British things that just make sense (except not really)
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- Опубликовано: 31 май 2024
- British things that just make sense... to British people only lol
As a Canadian living in the UK, I've come across some weird British culture quirks that I wanted to share - specifically British things that just make sense, but not really.
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0:00 what's going on
0:21 so many switches
2:43 ooo secret
3:31 my love for henry
5:40 up and down
6:57 I just wanna pay!
9:21 water drama
11:30 you alright, love?
13:45 have a cuppa
14:44 you say it HOW?
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Hey! I'm Alanna - a thirty-something documenting my life as a Canadian living in England.
I share the ups and downs of an expat living abroad and what it's really like living in the UK. It's not always easy, but there's been so many wonderful experiences, too. I post a RUclips video every Tuesday plus an additional video every Saturday on my Patreon account. I also livestream every Wednesday and Sunday at 5:30pm GMT/BST on Twitch.
Alanna x
thanks so much for the love on this video ☺💙 if you wanna support me directly + get a bonus video every week, please consider joining me on RUclips Memberships 🇬🇧 ruclips.net/channel/UCkJrZ_GpGyrbQZ7YtdjKT7Qjoin
As a Brit myself I would say the best thing to say when you see someone is *Hi how's it going? I pronounce things as an American even though I'm not but I have friends over there
Hmm turning off at the "socket" aka the outlet does indeed save you cash... Its not rocket science electronics in standby mode use electricity.... LOGIC... Also where is the proff um on your fooking meteryou... Ahhhh8 years 8 years... And you still question this.... Also you forgot that most of this started and was named here... Not there... 😂
The ground is the ground... The first floor above the ground is floor 1..... B G 1 2 3 PH R
Hmm it's almost like to save water you would put the plug in the sink to wash your face lmfao... Also or cold in hands then hot then face.... 😂
American English is your first language..... 😂 Not ENGLISH... 😂
also it pains me that I can tell that tea was cold or lukewarm in that cup..... No just no
The British electric socket is one of the greatest inventions of all time. Seriously… the safety features are genius.
Dame Caroline Haslett, a pioneer in women engineers, held in very high regard by British electrical engineers. An early feminist who didn't just have an 'attitude', but got out there and worked to improve the quality of life for all women, and also children and men.
The best thing is that when you don't have a plug for your lead, you can shove a screwdriver into the earth, and that opens up the live and neutral. You can then push the bare live and neutral wires into the socket, pull out the screwdriver and the safety mechanism in the socket closes on the wires.
@@spkiey 😂😂😂
Yep! There are even a multitude of American creators who quite openly admit the UK power socket and plug system is a thing to be admired.
@@glynnwright1699 Are we really shoehorning feminism into a very brief conversation about electrical outlet design...?
The UK standard plug is, without a doubt, the safest in the world. The plug is fused, the earth pin is longer than the other two which means it's the first to make contact and the last out. The live (+) and neutral (-) are shielded to make it difficult / impossible to touch them as you plug them in. Internally there is a substantial cable grip and again the wiring is equally designed for safety.
@stevebrown7574 - Very nicely explained. Indeed, we do have the safest plugs in the world, here in the UK! And switching them off at the wall really does save money.
You forgot to mention the most important safety feature if you have inquisitive children - the plastic guard that only lifts to make the live and neutral slots of the socket available when the earth pin is inserted. Child safety socket covers are literally unnecessary.
Please make that UK AND IRELAND because we have your sockets/plugs as well, and having grown up in NZ (similar plugs but without fuses) I fully agree they are the safest around (and just as painful to step on in the dark as a kiwi plug)
my henry is 30 years old and still works perfectly. he may be awkward and cumbersome but by god is he sturdy and good at his job.
And good and hoovering floors too!
my henry caught fire recently 🥲
God bless Henry! The best vacuum cleaner ever made! 😊👍🏻💖
Mine died last year I think it was about 15 years old but Henry had a good life
I still have my Henry with the turbo boost button, which is so great to have if you have house rabbits and have bits of hay to vacuum up.
Well, anyway, my Henry is at least 20 years old now. He still works really well.
I had a Dyson before Henry, and I can tell you it could not deal with the bits of hay at all. I'm just hoping my Henry lasts a really long time as they don't make the one with the booster button in the UK anymore cause of EU Environmental laws.
Oh, I also own a George, too, for cleaning carpets.
