WHAT DOES IT MEAN? Being British No es posible definir la esencia de una sociedad o nacién sin caer en topicos peligrosos. Aun asi, existen rasgos y tendencias que destacan entre la complejidad y que han de permitirnos comprender mejor la influencia de la Mtn leer cineca kcu acca e att erhat does it mean, exactly, to be British? In strictly political terms, it means tobe amem- ber of one of the four constituent coun- tries —ornations— ofthe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, For many years, the terms ‘Eng- lish, ‘Scottish’ and 'Welsh’ were virtually interchangeable with ‘British’. In recent years, however, there has been a move away?, bysomeof the population in Great Britain, from the idea of an all-in-one? cohesive identity as British’ toa growing sense of nationalism —witha consequent separate identity~ specificto each of the three countries. Even in Northern Ireland, where allegiances’ are more defined, a small minority envisage’ the country as independent from both the UK and the the irish Republic. REFERENDUMS The two referendums —over independ- ence forScotlandandmembershipofthe European Union— have had a profound effect on just how British people see themselves, promoting feelings of both nationalism and Europeanism through- ‘utS the UK. The term ‘British’is still very much in use, but if Scotland decides, in a future referendum, to leave the United kingdom, it may be necessary to findan- other expression. NATIONAL IDENTITY So what does it mean, exactly, to be a Briton? Is it possible to define a nation- alidentity?Itis certainly possible to talk about interests and priorities, and about ideas which unite much of the popula~ tion, although these have changed over the years, and will continue to change in the future. AperfectexampleistheRoyal Family. Are British people monarchists? Formuchofthelastcentury,attachment® to the monarchy, to a greater or lesser degree?, was defining characteristic of the British, Now itis possible to say that this feeling has been reduced, for many people, to respect for just the Queen, TOP BRITONS IN HISTORY great way to capture the true essence of anation isby getting to know itsmost istinguished figures. With thisinmind, nextmonthwelllaunch ‘anew month\y section in which we profile notable Britons from every periodin history. Among them, powerfulkingsandqueens,ofcourse, but alsoscientists authorsandartistsofallkinds, pluslesser-knownmenand women who haveleft theirindelible mark on British culture and society. © Queen Elizabeth I © Ladi © 2K Ronting © David Attenborough © David Beckham © Winston Churchill © Wiliam Shakespeare © Jane Austen © Charies Darwin © Charlie Chapin © Queen Victoria © Paul McCartney © Ringo Starr © King Henry Vil PUBLIC RESPECT There hasalways. however, beenrespect re for.and interest, science and research at and engineering —fromthe engineering dt) 09 genius Isambard Kingdom Brunel, pio neering designerofraiiway ines, bridges, prewenare tunnels and docks® during the Industrial Revolution toTimBerners-Lee.inventor oftheworldwideweb—,fromConcorde “IGLOSSARY to AstraZeneca. Brits also share an inter- 1. move away: estin, often a passion for, sports of all aijamiento kinds, especially rugby, cricket, athletics todo en uno andfootbal, andnowevencycing. The 5 @ioeOMPO Englith language's full of expressions 4 toemvoge: corceb taken from sport, such as ‘to hit below 5 throughout: en todo the elt (boxing), tocalthe shots 6 attaehment,apeao (snooker) and Ws notcricket The at- 7 ‘Sasteaterora, terexpressionisanindcationoftheim-_ mayere Menor portance giventotheidesoffaimess! ago it iat 8 docks: muelles in British society. Ifthe population had & docksimueles to choose four aspects of their society sanesFUnGoee Ba thattheyholddear*, manywouldoptfor 10 to eall the shots: democracy, the rule oflaw24,respectand tener la sartén por el tolerance, and individual liberty, Papi PRIDEIN INSTITUTIONS Priests te Also famous around the world are the en gran estima BBC and the National Health Service, 14 the ule of aw: andirebrichtaegreatpide™iniese , Sueeaedeecho institutions, evengivingthenicknames*® 16 Hlcknames:apodos ‘Auntie®?‘and'theBeeb'totheBBC.They 17 auntie: ta are equally interested in valuing their tra- thiey-seven 37B00) eet IGLOSSARY 18 19 20 a 2 23 24 25 26. 