Tracy Collins [00:00:00]:
If you've ever wondered why a British person says sorry to you when you bumped into them, this episode is for you. Today, Doug and I are unpacking 12 things that will genuinely confuse you in the UK until you know the rules.

Intro [00:00:13]:
Welcome to the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Your host is the founder of the UK travel planning website, Tracey Collins. Each week, Tracey shares destination guides, travel tips and itinerary ideas, as well as interviews with a variety of guests who share their knowledge and experience of UK travel to help you plan your perfect UK vacation. Join us as we explore the UK from cosmopolitan cities to quaint villages, from historic castles to beautiful islands, and from the picturesque countryside to seaside towns.

Tracy Collins [00:00:43]:
Before we get started, we'd like to thank our sponsor. Walks and Devour Tours. If you're planning a trip to London, you'll already know the challenge. There's a lot you want to do and only a limited amount of time to fit it all in. That's where the right tour makes all the difference. Because you want experiences that are the best use of your time, with more access, less waiting and a deeper sense of the. That's why we recommend Walks and Devour Tours. They offer walking tours and food tours designed to make your time count, often with early or after hours entry.

Tracy Collins [00:01:13]:
You'll also be with exceptional local guides who add the stories and context so you leave with a richer understanding of what you're seeing and a trip that feels genuinely memorable. If you're visiting London as a couple with family or you simply prefer a more intimate experience, Walks and Devour Tours also offer private tour options. To learn more, you'll find the link in the show notes. Now let's get into this week's Episode. Episode. Hi everybody and welcome to this week's edition of the UK Travel Planning Podcast. Episode 198. Can you believe it? Can you believe it, Doug?

Doug Collins [00:01:46]:
I know.

Tracy Collins [00:01:48]:
I've managed to talk through 198 episodes. So if you're new here and you're new to listening to the podcast, welcome. I'm Tracy Collins, the host of the UK Travel Planner podcast. This week, Doug is with me. Doug is not always in every episode, are you, Doug?

Doug Collins [00:02:03]:
No, no, I'm not. I'm not actually with you, am I really today, are you?

Tracy Collins [00:02:06]:
No. You're not sort of on the other

Doug Collins [00:02:08]:
side of the planet.

Tracy Collins [00:02:10]:
Yeah. Yeah. Well, yes, I'll. I'll explain that in a minute. But anyway, so yeah, if you're new, this Doug. Doug is a UK train expert and my husband. So he's also the co founder of UK travel planning. So, yes, just to kind of briefly explain, I am actually in London at the moment and Doug is all the way over in Australia and.

Tracy Collins [00:02:30]:
Australia, but you'll be coming over in the next. Well, in the next month or so,

Doug Collins [00:02:36]:
weren't you about five or six weeks, the 25th of May.

Tracy Collins [00:02:41]:
Yeah, you'll land. So that's really cool. So I've been in London for the last few weeks and yeah, just having a really good time and doing some fantastic tours. So I've been out with the. The English bus for a few tours the last few days. There's an episode coming next week all about that. So if you're thinking about some taking some day tours from London, listen in for that episode because I'm going to talk about the three different chairs I've taken with them from out of London, which have been really, really good. And I've also did a food tour, which I know you're going to be really jealous of.

Tracy Collins [00:03:12]:
Doug. I did a food tour with Devour of Borough Market, which is always fun.

Doug Collins [00:03:19]:
Oh, it's fantastic.

Tracy Collins [00:03:20]:
Yes, I really enjoyed that. And also a big shout, actually, to Naomi and David, who were also on the chair. And it was lovely when Naomi walked up to him, went, oh, my goodness, it's Tracy from the podcast, a big podcast fan. So we had a photo taken and then we spent the. The whole. On the food tour. So that was really good. So, hi, Naomi and David, continue to have a fantastic time in on your UK trip.

Tracy Collins [00:03:48]:
So anyway, I just thought for this episode we would talk a little bit. We've got a few episodes in the past, a little bit about British culture because obviously we always talk about the practical things, don't we?

Doug Collins [00:03:58]:
Yeah, that's right.

Tracy Collins [00:04:00]:
We talk about trains and tickets and places to visit and how to get there and all that sort of thing.

Doug Collins [00:04:05]:
And then more trains.

Tracy Collins [00:04:07]:
Well, you can talk about trains forever, can't you? Okay, but one of the. Yeah, yeah. One of the things I think is really interesting to talk about is actually British culture. And there are a lot of. There are a lot of, I don't know, confuse some confusion. I think about a lot of British culture and, and the ways that we say things or ways that we behave and. And I think. I think honestly, it doesn't matter how long you live here.

Tracy Collins [00:04:34]:
And I know there's a lot of people that come and, you know, they stay here for 10, 20 years and stuff. I still think sometimes things can be a bit of a mystery because we grow up. Yeah, yeah, we kind of Grow up with this. And it's kind of in our blood. So I just think it has to be a British person. That really explains this to you because I just think. Yeah, it really interest, actually, because we, as I said, we were on this bus tour with the English bus a couple of times this week. And obviously on the bus there was the two guys who were amazing and myself and my friend Terry who came on.

Tracy Collins [00:05:07]:
So at one point, actually, the guy said, look, you've got four Brits on this bus, so if there are things that you don't understand about British culture, this is the best time to ask questions. Which was really, really funny. So there's quite a few questions came up which was. Which was good. Anyway, you know, me and talking. I could talk forever, but I thought, let's. I've kind of put it into 12 points, so 12 things we're going to talk about. And we're just gonna.

Tracy Collins [00:05:35]:
We're just gonna have a conversation about this. We're gonna just chat, me and Doug.

Doug Collins [00:05:37]:
So hopefully surface. There's so much. You could talk for hours about this.

Tracy Collins [00:05:42]:
Yeah, there are. Yeah, there. There. We could. We probably have in the past, but anyway, I thought I'd make it. Make it a little bit more succinct and just do 12 kind of. The 12 kind of things that stuck out to me. The first one.

Tracy Collins [00:05:56]:
The first one is probably one of my favorite ones because it confuses so many people. And this confused. When I. When we first moved to Australia, this confused so many people. But we will say, you're right, you're right, you're right.

Doug Collins [00:06:11]:
Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:06:11]:
You might meet somebody to go, are you right? You're right. No, it's. It's a greeting. We're not actually asking you if you're all right.

Doug Collins [00:06:20]:
Yeah, that's. That's right. Yeah. I mean, there is regional accents on top of that as well, which we'll cover later. But. Oh, yeah, where I come from, it's. You eat.

Tracy Collins [00:06:29]:
Yeah, you eat me duck.

Doug Collins [00:06:31]:
You eat me duck.

Tracy Collins [00:06:32]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:06:32]:
So it's like in Derbyshire, Staffordshire. Yes, that's one way of speaking. But it is you. You dead right. It's not a license to. Then just give, you know, welfare check. Give me. Give me your medical history, please.

Doug Collins [00:06:45]:
No, no, no. The standard response is I'm fine, thanks. Are you all right? Or how are you?

Tracy Collins [00:06:50]:
Yeah, yeah, are you? Yeah, are you? It's basically just a way of kind of just saying hello. It's just a way of saying hello. So we're not. Yeah, I mean, it's really funny. I remember when I first moved to Australia and the. The company I was working for, I said it, I think came and I went, oh, you're right. And she. She did not know what to say to me.

Tracy Collins [00:07:10]:
She was like, yeah, I'm fine. And I went, oh. And I realized after a couple of days that she just didn't. Cause I'm quite sure how to respond to that. So I was like, oh, it's just me saying hello. So. But it.

Doug Collins [00:07:24]:
Particularly when there's the. The inflection at the end, you know, if you add that onto it, you know, it makes it sound like a. A question, but you don't know to what level you're supposed to answer.

Tracy Collins [00:07:35]:
Yeah, that. That is so true. That's so true. Y. If I meet you in the street in London, you come up to me or Doug, if you. If you recognize us, come and just say, you're right. That would be great. We'd love that.

Tracy Collins [00:07:47]:
And it'll be like, yeah, we're good. How are you?

Doug Collins [00:07:50]:
So just to confuse it, you might even just get the. You okay? Yeah, yeah. That's a short version again, so that's even more confusing.

Tracy Collins [00:08:01]:
Yeah. So basically, just remember it's just a way for. Just to say hello. So, yeah, just say, yeah, good. Thanks. How are you? That's the best way to do it. But, yeah, yeah, you're right. It doesn't need to have a huge more explanation.

Doug Collins [00:08:15]:
Ask it back as well.

Tracy Collins [00:08:18]:
Yes. But, yeah, that is probably one of my favorite ones. And I just know that that confuses so many people because they're quite. Quite sure what to answer.

Doug Collins [00:08:28]:
Just smile.

Tracy Collins [00:08:30]:
Just. Just smile and not. Yeah, that's probably the best way. What about the next one that I put on the list, Doug? What? What'?

Doug Collins [00:08:38]:
Oh, it's the British institution. It's called queuing. We are good at it.