Our plug sockets are absolute genius. It is virtually impossible to electrocute one’s self. Plus our power supply is 240v as oppose to North American 120v hence the extra safety in the U.K. Remember the episode that Alanna did on how long it took her to heat a kettle in Canada!
Brits don't call them power outlets. We call them sockets.
We aim to confuse all foreigners 😂😂😂😂
The QE2 was built in the UK the refit was by a European company.....almost all the contactors arrived on the ship with continental tool and plugs.....my x boss said a one of the few British contracts they were fine but had to send out two people on any job one to guard the plug ...
They're called power points in Australia
I ran downstairs to tell my dad that plug sockets don’t have on/off switches in other countries like it was the most amazing thing in the world and he looked at me like he didn’t believe me, I think it’s because I’m drunk - am going to txt him this link 😂😂😂 🇬🇧
I would call them the two sockets of the power outlet.
Or we just call them plugs too.
Cleaning staff at Alanna's gym getting ready to vacuum the locker room: WHO KEEPS TURNING THIS OFF!?!?!?
😂 I can't help it!!
With a Henry obviously. Cause every cleaner in the land uses a Henry 😂
Speaking as a cleaner myself - TELL ME ABOUT IT.
Nothing worse than setting up your unit for quick and easy working, and some £$£" (you know who you are) has messed it up.
Expensive electricity leaks out if the switch is on and there's no plug in.
@@AdventuresAndNaps , the switches on the SOCKETS is basically for safety , for example when you think of it just how many times have you plugged in the lamp you use for videos or / kettle / vacuum cleaner / iron or mixer etc etc and they start up automatically because they were never actually turned off on the item , you may have not noticed but when you plugged in the item there was a small spark and this was because with it still being switched on a " load " was put on the socket , this spark can be big and it'll certainly surprise you , to stop this happening a good connection in the socket is required , hence the switch is used, now you push the plug into the socket then turn on the item with the switch in the socket and again safely at the item , when switching off the item you do it the reverse way .
As for which is the ground floor stand by a window and look out of it , if you were to jump out of the window but don't fall anywhere then your on the ground floor but if you would fall down one floor then your on the first floor ( before you jump of course 😂 )
Just remember that falling doesn't hurt , it's the last half a millimeter that does 😂
Please please please just show a plug for the sink because you'll be the first ever to show a complete sink / bath , what's the odds that Germans know actually how and why it works , because we are related 😂
I'm a foreigner too from non-English speaking country, I've come to the UK just 3 months. Honestly, I don't struggle with these British things at all and just do what 'When in Rome, Do as the Romans Do'. I'm easy and adapt quickly & happily 😁
Well done. You are an honorary Brit for adapting to British ways.
But you don't have to produce a video about something every week to appease the RUclips gods 😉
And we love having you here ! thank you for wanting to happily adapt :) im glad you dont struggle with it ... hope you continue to like it here and enjoy it ! stay safe and well !
@@GeekyC Love British stuff, they are always designed for safety 👍
@@Thurgosh_OG although the final test of Britishness would be to *still complain* about all these things, but never do anything about it :P
British sockets are the normal sort. It's foreign countries that have strange ones.
Correct
@@kevindarkstar From Ireland where we have the same plugs/sockets, totally correct. With Australia/NZ coming a close second - switched sockets, similar plugs but without a fuse and upside down
Obviously!
Preach
Tea - it doesn't cure the world's problems but it does greatly boost your ability to deal with them.
Well said - love it 👍
Switched outlets just make sense, lack of them in other countries is absolutely mindblowing
I agree - the safety of it is just so much sense
And in the UK, operating at 230-240 volts, any safety features are to be welcomed. If you get a shock here, you know all about it. Mind you, it does cure your depression.
In some countries it does make some sense, mainly North America. We use 240v in the UK but they use 120v. As voltage is linked to current and current is what kills you the higher current of the UK system is much more likely to kill you so having the various extra safety features including on/off switches makes sense. It would still be safer for for North America to have switches and tbh just switching to UK plugs and sockets as even the current from 120v can kill you but it's less important. Countries such as most of mainland Europe where they use voltages over 200 it makes less sense though, they have a current level where the risk is elevated but have a less safe system than the uk
@@SimonWakefieldUK Australia also has switched sockets, but their plugs are smaller and not fused. They run on 230V, like Europe and 2/3 of the world.
