United

Kingdom
Emergency servi ces: To contact the police, fire brigade or ambulance service in an emergency,
you can dial 999 free of charge from any public or private phone. In case of accident, most
major hospitals have 24 hour accident and emergency departments.
El ectri ci ty: The power supply in Britain is 2!"24! volts. #oc$ets accept only three%
&s'uare(%pin plugs, so an adapter is needed for continental )uropean and *# appliances.
Acceptable Behavior in England
National Days in the UK
Wales Northern
Ireland
England Scotland
1 March - The
national day of
+ales is #t
,avid-s ,ay. #t
,avid is +ales-s
patron saint.
17 March % The
national day of
.orthern Ireland
is #t /atric$-s
,ay. #t /atric$
is Ireland-s patron
#aint
2 !"ril % The
national day of
)ngland is #t
0eorge-s ,ay.
#t 0eorge is
)ngland-s patron
saint.
# Novem$er %
The national day
of #cotland1s is #t
2ndrew-s ,ay.
#t 2ndrew is the
patron saint of
#cotland.
Natona Days are not
ceebrated n Brtan n the
same way as they are n a
number of other countres.
Ony St Patrck's Day n
Northern Ireand (and the
repubc of Ireand) and St
Andrew's Day n Scotand (from
2007) are taken as an omca
hoday. A the other natona
days are norma workng days.
The Engsh are sad to be reserved n manners, dress and speech.
They are famous for ther poteness, sef-dscpne and especay for ther sense of
humour. Basc poteness (pease, thank you, excuse me) s expected.
,3s and ,3.- T# &Taboos( i n )ngl and
Do stand in line: In )ngland
we li$e to form orderly 'ueues
&standing in line( and wait
patiently for our turn e.g.
boarding a bus. It is usual to
'ueue when re'uired, and
e4pected that you will ta$e your
correct turn and not push in
front.
Do ta%e yo&r hat o'' (hen yo& go
indoors &men only( 5 It is impolite
for men to wear hats indoors
especially in churches. .owadays, it
is becoming more common to see
men wearing hats indoors. 6owever,
this is still seen as being impolite,
especially to the older generations.
Do say )*lease) and
)+han% yo&): It is very
good manners to say
7please7 and 7than$ you7. It
is considered rude if you
don-t. 8ou will notice in
)ngland that we say -than$
you- a lot.
Do Sha%e ,ands: +hen
you are first introduced to
someone, sha$e their right
hand with your own right
hand.
Do say sorry: If you
accidentally bump into
someone, say -sorry-. They
probably will too, even if it
was your fault9 This is a
habit and can be seen as
very amusing by an
-outsider-.
Do not greet "eo"le (ith a
%iss:
+e only $iss people who are close
friends and relatives.
!void tal%ing lo&dly in "&$lic-
It is im"olite to stare at anyone
in "&$lic-
/rivacy is highly regarded.
Do not as% a lady her age
It is considered impolite to as$ a
lady her age.
!void doing gest&res s&ch as
$ac%sla""ing and h&gging
This is only done among close
friends.
Do not $&r" in "&$lic
8ou may feel better by burping
loudly after eating or drin$ing, but
other people will not9 If you can not
stop a burp from bursting out, then
cover your mouth with your hand
and say -e4cuse me- afterwards.
Do not as% "ersonal or intimate
.&estions
Never eat o'' a %ni'e (hen
having a meal-
In al l co&ntri es i n /ri tai n - - -
+omen in Britain are entitled to e'ual respect and status as
men &and indeed vice versa( in all areas of life and tend to have
more independence and responsibility than in some other
cultures. +omen are usually independent and accustomed to
entering public places unaccompanied. It is usual for women to
go out and about on their own as well as with friends. :en and
women mi4 freely.
It is o$ for women to eat alone in a restaurant.
It is o$ for women to wander around on their own.
It is o$ for women to drin$ beer.
Do not s"it-
#pitting in the street is
considered to be very
bad mannered.
Superstitions in
Britain
G GOOD OOD LUCK LUCK
Lucky to meet a back cat. Back Cats
are featured on many good uck
greetngs cards and brthday cards n
Engand.
Lucky to touch wood. We touch; knock
on wood, to make somethng come
true.
