islander' mentality and protectiveness.
Some parts of England suffer from a year round invasion of tourists, and it seems that often the people who live in such places and whose livelihood depends on tourism are the very coldest towards outsiders, and bite the hand that feeds them. This, and much else, bodes ill for next year's Olympic Games, as do many other features of this poisoned chalice.
There are places in England where people are friendly, there are individuals who buck the trend, but by and large, the English are 'cold'.
You say you plan to leave. Where do you have in mind?
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