@@SimonWakefieldUK Americans have 240V in their homes for large appliances such as dryers and cookers, actually a lower voltage will require higher current to produce the same power requirement as power is current times voltage, I believe most US homes have 15A and 20A circuits with 120V and 240V supplies dependent on end use appliance.
Henrys are genius… almost every cleaner and builder uses them, they just work (or if you have used it wrong they are really easy to mend), and who needs warm water… cold for drinking, hot for washing, both if you need warm… anything else would be madness!
Yes I miss British plugs, here in Australia I went to Bunnings and asked for bulbs....he pointed me to the garden section.....huh? Oh you mean globes! We laughed.
Switches on outlets makes sense with the alternative is to unplug the device, and leave the plug on the floor pins up and ready for you to step on it bare foot late a night.
Perhaps we should send missionaries to America to explain the concept of a sink plug.
Yeah... It drives me nuts when people can't think logically and put a plug in the sink... Simply mix the hot and cold water together... In just the same way as you would when running a bath... If it's too hot add some cold water... And if it's too cold add some hot water... And once you've washed your hands and or face in the bathroom sink... Just remove the plug and the water goes straight down the sink.
Wouldn’t work, the technology is far too complex for them to grasp.
@@shaunfarrell3834 🤣🤣🤣
They haven’t mastered using a knife and fork properly yet, give them chance. 😂
@@lesbrewster2375 🤣🤣🤣
The UK doesn't call them outlets, they are sockets. The are also probably the safest in the world due to their design even though were a really old country.
The ones in your gym are probably used by the cleaners.
Or plugs.
If your in the trade.. they are called outlets.. just as Bulbs are called lamps.... just what they teach at tech college ..
@@leonbanks5728 Nope. The outlet, in this case called a socket, is the receptacle into which the plug is inserted. Both parts incorporate safety features.
@@BillDavies-ej6ye People call both a plug.
@@leonbanks5728 I've never heard people say that. I'm in the UK, where are you?
The Henry slander I will not stand until you’ve used the communal ones at University which invariably always smell of sick. Otherwise, perfection 😂
As a Brit, I've never heard of browsing hours. But then I'm not crazy enough to go to any shop before 10am on a Sunday. Hell, I don't want to even leave the house until after lunch on a Sunday!
I got caught out that way once. I won't go back to that store.
My local Sainsbury used to do this on Sundays, but recently they seem to have abolished it. It's rather annoying as I could be out of the place by 1005 and on my way home.
No Sunday trading restrictions (at least, not nationally anyway) in Scotland. The Wee Frees up in Harris and Lewis are doing their best to keep churches as the only thing open on Sundays, though, the miserable gits.
I saw they were doing it at Aldi the other day.
It only happens on Sunday and only so that they can legally extend the hours they open.
I love the part in A Bridge too far when the adjutant goes to Sean Connery and says "Cup of tea sir?".. Then the rant about radios not working and lunatics laughing from the wood "and you think a cup of tea will help me ??!".. "Well it won't hurt sir" 😂
On/off switches are a safety feature, to control transmission of current. It has nothing to do with saving money.
The benefit of hot and cold taps is that you don't bash your head in when washing your face. I love them xx
Another note on UK plugs and sockets is that it's REALLY difficult to electrocute yourself with one. The prongs are arranged in such a way that by the time the plug is out of the socket enough for you to touch exposed metal it is already too far out of the socket to still have power running through it. It generally take intentional tampering with either the plug and/or socket to be able to.
That and the 'long prong.' It has two functions. It is an earth connection and it means the device will be earthed before the power prongs are connected, and it also open the flaps that cover the L+N prong holes (on some sockets).
Great design that seemed to get lost outside of the country.
@@GaryMcCormick furthermore, the extra length and route of the earth wire means it should be the last to physically fail if the cable is ripped from the plug. This means it is unlikely a yanked cable could be able to power a device and have a broken earth if wired correctly.
I had a colleague who was an Electrical engineer from Poland and our plugs and sockets where he's favourite thing from the UK, because it is over engineered and superior to all other plugs
@@GaryMcCormick Actually, there are 49 other countries that use the type G plugs and sockets.
Soory chap, but the same is true for *every* other type of socket.
Henry Hoovers are made in the UK. They employ UK citizens, and they pay their taxes. Every other hoover manufacturer do none of those things, and Dyson in particular actively work against Britain's best interests and are made to break down in 12 months. Always buy a Henry. It is the patriotic thing to do.