Lucky to nd a cover pant wth four
eaves.
Whte heather s ucky.
A horseshoe over the door brngs
good uck. But the horseshoe needs to
be the rght way up. The uck runs out
of the horseshoe f t s upsde down.
Horseshoes are generay a sgn of
B BAD AD LUCK LUCK
Unucky to wak underneath a adder.
Seven years bad uck to break a
mrror. The superstton s supposed
to have orgnated n ancent tmes,
when mrrors were consdered to be
toos of the gods.
Unucky to sp sat. If you do, you
must throw t over your shouder to
counteract the bad uck.
The number thrteen s unucky.
Frday the thrteenth s a very unucky
day. Frday s consdered to be an
unucky day because |esus was
cruced on a Frday.
;rossed cutlery on your plate and
e4pect a 'uarrel.
<eave a white tablecloth on a table
overnight and e4pect a death.
If a #parrow enters a house it is an
omen of death to one of the people
who live there. In some areas it is
believed that to avoid bad luc$, any
#parrow caught must be immediately
$illed otherwise the person who
caught it will die.
It is thought very unluc$y to have the
feathers of a /eacoc$ within the home
or handle anything made with them.
This is possibly because of the eye
shape present upon these feathers i.e.
the )vil%)ye associated with
wic$edness.
The bride should never wear her
complete wedding clothes before the
day.
=or good luc$ the bride should wear
>something borrowed, something blue,
something old and something new?.
If you drop a table $nife e4pect a male
visitor, if you drop a for$ a female
visitor.
+hen finished eating a boiled egg,
push the spoon through the bottom of
the empty shell to let the devil out.
In 8or$shire, housewives used to
believe that bread would not rise if
there was a corpse &dead body( in the
vicinity, and to cut off both ends of
the loaf would ma$e the ,evil fly over
the house9
Interesting & Fun Facts About UK
Surprisingly, there are more chickens than humans in
England.
Britain is the only country in the world that does not
have the countrys name on its postage stamps.
In England, in pubs or bars, you can have drinks but
you are not allowed to get drunk; and in Scotland you
are on the wrong side of the law if you are drunk and
in possession of a cow.
he !"# escalators in the $ondon subway cover a
distance every week which is appro%imately e&uivalent
to several trips around the globe'
he English are tea addicts: an Englishman drinks more
tea than any person of any other nation (over twenty
times more than )mericans'*.
+rech was the official language of England for about
,"" years, from -".. till -,./.
$ondon is the world0s largest financial centre.
he 1indsor castle is the oldest royal residence in the
world still in use. It is also the largest. he world2s
oldest public 3oo was opened in $ondon in -4/4.
Interesting & Fun Facts About UK
Surprisingly, there are more chickens than humans in
England.
Britain is the only country in the world that does not
have the countrys name on its postage stamps.
In England, in pubs or bars, you can have drinks but
you are not allowed to get drunk; and in Scotland you
are on the wrong side of the law if you are drunk and
in possession of a cow.
he !"# escalators in the $ondon subway cover a
distance every week which is appro%imately e&uivalent
to several trips around the globe'
he English are tea addicts: an Englishman drinks more
tea than any person of any other nation (over twenty
times more than )mericans'*.
+rech was the official language of England for about
,"" years, from -".. till -,./.
$ondon is the world0s largest financial centre.
he 1indsor castle is the oldest royal residence in the
world still in use. It is also the largest. he world2s
oldest public 3oo was opened in $ondon in -4/4.
British Jokes And Humour
Why did the bus stop?
Because it saw the zebra crossing.
-What s a water otter? -A kette!
How does a barber cut the moons hair?
!c"ipse it.
#ourist$ %an you te"" me the way to Bath
p"ease?
&o"iceman$ We""' (irst you turn on the hot and
co"d taps then)
&ostman$ Is this "etter (or you? #he name is
smudged.
*an$ +o' it cant be (or me' my name is
,mith.
What is white and (urry and sme""s o(
peppermint?
A po"o bear.
British Jokes And Humour
<ast night police were called to a
branch of /i@@a 6ut after a body of a
member of staff was found covered in
mushrooms, onions ham and cheese. The
police spo$esman said that there was a
strong possiblity that the man had
topped himself.