Tracy Collins [00:08:42]:
We are very, very good at queuing or lining up. And if you're from America, you probably say that. Yeah, lining up. We call it queuing. It's. It's. It's a national pastime. And I tell you what, you get it wrong and you're in trouble, but you're not in trouble in a kind of obvious, somebody's going to tell you off kind of way.

Tracy Collins [00:09:04]:
You're in trouble in it. In a. 10 people in the. In the queue that you may have just jumped in front of are gonna give you this stare or a taught yes. They will look at you and they'll be like. They'll just be. Yeah, there'll be Accusatory stairs.

Doug Collins [00:09:25]:
Non confrontational. Of course.

Tracy Collins [00:09:26]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:09:27]:
You might see one or two other people in the queue, look at each other with a knowing look and just.

Tracy Collins [00:09:33]:
Yes, yes, there probably will. And there'll be a bit of. They'll probably be touching, they'll probably will be shaking of heads or usually they're shaking of heads. A bit of shaking but not, not aggressive shaking ahead. Just a little, you know, maybe a sharp intake of dress.

Doug Collins [00:09:49]:
That's. It's a silent understanding. No words are exchanged between people, but they look at each other and go, we know, don't we?

Tracy Collins [00:09:57]:
Yeah. And they're just a kind of like, how has this happened?

Doug Collins [00:10:02]:
Yeah, we see this jumping on trains as well and things like that and the looks and the.

Tracy Collins [00:10:11]:
Yeah, absolutely.

Doug Collins [00:10:12]:
That's not right actually. But we do, we do enjoy it.

Tracy Collins [00:10:17]:
Yeah, yeah, we'd walk. I mean do a queue in. Yes, I think we do. And it really is like, it is, it's just, it's like a social, it's just a social thing that we do when we don't break the rules.

Doug Collins [00:10:27]:
I, I do swear you could start forming a queue somewhere in the UK for nothing at all and people would join you.

Tracy Collins [00:10:35]:
You're absolutely right. You could end up with this massive gripping queue. Nobody knows where they're going but they just stand really quietly, politely in that line. Yeah, that's absolutely. I have to. Yeah, I was going to say that My, my, this thing about it actually, I think it is seen as a bit of a character failing if you, if by British people, if you can't queue. And my favorite example of this was actually it was. It was in Paris and, and it was.

Tracy Collins [00:11:02]:
It was when Domin, very young and I'd gone with my mom to, to Disneyland Paris and we were standing in a, in a queue for the toilet and this, this lady just walked in, looked at the queue and just one of the cubicle doors open. She went straight in. It just, she just. My, my mom was apoplectic in a very quiet English way, but she just was like, she what? What's that? What? She what? She literally couldn't speak. She was kind of like, I can't believe that after, after she came to kind of like. But it was like that, that's not a British thing to do. And I'm like, well, we're in France, mom, just not British. Yeah, just not a British thing to do.

Tracy Collins [00:11:45]:
But yes. So make sure that if you, if you see, if you'll go. If you're going in a particular place and you see that there is a queue and you're not sure where the queue starts. This is also really important. The best thing to do is. Is ask, are you in the queue?

Doug Collins [00:12:04]:
Are you queuing? Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:12:05]:
Yeah. Because if you go and stand in front of them, Oof, you're gonna get the stare. So you're best to ask. You're always asking. You'll see that British people will ask, are you in the queue? Are you in the queue? And then people will politely kind of suggest, you know, the end of the queue, and often will say, then the queue is there. And they will tell you exactly where to go and stand.

Doug Collins [00:12:24]:
It's an acceptable question as well. You're not breaking any sort of social barriers. It is a perfectly acceptable question.

Tracy Collins [00:12:31]:
Yeah. Are you in the queue? Also, the other one I have to talk about is keeping a place in the queue. Now, that's also quite an interesting one because you can do that and. And often we'll do that. You'll keep a place in the queue and I'll go and do something new and I'll come back. But we're still uncomfortable with that, I think, because it depends how many people come back with you. So if it was me seeing me and Doug, and Doug kept the. The place in the queue and I just came back to him, that would probably be accept.

Tracy Collins [00:13:01]:
Comfortable. But if I turned up with 15 people, I think there might be a mini riot.

Doug Collins [00:13:06]:
You know, what I'd have to do is I'd have to turn around uncomfortably and tell everybody, that's my wife. My wife's just come back to us. She's. She. She's been over there now. She's come back here. But it's my wife. It's okay.

Doug Collins [00:13:18]:
It's my wife.

Tracy Collins [00:13:20]:
Yeah, it's true. I think you've done that before, actually, just to. Just to stop the touch and the. And the kind of like shaking. We need the acceptance.

Doug Collins [00:13:26]:
Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:13:27]:
Yes, yes. Oh, but. But no, it is funny. So, honestly, I want to know if you had an experience in queuing in the uk, let me know how you got on, because it really is a national institution.

Doug Collins [00:13:39]:
You know what, Tracy? I think we should add it onto our CV or resumes. We are expert professional curs. Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:13:47]:
Yeah, I think so. I think. And that actually kind of goes really well with the next one that I'm going to talk about.

Doug Collins [00:13:53]:
Oh, sorry, it doesn't.

Tracy Collins [00:13:57]:
Yes. And that is the word sorry, because we use it all the time.

Doug Collins [00:14:02]:
It's a massive word.

Tracy Collins [00:14:04]:
My favorite use of sorry or the favorite time. You'll you'll hear the word. Oh, my favorite, I guess, is that you say sorry when you apologize and for what somebody else has done.

Doug Collins [00:14:13]:
Yeah. Or you're saying at the same time as somebody else.

Tracy Collins [00:14:16]:
That's even better. Yeah. Like somebody's trying to get past you on their chain and they so say sorry to you and you're saying sorry to them. Meanwhile, you've not done anything. They're trying to get past you and they're saying sorry, but you're still apologizing to them. It is just such a British thing to do.

Doug Collins [00:14:32]:
It is, but it's automatic. There's no thought process involved with it. It's just come straight out, you know.

Tracy Collins [00:14:39]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:14:39]:
It's just one of those things that we say it. Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:14:42]:
I wonder how many times a day that we actually just. We say sorry. And I'm probably. Obviously, I'm in London at the minute, so I'm probably saying it a million times a day. Yeah, all the time. But, yes, that is their favorite. So if you. Yeah, I just think we just seem to apologize.

Tracy Collins [00:14:58]:
Just basically true.

Doug Collins [00:15:02]:
With a moan or whinge. I apologize. Sorry. I have to tell you that I think this service is awful. Why am I apologizing for your service being terrible? I have no idea. Oh, sorry. That's my seat.

Tracy Collins [00:15:16]:
Yes, yes.

Doug Collins [00:15:17]:
Sorry, but that's my seat.

Tracy Collins [00:15:19]:
Yeah, you get on a train and you've got a reservation and somebody's sat in your seat, and you don't go up to them and go, well, you just wouldn't go, that's my seat. You go, I'm really sorry.

Doug Collins [00:15:29]:
Sorry.

Tracy Collins [00:15:33]:
Yeah, we're apologizing for the fact that somebody nicked our seat. Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:15:37]:
I mean, it can start the ball rolling when they come back and say sorry. Yes, it is.

Tracy Collins [00:15:43]:
Yeah. Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:15:44]:
Well, sorry, Sorry. Can I see? Well, sorry, but you can't. No. Oh, sorry about that.

Tracy Collins [00:15:48]:
Sorry. But I do, because I actually. Yeah, exactly. It just becomes a complete sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry, sorry.

Doug Collins [00:15:53]:
A sorry situation.

Tracy Collins [00:15:56]:
Oh, honestly, it is just. Yeah, it's a word that you're going to hear all the time. I just think we're just a nation of apologizes.

Doug Collins [00:16:04]:
Yeah. Cuers and apologies. Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:16:06]:
Yes, absolutely true. So, I mean, yeah, if. If a British person says sorry and you're not quite sure why. Just. Just, Just go with it. Just go with it. Just because they probably haven't done anything wrong, but they're just apologizing for potentially maybe doing something wrong to irritate you, you know, or getting in your way

Doug Collins [00:16:24]:
or potentially going to do something wrong in a minute.

Tracy Collins [00:16:26]:
Yeah, yeah, that's what I'm saying. Yeah. So just potentially doing it. Yeah. So the next. The next one I've got is understatement, I guess. You know, we. We kind of say one thing but often mean another thing.

Doug Collins [00:16:44]:
Yeah, we are. We are good at this one. This is very much in the subconscious as well. It's like the underpaying, the. You know, we're good with, obviously, things like the weather we talk about a lot, but the classic ones are, it's a bit cold today. It's a bit chilly, actually. It's bloody freezing.

Tracy Collins [00:16:59]:
It's freezing cold. Yeah. Or. Or I feel a little bit rough. But you're actually really, really feeling awful.

Doug Collins [00:17:07]:
Awful today. Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:17:09]:
But the weather. I think we're a great one to understand. We're going to talk about the weather in a bit, but I think we do. We. We understate the weather. We're just like a little bit cold. Or, or. Or.