What really p'd me off was that Dyson was given a knighthood for producing a load of junk and not satisfied with that he had it made abroad, probably on the recommendation of some bean-counter.
Don't disagree with what you say, but it's a Henry vacuum cleaner, Hoover is a brand name
@@hognaut indeed, Hoover is a brand name but due to it ubiquity in the past it became a synonym for vacuuming.
I have a Henry and it’s lasted me for yours. I agree though about its clumsiness. It was designed as a commercial rather than a consumer oroduct so sturdy enough to be used by office cleaners for hours everyday without falling apart, which is what I like about. You also see them (usually the version that can handle liquid spills) thrown in the back of builders’ vans because they’re tough and rarely break down. However, it was really designed really for cleaning large open plan offices rather than domestic rooms. I think the friendly face was there to cheer up cleaners which can, let’s face it, be a pretty soul destroying job.
I've had my Henry for over 20 years.. their design is simple yet efficient. We also have a dyson for quick hoovering of spills, but I've replaced more of it than triggers broom.
UK deaths from electrocution in the years 2001 to 2017 range from 8 to 38 per year and average at about 20. I can't find such detailed statistics for the USA, but it seems to be somewhere between 400 and "more than 1000" per year. Taking into account the approximate 5 to 1 population difference, the UK would appear to be about 4 to 10 times safer despite using 230V rather than 110V.
Regarding the taps. British people tend to fill the sink up using the cold and hot taps to make the water just right. American's, not caring about water, just run the tap while they wash. I lived in America for 7 years, so I have seen this!
The US doesn't use the plug in a wash basin, they haven't invented the rubber plug yet! Don't tell them or they will patent it like they did the electric light bulb.
So you fill the sink, then put your dirty hand into the water then put soap on it, then rub, and then put back your hands in the water, so at the end your hand will be covered with a bit soapy-dirty water and then you dry it?
Or how does that work?
Here how it works with running water: open the mix tap for a few seconds to wet your hands, close it, then put soap on your hands, rub them as long as needed (tap closed) and at the end wash the soap off in a short time, ending up with wet hands, no soap, no grim. I believe this method uses less water than filling the sink.
I'm British and I ran the tap while washing. It's way cleaner than what you're describing lol.
@@Eva-mp7xgBathrooms have basins not sinks!
@@SimonEllwood Thanks for the linguistical help. 😊
Could you pls help me with explaining how to use separate taps for a hand wash, too?
Using "First floor" to describe the Ground floor does not make sense. It's like saying that a baby is 1 year old on the day that they are born. Also, the American system breaks down as soon as you have underground floors. In the UK the Ground floor is numbered zero, and then underground floors are numbered -1, -2 etc. (because they are below zero). So positive numbers are above ground level, and negative numbers are below ground level. However, In the US the first underground floor would have to be numbered zero (seeing as they number the ground floor as 1).
The ground floor is also a floor. And because it is the floor that you are on when you enter a building you could call it the first floor. Not saying that we should do that but there is reason to it.
In South Korea ( until recently) you were aged 1 on the day you were born . Just to add to it , when new year came you add another year to your age . Someone born in December would be two by January! They changed it to align themselves internationally. Not a lot of people know that - apart from Michael Caine obviously! 😅
The first integer number is zero, so QED.
Alana - you are a Rizla's width away from a great stand up routine. You have enough material .
Racehorses I believe are 1 year at birth and then all have birthdays on January first.
The solution to separate taps is to put the plug in the sink and pour a little of both into the sink. When you are finished you remove the plug and all the water goes away.
And you are not wasting water by having the taps running all the time, you wash.
We have a mixer on the kitchen sink (as I think is almost universal these days) but I always have it either fully cold (i.e. making a cold drink or filling a pan) or fully hot (washing up). EDIT: and before anyone says it, no, I don't fill a pan with hot - that stuff has been stored in a hot water cyclinder for who knows how long and is not food safe.
My Aussie friends laugh at me for wanting to put a washing up bowl in the sink,......we have a dishwasher now.
The tap thing always gets me as people say about burning there hands! Put the plug in and then put hot and cold in to make warm water plus its better for the enviroment to fill the sink instead of constant running water and if you diss Henry then i will hunt you down😂
and how many people don't have mixer taps in 2023 anyway?
some people dont use their brains mainly americans lol.