27 28 29 30 a 32 33 34 35 36 heritage: patimonio figure: cira traits: asgos foreign: extranjero survey: encuesta witty: ingeniosos self-evident: cobviamente to queue-jump: colarse tojoin: unirse socks: calcetines pint: pinta purchase: compra inns: posadas| steadily: de manera constante topics: temas to save up: ahorrar to be on cloud nine: estar en el séptimo cielo tobe under the weather: no lencontrarse bien astorm ina teacup: Una tormenta en un ‘vaso de agua cae ditions and conserving their heritage*®. The National Trust —an organisation dedicated to the heritage conservation of places of historic interest or natural beauty— has a membership of around six million, an incredible figure*®. IDENTIFYING TRAITS Identifying British people's character traits?? —from both the domestic and the foreign®* point of view— has ac- tually become a very popular business for survey®2 companies in recent years. Interestingly, according to one survey in 2019, almost a third of British peo ple thought the definition of ‘typically British’ had changed since the Brexit referendum, and another third thought it would change again after Britain left the EU. Surveys of foreigners about the British character normally emphasise that Brits are witty®S, care about tradi- tion, and have a BULIGSGEpIit. People are reserved and very class-conscious, ‘Americans consider that dentathygiene is self-evidently*4 not apriority, and Ital- ians cannot believe how badly British people dress! BRITS ON BRITS British people also seem to have a very clear idea of who they are, and some of tis not pretty! Queue-jumping?s is consideredthe ultimatecrime, and Brits willjoin?® a queue for anything. Wear- ing long white socks?” with shorts is considered acceptable, as is having a pint28 atthe airport even ifitisonly 8.00Clockwise from in the morning. Apologising automat- sepactpeaes fo er: ically, without thinking, is in the genes, Sarete Ganong asis saying “Thank you" multiple times ofthe Guard ceremony during any purchase®9 in a shop —on Outside Buckingham the part of both the purchaser and the shop assistant. Palace: a vintage BEC Grampian microphone Used in the 1940s and 1950s; Big Ben and the British and European flags; Concorde, 1996;a PUB CULTURE It would be impossible to finish any ar- British bulldog: an tay vs ticle about Britishness without talking England rugby match; a about Britons’ love of pubs. The custom ete Cf drinking in pubs, inns5® ortavernsgoes back many hundreds of years. The Old Ferry Boat Inn, in Holywell, Cam- bridgeshire, claims to be the old- est pubin Britain, puttingits beginnings back to 560. Britons have a reputation for drinking in excess ( BiN@SIGIARING ). and subsequently acting violently (the origin of the phrase 1SRBEIIBUR). How- ‘ever figures suggest that, after reaching peak in the mid-2000s, consumption has been falling steadily34, especially among young people. ‘BANS EEpIFIE! £1 bulldog inglés, una de las razas de perro originarias del Reino Unido, se caracteriza por 5U Cuerpo robusto, un temperamento tranquilo y una gran resistencia. Estos rasgos se han asociado con el cardcter briténico, sobre todo durante la. época de contictos coloniales del siglo XIX y principios del XX, y durante los peores MOST TYPICAL? Finally, what is the most typical British characteristic ofall? Itwilsurprisenoone momentos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial ‘Bingelarinking! Borrachera. £1 término binge se traduce por ‘atracén’, por lo general referido a la comida, pero puede aplicarse a cualquier exceso, como et del alcohol (binge drinking), 0 inctuso el consumo de series de television: binge watching, tofindoutthatitistalking oftenatlength, aboutthe weather. The Englishlanguage isfullofidiomsrelatedto thisrmost British of conversationtopics™ Forinstance, to save up%5 for arainy day, to beon cloud rine, to be under the weather35, and then the perfectidiom, whichcombines the weather with another fundamental British trait, making cup of tain acrisis: ‘astorminateacups®, © agertout! Una lager es un tipo de cerveza rubia, mientras que Tout es un ‘patan’ o 'palurdo’, de modo que un lager iout es aquel que debido al consumo excesivo de alcohol (cerveza, por lo general) se comporta de manera grosera e incluso violenta, thietyrine 39BRITAIN by AU ENN Lie IRONY