Tracy Collins [00:17:19]:
The best one is, see, and I think Aussies out there. Gonna love this one. It gets to 16 degrees. Oh, this always makes me laugh. And it's. It's. It's so hot. It's so hot.

Tracy Collins [00:17:29]:
We're sweltering. It's just. Yes, it's, you know, and it's really not that hot. Yeah, but, yeah, the.

Doug Collins [00:17:37]:
Or the very good one, when it's pulling down the rain, it's a. It's a bit wet.

Tracy Collins [00:17:42]:
Yeah, it's a bit wet.

Doug Collins [00:17:43]:
Really good. Yeah, it's a bit wet. No, it's actually solid because it's pouring down with rain. That's why it's wet.

Tracy Collins [00:17:49]:
Yeah. Actually, you know, I was thinking about that war, about the weather I've just said about it being hot is. The British people will say it's hot. And I'll be going, oh, yeah, it's weltering because it's 16 degrees and it's actually not that hot. But there's that kind of understatement of, you know, not quite, you know, we might go to something and really, really love it. Oh, yeah, it was. It wasn't. But actually we really enjoyed it, you know.

Tracy Collins [00:18:12]:
Or, yeah, something. And also because we don't really like to let people down. So we might go, for example, might go to the theater and see a show and we might have hated. It generally doesn't happen because I enjoy going to theater, but you might go to something. You go, well, it was. It was a bit disappointing, but it was okay. But actually, it could have been absolutely dreadful. And we're just understate it.

Doug Collins [00:18:36]:
That word rough again, that was a bit rough. That can cover so many, so many things. You know, it's a question of interpretation, but nobody's going to ask you to quantify exactly what you mean. It's just that. Knowing looking. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely.

Tracy Collins [00:18:53]:
So I think, I mean, really, I think if we say something positive, you have to kind of double the sentiment. Maybe we're just not. We're just don't sound that excited. But when we are and when we say something negative, really triple it because that's probably a bit more. More realistic because again, we just kind of. We don't. I think we just don't ever want to offend anybody. So we don't want to do.

Tracy Collins [00:19:15]:
We don't want to overstate things and get everything. Everybody too excited about something. Mind saying that? I think I do that a lot on the podcast because everybody else says that, but I think we, we. We just are a bit more understated with stuff, so.

Doug Collins [00:19:27]:
A bit more reserved.

Tracy Collins [00:19:29]:
Yeah, a bit more reserved. We just like to keep things on a bit more of an even keel. So not, not, not one extreme of way to the other extreme. Well, no, it was absolutely dreadful. We're just.

Doug Collins [00:19:38]:
We don't be seen as too excitable. I think that's right.

Tracy Collins [00:19:41]:
That's true. That's probably right. That. Well, the next one. Place name, pronunciations, this one. You know what? I think I'm gonna go on Instagram and just. I'm gonna put a whole load of words up and I'm going to pronounce them. Now what I'm going to also say, and this is.

Tracy Collins [00:19:58]:
This is something which both mention at this point anyway as well, is that Doug and I are from different parts of the uk, so I'm from the north. So I come from the northernmost county in England, which is Northumberland, which is the best county. There's going to be loads of English people that are going to be sending me messages. And Doug as well.

Doug Collins [00:20:21]:
The middle base, the middle bit called the Midlands. Not very imaginative, I grant you.

Tracy Collins [00:20:27]:
Yeah, I was going to say that. It's not very imaginative, is it? The middle. And I'm from the northern bit, so. So you're not. So we're not going to get into this argument. All right? Okay. This. This wasn't even on our list of things to do.

Tracy Collins [00:20:43]:
But I'm gonna, I am gonna just mention this. Us Northerners, as in me, not dove, are very protective about the northern. Our northern character and northern culture. So I get A little bit offended when Doug says that he's from the north because he's not, he's from the middle.

Doug Collins [00:21:01]:
But I'm not a southerner now, so therefore I'm from the north.

Tracy Collins [00:21:04]:
But you're not, you're a midlander. Exactly. Because now for anybody in the south, so that is kind of London and around. I don't know where that kind of line is. But anyway, anywhere. No, yeah, I'm gonna say anywhere north of Watford is considered to be north. Well, I have to tell you, when my, when my grand. My grandfather was alive and I, I visited with a friend of mine from Liverpool that I was at school with and my grandfather called her a southerner.

Tracy Collins [00:21:30]:
So it's put it all in from Liverpool. I know she was like, no, I'm not in a Scouse accent, which I can't do. Yeah, so. So actually I will mention you're gonna get lots of different accents, but you are what you also, what you're going to find out is that we, we pronounce things probably not how you expect.

Doug Collins [00:21:54]:
That's true. We also possibly in. In our defense as well, not being from say some of these places, we're going to mention these names. We ourselves may not 100 pronounce them.

Tracy Collins [00:22:06]:
How the locals do that is a huge and excellent point because there's an episode about Edinburgh coming out in a couple of weeks time and I, I talk about pronouncing Edinburgh. Now I pronounce Edinburgh like somebody from the northeast, not Edinburgh, Edinburgh. So that's how I say it. That's how I grew up to say it. But the, the main thing, I think in that episode I was trying to say if you want to say it my way, say it my way or Edinburgh, but is not say Edinburgh. That's the huge one. That's a huge sticking point. And yeah, honestly, if you're not sure how to pronounce somewhere, just ask somebody.

Tracy Collins [00:22:44]:
Ask. Or even. I've done it on Google. I put the, the word in Google. So how do you pronounce this? Obviously for other not necessarily British place names, but just so I've got an ide of how you actually pronounce a place name. Now I think we in the UK just love to confuse everybody with the different ways that we spell things which are not related to how you actually pronounce it.

Doug Collins [00:23:04]:
I'm gonna have to just stop you there. You mentioned the northeast. There's one particular place in the northeast which is. I'm not sure how big the place is, but it causes massive Confusion. I'm going to say chambois, and you're going to tell us. Now you need to say how you spell that.

Tracy Collins [00:23:23]:
Yeah, it's C A, M, B, O, I, S. There's no. There's no H in it, by the way. So it's C A, M, B, O, I S. And you're bringing this one up because this is the one that I mispronounce. I'm from the Northeast, and I mispronounced it, much to my mother's hilarity at the time. But on my defense, I've been living in France, so I've. I pronounced it the French way.

Tracy Collins [00:23:44]:
Camboise. Actually, it's not. It's camus, but there you go. You. It's very small, so I'm not. I'm not sure many people on this podcast will be headed in cameras.

Doug Collins [00:23:51]:
I just wanted to say it.

Tracy Collins [00:23:52]:
I'm sure you did.

Doug Collins [00:23:54]:
Sorry.

Tracy Collins [00:23:56]:
Yeah, I'm sure you are. Sorry. See, there's. There's my sarcasm coming in there. Anyway, there you go. So. So Edinburgh. Or Edinburgh, because I call it Edinburgh, but just not Edinburgh.

Tracy Collins [00:24:07]:
That's a big one. Come on. I'm going to talk about another one in the Northeast that get. Catches everybody out, which is annex, which is spelled A L, N, W, I, C, K. So a lot of people say. When I say alnwick, it's not. It's anik. Just miss out the.

Tracy Collins [00:24:23]:
The N, The L. Sorry. Don't miss out the end. Miss out the L and miss out the W. Come on. You could give me some other examples, Doug.

Doug Collins [00:24:30]:
Well, it's the one not far from where I'm from. It's called Loughborough. Yeah, the university, which is not easily pronounced. So you say Loughborough, but the spelling is L o u, g, H, B O R O u, g H. And we get.

Tracy Collins [00:24:51]:
We've heard Lugabruger for that one.

Doug Collins [00:24:53]:
Lugabruger. Yes. Yes.

Tracy Collins [00:24:58]:
Another one that's quite funny. Ah. Now this one I find in Australia is pronounced a very interesting way. And that is another one, actually, not too far from the Midlands, which is Leicester.

Doug Collins [00:25:10]:
Yes.

Tracy Collins [00:25:11]:
Or in Australia, I've heard it pronounced as Leicester, which I kind of go, what? Which actually, to be fair, when you look at the word, I would also say Leicester, because it's L E, I, C E, S T E, R, but it's actually Leicester.

Doug Collins [00:25:25]:
That's true.

Tracy Collins [00:25:27]:
Again, those kind of the C E s T E, R ones get kind of get everybody out, because we've also got a. At what looks like bicester which is actually C E S T E R B. I'm going to put these in the show notes if you kind of want to have a look at what. What we're pronouncing and not still not.

Doug Collins [00:25:45]:
One of my favorite. One of my favorites is down in. In Cornwall. And this one is funny. There's no way other way of saying it. It is. The words are mouse hole.

Tracy Collins [00:25:58]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:25:58]:
I'm not joking. The place name is called Mouse Hole, but you don't pronounce it like that. That you pronounce it mousel, as in. Which is not easy. It does get everybody. Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:26:14]:
Because it just looks like Mouso. It should be Mouso. I'm sorry, people are Mouso. But like, if you pronounce. If you spell it Mouse Hole, everybody's gonna say mouse hole.