@@stevemichael8458alot of old buildings still don't as they still use tanks in the loft which are open for contamination for their hot water which mixing tap would cause contamination of the fresh water supply. Modern houses or those residents of older houses with the money, ability and desire to retrofit will be ready for mixing taps but so many houses are still pre ww2 look at alone pre 80/90s where there was a real shift that we still have a massive number of houses that aren't suitable for mixing taps
@@stevemichael8458 The majority of UK homes still have separate taps. Mixer taps are used in a lot of new builds but we still see separate taps in some. Social housing uses them most of the time because repairs and replacements are cheaper than mixer taps.
You fill the sink up to wash your hands in 2023? The same sink you spit into while brushing your teeth or blow your nose into?? 🤮 Stop making the rest of us Brits look old fashioned and unhygienic. 😂
How to remember floors:
The British are grounded, Americans are flawed!😁
P.S. It's pronounced Wooster-sher as in Jeeves & Wooster.
How to remember floors using a lift. Press the number you want. All these things seem to be Alanna problems.
Nice one!
Or the British are (g)reat, while the Americans are the land of the (f)ree!
My local Asda only opens between 11 and 4 on Sundays
Ours is 1 to 6. It makes no difference to my life.@@MARKSTRINGFELLOW1
Henry for the win.
The suction power is incredible and he’s low maintenance.
12:12 😂 I love confusing people when they ask me 'you alright' and I say either "why? do it not look alright" or "no I'm not", I love seeing people's faces because it's not what they expect to hear😂😂
It isn't just the Brits who say "ground floor, first floor, etc." Every European country other than Russia does so, as do Australia, New Zealand, most East and Southern African countries, India, and most South Asian and Pacific nations, and even Mexico and most South and Central America.
The Baltic countries and Eastern Europe don't use ground floor I believe
Former Soviet that's why.@@craig3782
@@craig3782 Hmm, perhaps some influence from Russia there?
I am British with a Norwegian family who also get confused by ground floor, they also use 1st floor instead of ground floor.
The ground floor means exactly what it says. You enter the building on the ground floor. Go up the stairs to the first floor. Go up the stairs further and your on the second floor etc, etc.
I tried washing my hair in a basin that had a mixer tap in the middle and kept bashing my head on the tap.
11:30 The British phrase "Are you all right? " (commonly shortened to "You alright?" or even just "Alright?") is equivalent to the USA "How are you?". These aren't intended as questions, but are instead greetings, equivalent to saying "Hello".
5:40 I think the floors make sense when you consider using stairs or a lift. You usually enter a building on the ground floor, so this is labelled separately as G or 0. Consequently, the First Floor is 1 floor up, and so on. Similarly, the basement is usually labelled B or - 1, and so on, if below ground.
This also makes is easier to count how many floors (levels) a building has, because if your apartment is on the 6th floor then you're literally 6 floors "up" (i.e. above the ground)
Browsing hours? I’ve been on this planet for very many years, I’ve never heard of that.
Nope, me neither. Doesn't happen in London as far as I know.
Never heard of browsing hours either
Definitely a thing in Sheffield. You can collect all your goods, timing your arrival at the tills when they open.
Never heard of it either.
Doesn’t happen in Devon as far as I know
One of the cool things about the Henry's is that Numatic that makes them never advertises them, so you'll never see them advertised on telly, they just rely on their reputation to sell them. The bad thing (for them at least) is they're virtually indestructable, so many people buy them and then never need to replace them as they just keep working, which is great as a user (got one myself) but not sure it's a great business model. :)
A place I worked at used Henry's to powered a fluidised bed system for powder coating hot metal products, instead of using the compressed air system everything else that heeded air used.
They had to replace Henry every month about, as they used the hose in the outlet to blow air inefficiently into a powder bed, overheating and burning out his insufficient little motor, instead of using the more than powerful enough compressed air system they already had, trying to save money.
The newer Henry's are definitely not indestructible! They are now the most common vacuum cleaners seen dumped in the street 😅 they definitely overtook Dyson in terms of disposable vacuum cleaners 🤣
Henry and family just do what you need them to do! No gimmicks, no complication, just function. We’ve done all the Hoovers, Nilfisk, Electrolux, Dyson, Shark etc, but Henry is so much better, so we have 3 including the one I use as a general builder. Many years ago I t worked selling the “legendary” Kirby to Americans in Germany - fantastic machine, but really the Henry for me is the winner😊
@@timstradling7764 Mum had a kirby upright for years until dad couldn't repair it any longer.
Love the way you call the Henry vacuum cleaner family “Hoovers”. Very British!