AND SARCASM 4 British Sen si 1 GLOSSARY undeniably: de manera innegable such as: como por ejemplo full monty: todo sitcoms: comedia black adder: vibora negra to master: dominar laughter: carcajada sharper: mas aflado toaim: tener como objetivo to mock: burlarse plenty: muchos self-deprecation: autocritica tool: herramienta below: bajo golden rule: fegla de oro. to make fun of: relrse de ‘weaker: mas débit pun: juego de palabras torelease: estrenar toair: emetir kind: amable mild: ligero miserable: deprimentes ‘guy: tipo foolish: bobo, cestupido counterpart: equivalente painfully: dolorosamente cringeworthy: vergonzante to manage: conseguir 40 009 {De qué se rien los britanicos? ¢Entendemos realmente el humor inglés 0 perdemos mucho por el camino de la traducci6n y por la distancia cultural? Repasamos algunos de los momentos mas hilarantes de la cultura britanica y analizamos las estrategias que tienen para reirse del mundo y, sobre todo, de si mismos. neaspectof the Britishcharacter thatisundeniably# istinctiveand hathas become famous around the world is their sense of humour. Films suchas? The Life of Brian, Four Weddings anda Funeraland The FullMonty3, and TV sitcoms4 like Fawlty Towers, The Young Onesand Blackadder’, have built Britain’s reputationasthe globalhome of humour. From Chaucer's works to Caitlin Moran's bestsellers, humourhas been verypresent inthe history of British storytelling, so itis onlynatural that Brits have mastered® the artoflaughter?.ryouarenot familiar with it, though, it can bea bit confusing. The best way to understand British humour is to identify its main elements. ‘THE KEYSTO'GETTING IT’ The reason why British humour can sometimes be difficult to interpretis that itofteninvertsthe meaning of words.Iro- ny and sarcasm are usually responsible for this. Irony makes a phrase mean the ‘opposite of ts literal meaning. While itis generally pleasant and inoffensive, and itis often used against oneself, sarcasm goes a bit further. Sarcasm is a sharper moreaggressive formofirony thatusually aims® toinsultor mock? another person. Bothironyandsarcasmuse exaggeration toachieveacomiceffectthatsometimes leads to surrealism, whichis a very char- acteristic trait of British humour as well. We can find plenty*# of good examples of this is any of the works of Monty Python, Clockwise from top left: John Cleese inthe 1970s Monty Python sketch The Ministry of sity Walle’: Ric Gervais creator of The Office; the author Cattinat hi “- 1:se of Humour HUMOUR AGAINST ONESELF Another basic ingredient of British hu- mour is self-deprecation**, Self-depre- cating comments andjokesaim tomake one’sachievements lessimportantand even ridiculous, This is an important tool when making humour, since it places the person speaking below*# everyone else. This makes sarcasm about others better received, as itis un- derstood that the speaker doesn't con sider him or herself better than the rest, noteventhan the personbeingcriticised. Agoldenrule*5in humourisnottomake fun of*® those whoareinaweaker’7 po- sition thanweare, so self-deprecationis ‘every comedian's best friend, Brits also love a good pun*®. A pun is a word play that is used inahumorousway. Theprob- lemwith punsisthattheycan be quite difficult to translate into otherlanguages, which sets a big challenge for translators of films and TV. UKCRINGEVS US COMEDY The TY series The Office was creat- ed by Ricky Gervais and released*9 in the UK in 2001. Its success led to the production of an American version, which aired?® in 2005. However, there are substantial differences between the ‘twoversions thatrespondto the sense of humour oftheir viewers. Whilethe Amer- icanversionis quite kind®*and mila, the British Office is much harder: its char- actersare quite miserable? people. But that’s what makes it funny for Brits, Mi: chael Scott (the main characterin the US version) isa nice guy with a foolish®s side; David Brent his British counterpart?) is so pain- fully?” cringeworthy?® that only Brits can manage?9 to watch him, Americans love a success story; Brits are more comfortable with losers. Ameri cans need likeable’? characters on theirshows; Britslovevillains, Butthey have one thing in common: they all like ahappy ending. @ n's The Meanin 383); the fo Python credits: Rowan ‘a Mr. Bean in 2007.