Doug Collins [00:26:22]:
I mean, there's some in. Down in London as well, isn't there? There's, well, Marylebone or Mary Labone, depending how you want to say.

Tracy Collins [00:26:30]:
This is one.

Doug Collins [00:26:31]:
When I say wrong, I say it

Tracy Collins [00:26:34]:
wrong quite often because you just want to say Mary Lebone and it's like. It's Marlebone. Action. Malibon. I can't even say it properly because I'm not a Londoner. So again, I apologize. And this is why I kind of say when people say that the London locals, you know, to be honest, you've got to be born and brought up in London to know this stuff because it's just in your blood. It really, really is.

Tracy Collins [00:26:54]:
I'm not a London.

Doug Collins [00:26:56]:
Chiswick. Chiswick. You know.

Tracy Collins [00:27:00]:
Well, I had to learn all these one. Yeah, yeah, yeah. When I moved out of London, I had to learn all these because I might say I'm not a native London. I don't know these words. So Greenwich catches a lot of people out because.

Doug Collins [00:27:12]:
That's right.

Tracy Collins [00:27:12]:
G R E E N W I C H. So again, we dropped the W. Greenwich.

Doug Collins [00:27:19]:
Yeah. And one of my favorite ones is slough, which is S L O U G H. But you actually pronounce it slough, as in cow.

Tracy Collins [00:27:30]:
Cow, yeah. So instead of slough, which you kind

Doug Collins [00:27:34]:
of want to say, sloth is a nursing term.

Tracy Collins [00:27:38]:
All right.

Doug Collins [00:27:38]:
Yeah, yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:27:39]:
Okay. Interesting. Actually, when we're talking about cows, we get that a lot for glass for. For Glasgow. So Glasgow's Glasgow. And when quite often that will get pronounced as glass cow, and it's not. It's. It's.

Tracy Collins [00:27:52]:
It's Glasgow. Yeah. But honestly, if you're not sure about pronunciation, just. Just ask. Honestly, people will be. Yeah. Because honestly, sometimes we have to kind of go. How's.

Tracy Collins [00:28:03]:
How did you pronounce that? Yeah, I think it's just. And I'm guessing this is a lot going back to. Obviously we inherited a lot of place names from the Romans, the Celts, the Anglo Saxons, whatever. Whoever's been in the country has developed all the names. For example, like Chester means fort. So you'll see a lot of towns that end with the word Chester, and that's at Manchester or Chester itself. That. That's because it.

Tracy Collins [00:28:32]:
The Roman fort. Yeah. So, yeah, I think it. It's just. It's just fun trying to figure out some of these.

Doug Collins [00:28:41]:
So many. Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:28:44]:
But yes, that'll be. So if you found that a bit hard, the best place to. To. To go to is the port pub. I'm going to talk about being at the pub now because that is really a big cultural thing in, in the UK is that we. It's not a bar, it's. It's just somewhere that you go. I mean, my dad would go to work, he'd come back at the end of his shift, he'd go and have a bath, get himself washed and go and have a paint at the pub and he'd meet all his friends after work and it was a big social, just a social event for him and that's what he enjoyed doing and that's what he looked forward at the end of the day.

Tracy Collins [00:29:18]:
He'd just go and have a. Have a pint, have a ch. And you'll find a lot people have the local. Their pub that they. That is in the area that they'll go to, you know, and they'll have lots of friends and.

Doug Collins [00:29:31]:
And well, I said there's also meeting places for clubs and societies and. Yeah, and it was a, as you say, a very big social part of a local community.

Tracy Collins [00:29:42]:
Yeah. And I know when I was actually, because I was at Leadenhall Market the other day and I know the guide was saying that quite often American people find it quite interesting that during the day, you know, people at lunchtime will go out and have a pint before going back to work, which is. And. And again, it's that kind of social. Go out at lunch time, just go and probably even. Even have half, half a pint or whatever and then go back to work. Afternoon again, that's, that's normal. Or after work you'll see a lot of people.

Tracy Collins [00:30:11]:
You know, if you're in the Covent Gardens, always you see loads of people around the pubs at Covent Garden having an. Enjoying a paint. Oh, no, that's another thing worth saying actually, if you go to a pub, you can have non alcoholic that drinks because you don't drink.

Doug Collins [00:30:28]:
So I don't drink.

Tracy Collins [00:30:29]:
No. Yeah, yeah.

Doug Collins [00:30:33]:
It's a good place for things like football these days as well. People go and watch, you know, on the screens to put live matches on. There's always pool tables and dart sports and as you say, it's just that social. Yeah, yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:30:45]:
You know, well, yesterday actually. Yeah, yesterday I was in Oxford and having, having a drink and having some food, that's the thing I kind of mentioned. And um, and the football was on in the background, so. And actually the fire was on yesterday. It wasn't very warm. Um, Sapphire was on. Yeah. Um, you'll see like, um, dogs are allowed in pubs.

Tracy Collins [00:31:07]:
You're probably going in, they'll be, there'll be, you know, some well behaved dogs sitting there. Um, so when you go into a pub, a few things to know is that you go to the bar and order. Yeah. You know, if, if it's a, if it's got a restaurant part to the pub, then generally you'll have to wait to be seated or sometimes again, this is a bit confusing you. We have to kind of figure this out with some places you go to, some places you just go and you get your seat, there's a number on the table, then you go and order your food. Like even yesterday there was a number on the table. So I went to order a drink and some food, then I brought the drinks back the table and then the food was delivered to the table. But I paid for that at the bar and you just wait, wait your turn.

Tracy Collins [00:31:50]:
You don't tip if you really wanted to for the bomb, you just say it and one, one for you. So you just basically when it comes

Doug Collins [00:31:57]:
to sort of the modern pubs, you know, it confuses sometimes British people just the same. So. But if in that either watch other people find a table or wait to be seated when you walk in, but. Or just ask somebody you know. Yeah, you won't be the first person to ask.

Tracy Collins [00:32:14]:
A lot of them have instructions though. Now even the one, the one I went to yesterday, it just said, it said take, take a seat and then order at the bar. It actually had the instructions, I guess it was Oxford. So they know there's going to be a lot of people visiting who aren't necessarily going to be up with.

Doug Collins [00:32:26]:
You know what we would do, don't you? We probably start the question with the. Sorry, sorry, but can I just ask you.

Tracy Collins [00:32:32]:
Yeah, yeah, that's true. Yeah, yeah. Do I have, can I just get a seat myself? And usually it'll say if you've got to wait to be, be to be seated. Now if you are joining a group of other people, you know, if somebody buys, people might buy around. So that means they'll just buy a drink for everybody that you're with. So the expectation is that then everybody in that group would buy a round of drinks so that, you know, you take your turn. Also the expectation is you're right, but you don't have to have an alcoholic drink because you just say you're driving. Even if you're not, you just see you're driving and people aren't going to question it anyway

Doug Collins [00:33:11]:
to the round. So that's, that's what you do.

Tracy Collins [00:33:13]:
Yeah, yeah. Do you want to talk a lot? Because I don't drink and I know you don't drink anymore but you just, you used to have a beer and stuff like that. So I'm not, I'm not really up on, because I don't drink any of this stuff but like the different like beers and lagers and ales and stuff like that you can get.

Doug Collins [00:33:32]:
Yeah, we've got your sort of traditional ales. I mean I come from a brewery town so I should know a little bit about this even though I don't drink anymore. You've got your keg beer which is your mass produced beer which is usually made from hops. So that's what that usually comes in a metal keg which is what's on the, on the pumps. Then you have your cascales which is wooden cast, which is your real ales. They usually come in a wooden barrel and, and a bit more sort of niche type taste if you like. So and then you've got your lagers which is well used to be made from bitters but there, there's all sort of you designer logs and things like that. But the UK is not just British ales anymore.

Doug Collins [00:34:16]:
You've got beers and logs and beers from around the world. So it's, it's very much a cosmopolitan market app. But you still have, have you still have your craft beers. You still have your microbrew beers which are very popular and they're usually the smaller type pubs, not your meal gastro type pubs. These can be really sort of back street sort of smaller but very much sort of specialist beers if you like, you know, for a refined taste, if that makes sense.

Tracy Collins [00:34:50]:
Yeah. And then can you like, you can obviously order half a paint or a paint.

Doug Collins [00:34:54]:
Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:34:55]:
And it's warm as well. Somebody mentioned the other day about the fact that British beer is warm. It's supposed to be kind of room temperature, isn't it? Is that right?

Doug Collins [00:35:02]:
Well you've got to look at the. The temperatures of where you are. I mean if you're in Australia, say in Queensland, you know, they want a chill beer on a. To refresh you but you would not want a real ale freezing cold because it'd affect the flavor and the taste.

Tracy Collins [00:35:17]:
Taste.

Doug Collins [00:35:17]:
Right, okay so you would not want that log is more so. But pop rails. No, you want it cool but not cold because it affects the flow. I understand. And affects the flavor. And it should be standing.

Tracy Collins [00:35:29]:
Okay, right. So hopefully that, that, that clears up any confusion about going into a pub.

