Friday's unscientific poll: Things I have done this week.

[nanila]

Poll #16994

Open to: Registered Users, detailed results viewable to: All, participants: 46

View Respondents

Which of these is the biggest #VeryBritishProblem?

View Answers

Apologising to the delivery person who arrives with your groceries 45 minutes late.
20 (43.5%)

Using the phrase "a bit put out" to describe your feelings when you're experiencing face-melting fury.
26 (56.5%)

Comments

[kaberett]

self-evidently, because (b) while very British is not precisely a problem ;)

[nanila]

It's just polite, isn't it. Especially when the person you're describing your feelings to isn't the cause of the face-melting fury. :)

[whereisirisnow]

I wish I could tick both options, as they are both very British!

[nanila]

You know, I actually meant to use checkboxes in this poll instead of radio buttons...!

[yvi]

I picked the first because the second would also be normal here in Germany. The first, really not. People not being on time is OMGTREASON!

[nanila]

One of my favourite stories about Germany is about the time we were corrected when apologising for being late. We said our plane had landed "about an hour" late. No, we were told very firmly. Our plane had been 38 minutes late.

[cxcvi]

If this is what being British means, then fuck being British.

[nanila]

Congratulations on making a very un-British comment! :D

[pbristow]

I chose (a). Because with (b), IMHE your real meaning is perfectly communicated by the firey glow of your face and the steam leaking out of your ears.

[nanila]

Do the fiery glow and the steam still make themselves evident when communicating via the written word?

[pbristow]

That's why Skype was invented. =:o}

[omnipotent]

I chose the second option simply because I rather fancy (ahaha) British slang and idioms.

[nanila]

They are rather good, aren't they. ;)

[fred_mouse]

because to me, b) is not a problem, because even if the recipient of the comment doesn't work it out, someone else around will have worked out that something is wrong. Although that might be because I'm an Anglo Australian?

[nanila]

I think that probably gives you a certain edge in the interpretation stakes, yep. :) But also you're right, it's evident that something is wrong even if the scale of the emotional upset isn't clear.

[fred_mouse]

Indeed. But I was also thinking that it is used euphemistically here, such that in certain circumstances, saying 'a bit put out' means that the friends around are reaching for the fire-extinguishers.