Even though they're not made by Hoover. Although the alliteration is hard to resist.
@@JamesLMasonIn my family it doesn't matter what brand of vacuum cleaner you use, it is always called the hoover! 😂
@@wilmaknickersfit Yeah, trademark erosion is all over the place. Americans calling all tissues Kleenex, all colas become coke. I just found it amusing that strictly speaking Henry is a vacuum cleaner but has, understandably, done the same and it really works in its favour in this case. I bet they wish they could officially call him that.
Hoover is an American company founded in Ohio, so not British at all...
@@JamesLMason Hoover hasn't actually made Hoovers since 1962, when it was bought out by Maytag.
Have a Henry and he's a real veteran. Bought in '95 and never broken down. Know what you mean about the trailing container. You've got to know where you're going and what Henry is up to behind you. I took my daughter's Dyson down to the tip and the cry went up " not another one ".
The face makes it look like a joke but every small business in the country has one for evening cleanup.
The British electrical plugs are a masterpiece of engineering. The earth connection pin is longer than the other pins because the holes that the L and N pins fit into have a shutter across them ( to stop people poking things into them ) and the earth pin pushes the shutters out of the way. The two 'power' pins are also insulated for most of their length to make sure that you fingers cannot get a shock, every plug has its own built in ( but replaceable ) fuse cartridge from 1 , 3, 5, 10 and 13 amps - this means a small appliance like a table lamp can have a 1 or 3 amp fuse and a large appliance like a refrigerator, washing machine etc can have a 13 amp fuse. The switch on the socket also makes a lot of sense ( especially if you have ever trodden on a British 3 pin plug with no shoes on )....
The mug you used for your tea was classic 🤣
nice tlts 😅
I think the switch on the socket (outlet) is very useful and an added safety feature of the British home and workplace. I always turn a switch off prior to removing the plug from the socket to ensure there isn't a surge of electricity to my device or through the eclectic circuit of the house. It can also save quite a bit of money if the socket is supplying power to a device that has a standby function.
My house was built in 1904 and even though it no longer has a hot water tank and supply tank in my loft (which could be the source of contamination as it was generally only loosely covered with a piece of wood, so birds or rodents could end up in it) it still has separate taps in the kitchen and bathroom. I prefer two separate taps and really do not like mixer taps. Having a hot and cold tap allows me to control the heat of the water added to the sink and retained with the sink plug in place.
What amazes me most is the diversity of lightbulbs. Before moving to the UK, I needed spare light bulbs of only one type (large screw on ones), and they would fit any and all appliances I had. Nowadays, each light bulb in my flat is different: 6 pin, 4 pin, 2 pin, small and large screw-on varieties.
Nothing worse than being in the shop, looking at the bulbs and wishing you double checked before you went out!
What are the 4 and 6 pin bulbs for? We used to only have the 2 pin (in a couple of sizes) for most uses but these days we also have 'screw in' bulbs but I've not seen anything that needs a 4 or 6 pin bulb.
I absolutely agree. It's not our fault though -- it's all down to designers and marketers forcing us to buy different products so that we get in spare bulbs 'in case' and then never have the right sort in the house, so we have to buy more! InCANdescent with rage!
@@Thurgosh_OG I meant butterfly bulbs (used in the bathroom)
You forgot bayonet fittings. Because it's not enough to have a bunch of different light intensities and sizes, you have to have different screw types. And god help you if you have a dimmer switch, you're going to need a second mortgage for those bulbs. 😆
Funny story. My step grand dad was Australian. At some point before he met my Grandma he was on holiday and asked a lady if she was knocked up.
Well, she of course slapped him across the face. Down under it just meant are you tired?
Love that story. Still makes me chuckle. RIP Stan!
When I was growing up,untill 1995, if you bought an electrical item in Britain usually you had to put your own plug on it I remember being taught this in school.
Don’t remember that that recently at all.
I had forgotten all about this until relatively recently.
I remember being wee and my mum wiring up the plugs on new appliances (my dad couldn’t do it. Either that or she didn’t trust him to get right. 😆)
Bottom left Bl(ue) Bottom right Br(own) when wiring them up.