Doug Collins [00:35:35]:
I am not an expert on beers anymore. So if I've got any details slightly wrong, I apologize. Somebody just correct me.

Tracy Collins [00:35:42]:
Yeah, I was gonna say it's a while since you've had a beer, so. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I don't know. You used to. Used to enjoy your whiske pub which you can get in pubs. You can get lots of gins. I particularly like gin and there's lots of great gins. Gin and tonics.

Tracy Collins [00:35:55]:
Been my, my, my drink of choice recently and been able to try that in the pub. Oh, another drink to try actually if you do want something in the UK in the summer is a pims. I absolutely love pims and lemonade. It's just perfect when it's warm and if they asked to put the fruit in, say yes, you want all the fruit because yeah, I had one. It was actually warm last week before then it turned arctically cold again. So when I was at the pub earlier on the week sound been at the pub a lot. I did have a pink and lemonade which was very nice. Oh it's like summer in the uk.

Doug Collins [00:36:29]:
So what's the next one is our humor.

Tracy Collins [00:36:32]:
Yes, yes. And I think yeah that that can sometimes be taken the wrong way. But I mean there's so many British TV shows that are so popular around the world. Like comedians like funny like you know, like Monty Python I guess is a really good one to kind of mention, you know that, that, that people love but that Mr. Bean. Yeah, Mr. Bean kind of are. I don't know, I think it cap and also we can be.

Tracy Collins [00:37:02]:
We can be quite, quite ironic. So it's, it's about kind of taken sometimes what we say with a bit of a pinch of salt. You know like again it's a bit like we talked about before when we Talked about that. That understatement and that. That, that kind of. Of the irony is that we might use that or, you know. Yeah, it's kind of that kind of irony and, and kind of taking the mickey. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:37:33]:
Making. Taking the mickey out of ourselves as well. Yeah, yeah. And. And with a kind of straight face. And then that can be a little bit difficult sometimes for, for people to. To interpret.

Doug Collins [00:37:47]:
I. I can explain a good example.

Tracy Collins [00:37:51]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:37:51]:
When I was in UK last time, when it's in September into October, and I was on the train in it, it was late, basically, and this guy next to me, we had not spoken the entire journey and he just turned to me and went, well, that went well, didn't it? And that was all he said. And I went, yeah. Neither of us said another word. We just looked at each other. Yeah. And that was it. It. And there was another couple sitting across from the table.

Doug Collins [00:38:18]:
I don't know where they're from. They were not involved with it, but they just looked at the both of us thinking. I got the impression they didn't understand exactly what we were just saying because all he said was, well, that went well, didn't it? And I don't think they knew exactly what we meant. But that is just that.

Tracy Collins [00:38:37]:
And that's what I'm saying about sometimes you just know because you. Yeah, you just know, don't you? It's kind of. Yeah, we brought up with that and you kind of just know what's going on and. Yeah, that kind of telepathy of on the same wavelength. I think it's a shared experience.

Doug Collins [00:38:55]:
I think so. It's a shared experience. We don't need to say because we're both thinking exactly the same thing.

Tracy Collins [00:39:00]:
Yeah. But it's the fact we think of it in those terms as well, you know, that. Oh, well, that went well in that kind of like everybody going, are they being serious? No, we're not actually ironic.

Doug Collins [00:39:13]:
I have to tell you, another one is on a sports theme is whether your team. You just went, well played.

Tracy Collins [00:39:22]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:39:23]:
Because it was all thinking complete opposite. You're absolutely rubbish. Yeah, there's no well played about it.

Tracy Collins [00:39:30]:
Yeah, yeah, it's. It's that, that, that sarcasm. Oh, yeah, it's that thing as well. Yeah. You know, you open the door and it's poor and you go, great weather today. You know, it's that, it's. Again, it's that kind of understated irony, I think. I think, to be honest, again, again, I guess I think that the 0.4 and and 0.7 kind of go together so those into one.

Doug Collins [00:39:54]:
But I know. Nice weather for ducks.

Tracy Collins [00:39:57]:
Yes. That's another one which actually takes us really well. A nice segue duck into point 8, which is the weather, which is.

Doug Collins [00:40:08]:
Love it.

Tracy Collins [00:40:08]:
We. It's a hobby, isn't it? It's a hobby about the way there's a hobby.

Doug Collins [00:40:12]:
Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:40:13]:
Because, you know what? And I mean, we shouldn't say commenting about the weather isn't moaning, but I think we do moan about it all the time because we moan even when it's nice. Because, yeah, people say it's too hot, which always makes me. Because like 16 degrees. Oh, that's too hot as well. It's 22. And that's it. It's a heat wave. Heat wave.

Tracy Collins [00:40:31]:
And everybody is just like, oh, can't bear this. It's just too hot. It's just. It's just. Oh, it's ridiculous. Can't breathe. It's just too, too hot. And then of course, it's not moaning.

Doug Collins [00:40:40]:
I think it's a weather report or to think or a prediction. Yeah, I mean, naturally, all the time. I don't think we have much faith in weather forecasting. So I think what it is, we like to make our own observations and say, it's raining out there, it's very wet.

Tracy Collins [00:41:00]:
You know what I think? I think there's two. I think there's two few ways of using it. I think that. I think we do complain and I think there's just a. It's just a complaining culture about the weather or just because we just naturally do it. But there's also the kind of like, oh, it's just rubbish. But there's also the. Using it to.

Tracy Collins [00:41:17]:
To have a conversation. Yeah, yeah. About the weather, you know, and you can talk about it. Honestly, if you want to talk to a British person, start with the weather. Then you are. You're away. Away. You're really, really.

Tracy Collins [00:41:30]:
That'll be that. You've been talking to them for hours.

Doug Collins [00:41:33]:
It is. But you gotta choose that right moment. There's no good being in the theater and start talking about it raining outside. Unless you're about to walk outside and you can hear the rain. But you've got to choose that right moment.

Tracy Collins [00:41:45]:
Yeah, that's true. That's true. But I. I would think I. I'm wondering how many times a day I see. I don't do this when I'm in Australia. I love it because it's just pretty nice all the time. I did do it when I was.

Tracy Collins [00:41:56]:
Was in, in Perth and it was cold. I think I'll moan more when it's cold than when it's hot. I just think it's really interesting that, yeah, we always comment on it here. The comments are there and then if it's an extreme of one or the other, I think it can, it can then go into, I don't know, a bit of a moan. Oh, I want to get shut down for British people saying this, but there

Doug Collins [00:42:19]:
is funny moments with it. You know, somebody walks in from the outside side, absolutely soaked through. And what would a British person say? Is it raining?

Tracy Collins [00:42:27]:
Yeah, it's true.

Doug Collins [00:42:30]:
No, no, I just had a shower with my clothes on.

Tracy Collins [00:42:32]:
Yeah, yeah, yeah, that's true. Or is it, is it raining heavy? Is it really heavy? That's it. It's like, you know. Oh, I don't know, it's. I, I have to say though, since being back on and you'll be exactly the same when you cover next, but we get obsessed with, with it, upset. And you know why? And I know why. It's because you just don't know what you're going to get. So earlier this week I was in Kew Gardens and it was warm, right? Hot.

Tracy Collins [00:43:00]:
Warm, Warm. I want to say hot, but warm. What? By Wednesday it would be what I would classify as hot. It was like 25°, I think so, which is fairly hot. Even in Australia would say that that's pretty hot. You know, warm to hot. And then, then I froze on Friday in London, I think it was like, it felt like it was about minus 7,000 with a wind chill of about minus 7 million. It was ridiculous.

Tracy Collins [00:43:24]:
So I from Go wearing kind of short sleeve T shirt and now yesterday I went out with a thick puffer jacket on, my cashmere scarf on and I really wished I'd had a hat later on in the day and gloves because my fingers were going to fall off. So I think that's why we get offsets because we don't know what it's gonna be like.

Doug Collins [00:43:43]:
I'm gonna ask you a question. I'm gonna ask you a question. This is not rehearsed. We've not done any of this at all. If somebody comes up to you and starts talking about the weather, what do you usually respond with? Because if somebody from North UK is asked about the weather, how do you think they should respond?

Tracy Collins [00:44:01]:
Because somebody came up to me and said something about the weather. Well, I was doing a lot of talking about the weather on, on Friday because we're standing just, just waiting to start the on. Yeah, no Saturday for the Deval future. And, and yeah, we were talking about the weather because it was cold and we were cold going oh it's terrible. Then it was like. I think it started off with oh, it's a bit chilly. Which might have been me or, or other couple, I can't remember. But then there was a lot of comments about the weather and then it was, I think the prediction actually what's really interesting.

Tracy Collins [00:44:29]:
It starts with that and then, then you either will talk about how it's been. Oh but it was lovely earlier on the week and then you'll start predicting. So you'll start predicting for the rest of the day. Well look at this. It could. Oh, it looks like there's rain in there. There's over there, there's rain. Oh there's clouds coming or and then as the day goes on.

Tracy Collins [00:44:49]:
And actually this is indicative of Saturday because we had again we had so many different types of weather. Oh, it's a bit warmer now. Oh, oh that rate that, that, that wind's calmed down. So you just.

