Category Archives: British
Pedoscope, anyone?
See the above contraption? What do you suppose it is? Any guesses?
Well, would you put your foot in it?
My MIL recently told us that this was an actual devise used in shoe stores to provide an X-ray of one’s foot – and indeed to check to see if there was enough room for toes inside a shoe. I kid you not.
Not sure what was wrong with the method of just pushing on one’s toes through the shoe to gauge, but yes. These were used instead. Apparently, they were known as pedoscopes and were popular in the U.K. through the mid-1970s. I’ve never seen one, never heard of one, but my MIL has reported that my husband’s foot was pedoscoped back in the day!
Wikipedia also reports that they were also used in the U.S. from the 1920s through the 1950s until they were outlawed (probably due to all the pesky radiation! What a buzzkill!).
Royal Mail goes for the gold
Photo credit: Royal Mail
In honor of Great Britain’s gold medals in the London Olympics, Royal Mail has agreed to paint a postbox gold – one for each gold medal win! What a stunning idea!
So, which postboxes are going gold? Well, they’re placing them in the hometowns or boroughs of the gold medalists where possible. Here’s the complete list of gold postbox locations. And hopefully, they will be adding more following the Paralympic Games, if Britain adds to its collection.
In addition, Royal Mail has painted a gold postbox near Westminster Abbey. Lovely!
Happy birthday, Britrish.com!
Can you believe it? Britrish.com is officially 1 today!
And what an amazing year it has been! I’ve written 270 posts (there’s been a new blog post every weekday, give or take the odd duvet day here and there!) and have had so much fun in the process. A big thank you to YOU for following the blog, for reading and commenting and making this a conversation! Also a big thank you to my family for their endless support, blog post ideas and frequent fodder for the blog.
Check out the blog’s very first post!
And a moment for a shameless plug: Join the conversation on Twitter and follow me at @britrishcom.
Cheers for the past year and here’s to many happy returns!
A great airport welcome
With the start of the London Olympics this week, you can bet the city and its airports are swelling with tourists and new visitors coming from all over the globe.
This week, I watched this T-Mobile ad, shot back in 2010 at London Heathrow Airport, and it felt appropriate to share. It’s a fantastic stunt with a huge feel-good factor – it reminded me of the end of “Love Actually” …
And I love the public reaction …
Wouldn’t you love to be greeted at an airport with a song? I know I would!
Happy 4th of July
Photo credit: http://secretlifeofachefswife.com
Aw, Happy Fourth of July (AKA in some British circles as “British Thanksgiving” – the day they thankfully cut loose one of their colonies! 🙂 )…
BTW, I love Yahoo Answers for the crazy questions and responses that people post. Here’s a good one: “Is there a 4th of July in England?”
Happy birthday!
Photo credit: Wikipedia
Whoo hoo! It’s my birthday today! I am going to be celebrating with cupcakes, candles and champagne! Happy Monday, everyone.
And in case you’re wondering, Brits do sing the Happy Birthday song but they also sing “For He’s (or She’s) a Jolly Good Fellow” with slightly different lyrics to the American version:
British version
For he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good fellow (pause), and so say all of us
And so say all of us, and so say all of us
For he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good fellow (pause), and so say all of us!
American version
For he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good fellow (pause), which nobody can deny
Which nobody can deny, which nobody can deny
For he’s a jolly good fellow, for he’s a jolly good fellow
For he’s a jolly good fellow (pause), which nobody can deny!
When is a bird not a bird …
Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons
Q: When is a bird not a bird?
A: When it is a ladybird.
What exactly is a ladybird?
It’s the British name for the insect, which has become better known as ladybugs in the U.S. Entomologists actually prefer to call them ladybird beetles or lady beetles since they are actually not “true bugs.”
Banned at Royal Ascot
Photo credit: BBC News
Yesterday was the first day of the Royal Ascot and the new dress code is in effect and causing quite the stir.
Under the new rules, no fascinators or cravats are banned in the royal enclosure. Strapless dresses are outlawed. Waistcoasts and ties are required, as are skirts and/or dresses that are just above knee length or longer. Personally I am a lover of a good fascinator and cravat and am sad to see them both go.
Someone might need to stage a “Footloose”-style intervention…
A bed fit for a queen
Hypnos is the only bed manufacturer to supply the Royal Family. This is one of their beds.
You’d think a country with a queen would have a queen bed, but no.
British mattress sizes aren’t the same as American mattress sizes (even though they use many of the same terms – well, aside from “queen”). Their sizes are as follows:
Single bed: Close to our twin size, but a little smaller
Double bed: Close to our double/full size
King bed: A little smaller than our queen size
Super King bed: A little smaller than our king size
Confused yet? Yeah, me too.
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