@@anthonyhiggins7409 Mum and Dad made me wire all the plugs after Mum crossed the earth and neutral wires in the new hoover's plug - it ran for about 5 minutes until all the ground around the house was charged and couldn't take any more. I always wondered if she'd electrocuted all the worms in the garden. :)
@@roderickjoyce6716 lol. I’ve now got an image in my head of Earthworm Jim being electrocuted. 🤷♂️😂
You Alright Alanna, how you doin'. Listen don't stress about the switch on the socket at the gym, it was probably just the cleaner forgetting to turn it off when unplugging the Henry vacuum because he /she were wondering if they had remembered to turn off the hot taps on the 1st floor. 🤣🤣
😂. Very good !
Hi Alanna, my tip for you to remember the "ground floor - first floor" thng: GRound floor in GReat Britain (- which then leaves 1st floor-2nd floor for the US). Cheers
used to, did a bathroom redecoration, took out a shower, put in a better bath, changed the tap to a 'fancy tap' !
Alana, you know that thing under the taps its called a basin. Put that plastic thing in it - technical term a plug (not to be confused with an electric plug)- run both taps for a few seconds into the basin swirl the water et voila perfect washing temperature water. Plus you save water.
Why are you talking about virtual things? emeals, etanks and ewater.@@TrickyDicky2006
Henry vacuums were popular with professional cleaners because their top incorporates a handle that manually stores the electric cable. The cables were very long so you could do a large office without moving the plug. People in the office saw that the professionals were using these and assumed they must be better so bought them for their homes. The face is a plus.
i used one in my job for over 15 years and the suction is second to none. a close contender was the seebo upright.
Yeah the original 1200w Henry is awesome. So long as the detritus physically fits in the nozzle. Henry eats it. Bricks - no problems. Rubble - a doddle. Whereas I once had a dyson catch fire after going over an elastic band.
@@NicksGotBeef Yeah my uncle used a henry as his work hoover for years. just took the bag out. he was a plasterer. would suck up anything.
Now they became the most popular vacuum cleaners seen dumped in the street. It's not a good advertisement for reliability 😅
@@deanosaur808 dumb af comment
It takes a fair amount of effort to pull a British electrical plug out of its socket (unlike North American plugs that fall out when you look at them), so having the switch is handy.
So true, sometimes the American ones just fall out 🙄 like wtf?
The first thing our neighbours did while standing outside in the middle of the night watching our house burn was make a cuppa for everyone. Lol
Alanna You would have liked the DFS furniture store Darley Dale Derbyshire. To avoid Sunday Trading laws if you bought a carrot for say £300 they threw in a settee or piece of furniture for free! They did very well from it!
The power outlet awitches are a safety feature to make sure that there is no danger of a spark causing injury - especially to children when it is off.
And yes the earth pin and shutter system should have a sinilar effect, but redundant safety features are useful to have as well.
There's a gym locker room cleaner somewhere who grumbles mildly when they find the power socket they leave permanently switched on for their Henry has been switched off.
I think the whole idea of sinks with plugs is so you can fill it with a mixture of hot and cold water to the temperature you want, then wash. True that there could have been a dead rodent in your local water tank but more people used to fill the sink using the plug than just keep the tap running to wash and shave etc.
the reason for 2 taps, it wasnt about keeping hot and cold separate, it was about keeping the drinking water separate from the non drinking water as the old types of boiler used to heat water were not great and created Bactria, so basically its not separate hot and cold taps, its separate drinking and non drinking water taps.
Is Bactria somewhere in Eastern Europe? 😁
True, that is the main reason. But also the fact that the hot water did not come until later. So sinks just had cold water initially. When hot water came along it was usually piped to the kitchen or bathroom separately so they designed sinks and baths with 2 taps - one for hot one for cold. I don't know if they had designed twin flow taps by that time. But it certains took quite some time to take hold in the UK. And still not all new kitchens will have a dual flow tap.
Yup have a Henry. Yes his shape is awkward but he's sooooo reliable and so powerful he pulled the carpet off its grippers
Glad that's happened to you too 😂😂❤
@@juliawigger9796 🤣🤣
I don't have a Henry and I've had beef with every Henry I've ever had to use. They were always half broken but never replaced. Also, you'd run both taps and fill the sink with warm soapy water to wash your face. It's more common in Wales to have monoblock basin taps now but as you said, older homes still have dual taps if they haven't been renovated.