Doug Collins [00:45:00]:
So it's a weather report now and we're going to predict the weather for later. That's what I said. Because we don't have a lot of faith in the weather forecasting so we have to do it ourselves. That's what you say.

Tracy Collins [00:45:10]:
And, and also there's that nostalgia for the. When it was actually nicer weather. So you'll hear a lot of talk about oh last summer was lovely or, or the other day it was lovely.

Doug Collins [00:45:21]:
Which is totally irrelevant, isn't it?

Tracy Collins [00:45:22]:
Yeah, there's a kind of wistfulness of that of like oh no, remember when? Remember when. And I know at the beginning of this year it rained. I think it was basically 40 days and 40 nights of rain and, and people are still talking about it here. Oh but the rain. We just had rain. We just never thought it was going to stop raining. So actually I'm just look out the window now we've got blue sky and sunshine. So that's really good.

Doug Collins [00:45:48]:
What's it going to do later?

Tracy Collins [00:45:51]:
I think this entire week cuz yes, I have looked at the entire week ahead is pretty good. I think tomorrow's gray which is unfortunate cuz I'm, I'm actually out with, with with Robin Launder doing some of his fantastic walks in London. Actually the next two days I'm going to doing some walks with with that will be fant. Yeah, I think the weather's a little bit gray but yeah, we'll see how it goes. Actually, because I'm going to Scotland next week, I'm more interested in Scotland because it can be very cold and very windy and very rainy and I want to make sure I pack the right clothes. So I have been. And I will. Every day this week I will check the weather in Scotland, where I'm going to Scotland anyway, just to check, because you can't.

Tracy Collins [00:46:33]:
I could look today and it could say one thing and I could look tomorrow and say another thing and, you know, so you've just got to keep on top of it. Really big thing, though, for packing and I talk about all the time and we've got episodes about packing and lots of articles about packing. It's just layers. Just make sure you bring layers. Because as I say, I've worn summer clothes this week and now I'm into my. I get my thermals out yesterday. It was so. It was so cold.

Tracy Collins [00:46:57]:
But yeah. Should we talk about whether we're going to be here all day? So when you get on with the next one? I think, because again, this is what happens when we start chatting tips. Tipping.

Doug Collins [00:47:06]:
Tipping, yes. Yeah,

Tracy Collins [00:47:11]:
yeah.

Doug Collins [00:47:11]:
It can be uncomfortable.

Tracy Collins [00:47:12]:
British people, we don't like talking about money. I think that's a thing. Yeah. And we don't like asking for tips, even though we do have a tip you guide and you can sponsor this podcast because Doug and I have realized that actually we just have to be a bit more. Less uncomfortable with it and just bit more upfront about it because we need it to keep the business running and

Doug Collins [00:47:33]:
keep for free, don't we?

Tracy Collins [00:47:35]:
Yeah, yeah. So. So we. We have kind of got over that. But to start with, we were like, oh, can't. We can't. Can't ask.

Doug Collins [00:47:41]:
Can't possibly, possibly.

Tracy Collins [00:47:42]:
Can't possibly ask. You know, and I see that actually quite a lot. The two guys, when I go out. Two guys, is it. I see that kind of sense of, oh, tip. And it's just a. Oh, it's such a difficult one. And I know a lot of cultures kind of expect to tip.

Tracy Collins [00:47:57]:
Australia would tend to tip. American and Americans, I know you love t tip and noticing your culture. So it's. I don't know whether you love to tip, but I know it's an expectation.

Doug Collins [00:48:06]:
But this is how things have changed over the years, though, isn't it? I mean, when I was growing up, I don't consciously remember tipping even mentioned. Well, basically nobody talked about money in public in the first place. So it's just not. Just not a topic that's raised.

Tracy Collins [00:48:23]:
No, I wouldn't do that at all. I think, I think we're just more awareness now because obviously it's, it's, it's something we get asked about a lot. I have to say that most of the places I've been out to eat have added a 12 and a half percent discretionary service charge, which is basically the tip onto the bill. It's supposed to be discretionary, but obviously just pay it. But unless you've had bad service that don't pay it, then argue, you know, you, you should be kind of questioning that. But most of the time that's added on. I mean like pubs and things, you don't tip restaurants. Yes, you can.

Tracy Collins [00:48:52]:
As I say that there'll probably be a tip added on these days it seems to be kind of just, just added on there. But coffee shops and cafes, you're not expected to tip. If you take a, a black cab, for example, you can round up, round up to the nearest kind of pound. But obviously I think it's, you know, what it, in some ways I think it's, I don't know if it's easier or harder to tip now because it's not a cash culture. We use cards for everything. But then often you'll get asked, you know, do you want to add the tip on? Yeah, I think it's a bit more difficult on tours and things like that, like how you, how you give a tip. So if you want to do a tip, I mean, quite often I think you can get a QR code now from tour guide guides because I think, you know, two guides work really hard and, and deserve it, you know, tip. But I know some carry around a little card reader so that you can tap them and tip them that way.

Tracy Collins [00:49:47]:
But again, I think we're just a British, we're just uncomfortable with that, you know. Yeah. But one thing I would say, and I've, I've heard this around and actually, probably, actually, I don't know, maybe I should ask some tour guides how they feel about this. Maybe it's a tip, is a tip, whatever currency. But I do hear quite often about people saying, oh, I'm, oh, I haven't got any, any cash. I'm just going to chip in US dollars or whatever and they, they're going to have to change it. Well, I kind of think what, I don't know, that makes me. Where are they going to change it? Unless they're going to, you know, it's going to cost them to change it.

Tracy Collins [00:50:19]:
And if you're going to give a 20 tip it's not going to be worth them changing it. So I imagine that just goes in a draw at home. So just think about that if you're going to tip, how you're going to do it. Because I think it feels. It's like if I went to. If I went to Spain and went out, I wouldn't want to tip. Tip in British pounds, you know, it's. It's.

Tracy Collins [00:50:37]:
I. I just think, you know, think carefully of like, if you're going to tip in your currency, because that's what you've got, what do you expect them to do with it? Again, two guys might be listening to this and go, it's all right, Tracy, because we get $20 regularly from people and at the end of the month we have 500 and we just go into the exchange and change it. So.

Doug Collins [00:50:54]:
So the other thing is, everything we said about the British culture, if the tour guide is British, they would not have the heart to say, no, no,

Tracy Collins [00:51:03]:
they wouldn't say anything anyway.

Doug Collins [00:51:05]:
They wouldn't say anything because you've got to take it in the spirit that it's meant. It's meant as a reward for your work or good service or.

Tracy Collins [00:51:13]:
Yeah, yeah. Like I say, for me, it's just. I feel like you should be tipping in the currency that we use and not. Not your home currency.

Doug Collins [00:51:22]:
True.

Tracy Collins [00:51:23]:
Because I just hear that quite often. But then again, if you're not going to tip at all because you have only got US dollars or Australian dollars, whatever, still give them money. Because I'm sure I can hear two girls go, no, Tracy, we still want the tip.

Doug Collins [00:51:34]:
Well, they wouldn't. They wouldn't go and exchange it in one go. Would that. They'll wait until the end of a season and do it in one go, wouldn't you?

Tracy Collins [00:51:42]:
Yeah, probably so. Yeah. So I don't want to speak out of term, but I just think, no, you know, if you can make an effort to get some. It's saying that again, it's not a massive cash culture anymore. I have not used any cash for the last few years in the UK at all. all. Cool. I was given some cash the other day because I paid for something in a restaurant and I.

Tracy Collins [00:52:01]:
I will take that to Scotland to see if I use that, especially because I'm going to be on the islands and I'm wondering if I might use the cash on the Scottish islands, but I just don't tend to use it. But anyway, I've just thrown that one in. That was a. That was just an. An aside. Should we talk about number 10, because again, we're going to talk forever. It's just a regional difference which we've kind of talked about. About.

Tracy Collins [00:52:23]:
Yeah, because the fact that I'm from a different part of the UK than

Doug Collins [00:52:26]:
dog and dogs from the superior Midlands area of the uk.

Tracy Collins [00:52:29]:
No, you're not. Go away. Go away. Right, should we explain a little bit? Because you know what? This again, confuses everybody. And actually, I remember being on a tour a few years ago and somebody asked me if Wales was a country. I was like, oh, my God, Yes. Yes, it's a country. I think they didn't think it was a country.

Tracy Collins [00:52:48]:
So let me just say Great British Britain is made up of England, Scotland and Wales, which are, yes, all countries. England is a country. Scotland is a country, world's country. Scottish people and Welsh people do not want to be called English. Do not call them English because they're not.

Doug Collins [00:53:02]:
They are very proud and patriotic.

Tracy Collins [00:53:04]:
And the Welsh. Absolutely. It's really important. Scotland is not England, Wales is not England. And that really matters to Scottish and Welsh people. It really, really does. You can call us all British, we're all British. So Scottish, Welsh, English, we're all British.

Tracy Collins [00:53:20]:
But again, Scottish people want to be Scottish, Welsh people want to be Welsh. I think English people, we don't really care if we call English or British.

Doug Collins [00:53:28]:
I tell you what, you say the. The don't care, but each of those countries are very patriotic and very proud and we all stand united. But I tell you, when they're playing each other at sport for their own countries, they are fiercely patriotic. You will see exactly how patriotic the they are.

Tracy Collins [00:53:49]:
Absolutely, absolutely. And, well, it's important, I think, just to kind of say that, you know, the United. So Great Britain, England, Scotland, world. Three countries, three proud nations. Absolutely. United Kingdom is Great Britain plus Northern Ireland. So Republic of Ireland is not part of the United Kingdom. Yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:54:10]:
And as you can hear from Doug and I's accent, we sound different because we're different from different parts of the UK and you can go. Go 20 miles down the road and you're going to get a completely different accent.

Doug Collins [00:54:22]:
That's right.

Tracy Collins [00:54:24]:
So we have different names for people from different parts of the country as well, depending on the accent, don't we? So what about.

Doug Collins [00:54:31]:
We certainly do. You're a Geordie, man.

Tracy Collins [00:54:34]:
I'm a Geordie, like. So I'm Jordy from the northeast. Should we go through some other different. Other different regional nicknames? Go on.

Doug Collins [00:54:44]:
Then I'll do the Liverpool people.

Tracy Collins [00:54:45]:
I was gonna say Liverpool Supporter, Scouser.

Doug Collins [00:54:51]:
Decent people.

Tracy Collins [00:54:52]:
Yeah. What about the Brummies or Yam?

Doug Collins [00:54:56]:
Now, I worked in Birmingham for a while and I remember I called everybody a Brummy. Brummie is just short for Birmingham. And I was. Well, you think I was in trouble. But from the industrial heartlands around the there who's known as the black country. So the black country is as somebody, they call them a yam yam. A yam yam is just the way that they talk. I won't, I won't attempt it because I'm not very good at it.

Doug Collins [00:55:29]:
But it is a. It's a variation of a Brummy accent. And then obviously we all know what Cockneys are, don't we?

Tracy Collins [00:55:36]:
Yes. And of course with the Cockneys you get the Ryman slang, which I can't do because again, I'm not from London, so I'm not a Londoner, I am not a local. I don't, I don't know all of the. I know apples and pears.

Doug Collins [00:55:51]:
Yeah, yeah.

Tracy Collins [00:55:52]:
Which are.

Doug Collins [00:55:53]:
Yeah. Stairs. And I was going to mention this later on. I know what a cup of Rosie Lee is.

Tracy Collins [00:55:59]:
Oh, yes. Well, we all know what a couple is. But.

Doug Collins [00:56:02]:
But I will point out about regional accents. They do actually vary within a location where, you know, based on age, based on. On which part of that town or city you come from and because there is variance of each dialect.

Tracy Collins [00:56:21]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:56:21]:
So, yeah, we could mention the Northeast, we got to say from Middlesbrough, Sunderland, Newcastle. There is variations in that language, isn't there?

Tracy Collins [00:56:32]:
Yeah, very. Like, I can tell where somebody from. It's from in the northeast, depending on their accent because they're not going to sound like me. So they're variations. And also I will say, say that older people will have a much stronger accent. My. My grandfather unfortunately passed away 20 years ago. But, you know, my.

Tracy Collins [00:56:51]:
I. I had friends that came over, say from Liverpool, could not understand a word my grandfather said because he had a very strong Northumbrian accent. So again, you don't hear. That was very guttural, which tend not hear very much anymore. It's kind of died out a bit. It. But yes, even within a region you're going to get different variations on it. Also you get really cute, like, different.

Tracy Collins [00:57:14]:
Like I'll say pet and you'll say duck. So those are kind of, you know, myself, you're right, pet. So I'd say you're right, pet and you'll. You'll so. Or eat me duck.

Doug Collins [00:57:27]:
Yeah, say they like that is not necessarily from where I'm from. It's where I worked for many years. I worked in dark Derbyshire because I'm from Staffordshire albeit is used there but it's mostly from me working in the city of Derby in Derbyshire where I was exposed that on a daily basis, you know, that was constant and I will point out to any of our listeners that Tracy, when she's very, very angry with me does actually go native. So at times I do not understand a word that she's saying to me which helps.

Tracy Collins [00:57:58]:
No, you just say that and it's not true. That's not safe. Yeah, I do. When I go back to the northeast I'm. When I go back to the northeast I'm crossed with you. I said more Jordy that's for sure but when I go up there they just say that I'm very posh. Now I get.

Doug Collins [00:58:10]:
That's right, you're posh Jordy.

Tracy Collins [00:58:11]:
Yeah, posh Jordy which is really really funny. But this is another reason I kind of really, really, really encourage you guys to go outside of London. Don't just spend your entire trip in London because it's like me going to. To New York or, or Sydney. You know, you're not experiencing the, the whole, whole everything you just experience in one little capital city. Marxy Sydney isn't the capital city. Before Australians jump on. I know it's not.

Tracy Collins [00:58:35]:
I know it's Canberra. However, you know, everybody will go to Sydney. Everybody. Well, New York maybe a lot of people go to New York and I know New York is also not the capital of the US because I can. It's not these. Yes, I know that the capitals but these are kind of the places where you know, you, you go. A lot of people talk about go to Sydney, a lot of people talk about going to New York but they're not, they're just the small More example than not you need to go outside of those big metropolises. This is to go and experience a bit more.

Doug Collins [00:59:04]:
There is a city culture, isn't there? What. Whatever country you're in there is to a degree a certain city culture. And I think it. If you move away from there, I think generally speaking there is bit more friendliness and openness and a little bit more trustworthiness and the further you move away from the bigger cities, the more raw somewhere is. I think there's a little bit more. I mean I'm going very much sort of rule of thumb because you know, I've met some lovely people in London and I've met some lovely people, you know, cities everywhere But I think, by and large, I think you move away from the bigger cities. I think it's easier to talk to people.

Tracy Collins [00:59:42]:
Yeah, I guess so, yeah. So maybe a bit friendlier and not rushing around as much as they do in the big cities. Yeah.

Doug Collins [00:59:51]:
The friend is people in the UK are obviously from the middle Midlands.

Tracy Collins [00:59:55]:
I'm not gonna even argue with this one. Right, I'm gonna go on the next one because we've already spoken for over an hour, so we need to get on. Another one is, oh, yeah, again, British don't talk loudly, especially on public transport, because we tend not to be really loud. I was actually reading something on Facebook the other day and they were saying which nationality are the loudest? And interestingly, Spanish came very high on that. Americans came very high. But, yeah, Spanish. I was quite surprised at that. But you'll find that we tend to be quite quiet, especially on public transport.

Doug Collins [01:00:32]:
That. That's right. I mean, London Transport, I mean, I can talk from a train perspective. London Transport, particularly on the Underground, is. People like to be in their own bubble. If you're wearing earphones, that's a. That's a sign. Do not talk to me.

Doug Collins [01:00:47]:
So of thing on commuter trains, not just London, but everywhere. Because I commuted for many years in the UK and it's very much a, you know, this is my time before work. Don't talk to me. And if you should see somebody or hear somebody talking about work, they get the look. They get the look off everybody because you do tend to see a lot of the same faces on a daily basis. And so, you know, well, they talk a lot, so we'll sit away from them.

Tracy Collins [01:01:13]:
Them.

Doug Collins [01:01:14]:
So it's. There is definitely a protocol as regards commuters and London Transport is the fact that you just do not, as a rule, talk to other people.

Tracy Collins [01:01:25]:
You don't make eye contact either.

Doug Collins [01:01:26]:
You don't make.

Tracy Collins [01:01:27]:
You don't make eye. No. No eye contact.

Doug Collins [01:01:29]:
No. On longer train journeys, you. There. There is a bit more, particularly if you're sharing the table up. You know, I've written about this in our ebook guide to UK train travel. I've actually mentioned that in there as well. Well, that the certain icebreakers, you know, if there's announcements made or if the journey is not going to plan, there's more of a readiness to talk to each other. But it's hard to gauge exactly how long that conversation is going to last.

Doug Collins [01:01:58]:
And that's. That's the, that's the tricky bit is the fact that is it just a, you know, a couple of word answers, or is that then a conversation for the journey? You know, I travel back from Penzance in Cornwall to London. I sat next to a lady, and we travel. Chatted the entire way back. So. But you've got to sort of gauge it. But if it was a quiet coach, that is it. That is accepted.

Doug Collins [01:02:20]:
It is quiet. Yes. You can talk to each other. You keep that volume down. You don't play music and you don't make phone calls because you will get. You will get that look. You will get that. Yeah, that look of people.

Doug Collins [01:02:33]:
And that.

Tracy Collins [01:02:34]:
That reminds me, actually, Doug, when you said that about we. We were coming back, when we flew back in. I flew in from Marrakesh a couple of weeks ago from Morocco into Stansted and the train into London. And this lady was on the train sitting at a table, and obviously some member of her family phoned out. Well, I tell you what, the entire carriage heard her plans for the rest of the evening. Bless her. I. I think she had absolutely no idea that she was shouting as loudly as possible.

Tracy Collins [01:02:59]:
Well, again, I guess it's like the cue, I think. You don't say anything.

Doug Collins [01:03:03]:
No.

Tracy Collins [01:03:03]:
There's just knowing looks between. You know, he just. Everybody was kind of looking around, looking at each other. We were all like, nobody said a word. Nobody said a word. All thought it. We all looked at each other thinking it. But again, British politics.

Tracy Collins [01:03:17]:
We just went, okay, fine, and just ignored her. But it. It. Yeah, she just. She spent about 20 minutes explain, literally talking about a trip and what she was doing, and she's gonna pick her up, and it just went on and on and on.

Doug Collins [01:03:30]:
And I mean, it can be entertaining. I mean, if you finish, you're reading your book or, you know, your music's not very good to listen to, you listen to somebody else's conversation, you know so much about their life, and they get off the train, you know, you know, all the close friends, where they're going out, what time they've been picked up.

Tracy Collins [01:03:46]:
Ah, it was just. It was. It. What she was doing was funny, but it was. There was such a very British response to that and that we all just touched it and kind of look eyes to heaven and kind of like, oh, dear, she was British. She was British lady doing it. But it was. Yeah, she just had no awareness, which was quite funny.

Tracy Collins [01:04:03]:
Right. Gonna end with our favorite. One of our favorite topics is British love of tea. And our love of tea, because Doug and I absolutely both have tea running through our veins.

Doug Collins [01:04:13]:
Tea addicts, it's fair to say, yes, that, that is probably true.

Tracy Collins [01:04:17]:
Yeah.

Doug Collins [01:04:17]:
Yeah.

Tracy Collins [01:04:18]:
I mean, I don't drink coffee.

Doug Collins [01:04:20]:
No.

Tracy Collins [01:04:20]:
Doug doesn't drink coffee. None of us likes coffee.

Doug Collins [01:04:22]:
Yeah.

Tracy Collins [01:04:23]:
So we get asked a lot about where to drink coffee in London and honestly, I couldn't tell you.

Doug Collins [01:04:27]:
No idea.

Tracy Collins [01:04:27]:
I couldn't tell you. No idea because I just. I don't even like the smell of the stuff. So don't drink it. I do drink chai latte, which I've found a lot more of this time. I've had a few chais the last few days. Now, if you do go for a proper afternoon tea, and actually we're going to do a podcast all about afternoon teas in a few months. So listening to this.

Tracy Collins [01:04:46]:
But if you go for a proper afternoon tea, you're going to get teapot, you'll get tea leaves and you get a strainer, which is always very exciting because I must admit, I'm a bit lazy. I'm a tea bag. I'm a teabag person. I like my teabag, me cup. Oh, and you never, ever, ever add the milk. Milk. I never add the milk until after I have made the tea, then I put the milk in.

Doug Collins [01:05:06]:
I can tell you something about that. Do you know, traditionally, traditionally the milk was always put in first to protect the porcelain cups. So you would never hot tea from staining. So you protect it. So. But the, the great thing about tea, and I'm just gonna defend the British culture regards to tea. Tea reaches across cultures, ages, wealth depend. No matter what you've got, tea fits every moment, every situation.

Doug Collins [01:05:41]:
Let's put the kettle on. We'll make a brew. We'll have a cuppa. We'll have a cup of. Oh. Depending where you're from, it covers everything. Even when things are going badly or going, going well, put the kettle on, have a cup of tea.

Tracy Collins [01:05:57]:
Absolutely. And kettle has to be a kettle.

Doug Collins [01:05:59]:
It's got to be a kettle.

Tracy Collins [01:06:00]:
Can't put it on the hob, but put it in a microwave, it's got to be a kettle. In fact, I, I was out yesterday, as I mention, I actually on a cot in Oxford tour. So I was out all day, got in it after 9 o', clock, left it hopper 7 yesterday morning, got in at 9 o' clock last night. And you know what the first thing was I did when I walked in?

Doug Collins [01:06:16]:
Put kettle on.

Tracy Collins [01:06:17]:
I put the kettle on and had a cup of tea.

Doug Collins [01:06:19]:
Yeah, I, I admittedly, I do like it with a slice of Victoria sponge or a decent traditional English biscuit. There's nothing wrong with that one, I mean. And they do complement each other very well.

Tracy Collins [01:06:32]:
Yeah. See I'm not massive biscuit lover but. But I will, I will occasionally have a digestive chocolate digestive, you know, or a hobnob chocolate. It's because I have chocolate. I have to have, I have to have milk chocolate on my biscuit. But I'm not like my mom. And you, you, you're also a big biscuit fan.

Doug Collins [01:06:51]:
I'm gonna chew this in.

Tracy Collins [01:06:52]:
I just want my cup of tea.

Doug Collins [01:06:53]:
I would have a cow biscuit.

Tracy Collins [01:06:56]:
That's cow biscuit.

Doug Collins [01:06:57]:
Yep. A molted milk cow biscuit as we used to say when I was growing up. See you'd have to be British to know that. Probably my age as well. But they used to be.

Tracy Collins [01:07:09]:
Or tea cake. Had a tea cake yesterday. Tunics tea cake.

Doug Collins [01:07:13]:
Very nice, very popular.

Tracy Collins [01:07:14]:
But yeah, so. But I'm happy to have just a cup of tea.

Doug Collins [01:07:19]:
Me too.

Tracy Collins [01:07:19]:
Don't have to have biscuit.

Doug Collins [01:07:20]:
I've had about 10 cups of tea today. So I mean.

Tracy Collins [01:07:24]:
Well on that note we should probably finish off this podcast and go and put the kettle on. Yeah, that's what I, I suggest because after this podcast I, Doug and I actually going to record our 200th podcast edition which is the week after next. So next week is, is my review of the English bus and the three different tours that I've taken with them. So so do tune in if you're considering a day trip from London because that's great. And then the following week is episode 200. So we're going to talk about things that we've Learned over the 200 episodes. Some of the great tips that we obviously share and some of the great tips that people have shared because we always end an episode with you know, what's your, what's your number one tip? And so we're going to chat about that. Hopefully that's going to be a really helpful episode.

Tracy Collins [01:08:10]:
But for you can find some information if you want to look up the different place names that we mentioned. I think I will put something on Instagram because I think that'd be fun as well to do. You can find that at the show notes@uktravelplanning.com also share this episode. If you've got somebody who's planning to visit the UK or is simply just interested in British culture, share it with your friends. We always really appreciate that, don't we?

Doug Collins [01:08:37]:
Do, yeah, certainly do. It's a light hearted look at the British cold culture.

Tracy Collins [01:08:42]:
Yes. Honestly we could probably do. We could probably do quite a few more of these for sure. Let us know if you've enjoyed it. Get get in touch via Speak Pipe Love, leave us a message. We love hearing from you guys. We really, really love to know what you enjoy. We need to know what you know.

Tracy Collins [01:08:57]:
What is it that you. Which episodes do you. Do you like in particular? What. What would you like to hear in future? And obviously a big thank you. A thank big sorry, take that right. And a big shout out to our sponsors. Our podcast sponsors every truly appreciate you for what you do. You can sponsor the podcast from as little as US$3 a month.

Tracy Collins [01:09:18]:
If you enjoying the podcast and you listen every week. Please, please, please support us. It does cost us a reasonable amount of money every week to put together the episode and obviously we have an editor and then I have hosting for everything so it, it's not a cheap process but we love doing it as hence the fact we're nearly on 200 episodes. But yeah, Doug will be joining me in a few weeks time. So there's going to be some episodes all about our trips around the uk. We're just busy planning them at the minute. We're not 100% sure what we're going to do, but we've got some ideas.

Doug Collins [01:09:49]:
There will be trains involved.

Tracy Collins [01:09:50]:
Lots of trains I was going to say. And if you're into YouTube, there's going to be a lot more coming on YouTube. We've just Doug's been putting a lot of train videos together. So if you're into YouTube, pop over there and you know, join us over there, subscribe, watch some of those episodes. If there's some particular things that you want, we're going to be working harder on that later on the year to add as many YouTube videos as we can. We seem to have conquered podcasting world, so now it's time to conquer YouTube. Anyway, I guess that just leaves. Is there anything else you want to say Doug, before we sign off?

Doug Collins [01:10:26]:
No. Let me know if you agree that the Midlands is the best place in the uk.

Tracy Collins [01:10:31]:
Oh for goodness sake. I think you should cut that bit out, Ryan. That's our editor. Anyway, I am gonna say until next week from both myself and Doug.

Doug Collins [01:10:43]:
Happy UK Travel Planning.

Tracy Collins [01:10:47]:
Thank you for tuning in to this week's episode of the UK Travel Planning podcast. As always, show notes can be found@uktravelplanning.com if you've enjoyed the show, why not leave us feedback via text or a review on your favorite podcast app. We love to hear from you and you never know. You may receive a shout to out out in a future episode. But as always, that just leaves me to say until next week, happy UK travel planning.