Alanna, I stumbled across one of your videos only yesterday. I've watched several, and you had me in stitches with this one! Our British pronunciations of some place names are TOTALLY unreasonable, and they're just as confusing to us when we're kids and we first see them. I think we learn many of these place names by hearing them, before we ever see how they're spelled. But ... when you get used to them, the crazy difference between the spelling and the pronunciation becomes part of the fun, and knowing the correct pronunciation makes you feel like you've graduated, somehow. You're now in the know, and you're able to correct people who mispronounce them! This is all part of being British! I think my favourites are Alnwick, pronounced 'annick', and Towcester, pronounced 'toaster'. There are other words that don't sound like they look, of course, such as women, or friend, and I think their pronunciations are universal in all English-speaking countries.
It's pretty silly that supermarkets call the pre-trading hour "browsing hour", as if anyone is going to browse in a supermarket, looking at all the food and taking an hour to make up their mind what they're going to buy. It's really "trolley loading hour".
As for our plug sockets, they used not to have switches, many years ago, and even now, not all do. However, British plugs can take a bit of effort to pull out and put back in, so it's handy having a switch, especially as we have so many electrical things plugged into so many sockets these days. Also, when British plugs aren't plugged in, they tend to lie on the floor with their prongs pointing upwards, and if you inadvertently stand on one, it REALLY hurts!
Both the American and British ways of numbering the floors of a building make sense, but as a child, I think probably most of us would expect the storey you walk into to be the first floor, and they you'd go up a flight of stairs to the second floor, and we all have to learn that no, the ground-level floor is the ground floor, and the 2nd level is the first floor. And then you're in the know: you've graduated! I guess the logic is that the ground 'floor' is actually on the ground (just forget basements for a moment), and that a 'floor' is a higher level that is actually made, rather than naturally being there, so the one above the ground is the first But I really understand your current confusion. I used to live abroad in a country where they drive on the right, with the steering wheel on the left side of the car, but when I visited home, cars' steering wheels were on the right. I got so confused that several times (in both countries) I got into the wrong side of the car, only to find that I didn't have a steering wheel. For maybe a year after I moved back to Britain, I just couldn't think which way round it would be, so before I got in the car, I would simply look to see where the steering wheel was!
I do think, though, that the idiosyncrasies of British life are one of the defining qualities of Britishness. I know Americans use pounds and ounces, but the British used to go further and use stones. 16 ounces in a pound, 14 pounds in a stone, and 8 stones in a hundredweight. What could be simpler? 🤣🤣 Until 1971, our money had 240 pennies in a pound, divided into 20 shillings worth 12 pennies each ...
Floors is like us driving on the CORRECT side of the road-( LEFT)- it makes sense! ; Basement or cellar( if you have one below the GROUNDFLOOR and above that 1st floor, 2nd floor....etc simples!
Cool video! "Where's the data on that?" Cut to British grandpas furiously typing away...
With our separate taps you don't scald your hands or freeze them off. You put the plug in the basin first to mix the hot and cold water in the sink. Therefore you only use the amount you actually need and reduce the cost of your water bill.
Adventures and Naps keeps pumping out high-quality content!
I went to Loughborough Uni and had a rugby shirt with the uni name on it
I was on holiday and an American (who was on the same tour) came up to me and asked me where Loogyboroogy was
I looked at him blankly and he pointed at my shirt, oh it's pronounced Luffboro I replied
He wandered away looking a bit confused and probably thought I was taking the piss. He obviously didn't understand patronization 😮
And I went to Loughborough University of Technology but it seems to be something different now. That was about 50 years or so ago now.
I worked in the motor trade in the 80s and 90s and saw the absolute abuse that Henry could take from industrial trade wastes like broken car glass and other stuff you should never get near with a vacuum. They never died, so I bought one in 1993 and I'm still using it today for when my Dysons can't cope and it's never failed yet. I even got a longer hose for doing the stairs so I don't have to carry it upstairs anymore.
The newer ones today don't seem as sturdy built as mine. After 30 years heavy use and abuse it's still good for another 30 years.
Keep it away from any builders, they borrowed the work Henry and killed it, apparently Henry is not a fan of cement powder. :) The Dyson died a few days later, one of the clients (in a care home) threw it at one of the support staff. client on top of the stairs, staff at the bottom, apparently Dyson's were not designed to be thrown like they were a weapon! :)
@@RobG001 Seems like they don't build them like in the 80s and 90s then as they used to be like mine built like the Top Gear Toyota Hilux and you could treat them like that which I have done and they just kept working. Dysons have always been a bit fragile in comparison.
I agree. I don't think they are as sturdy as they used to be. I think the plastic casing is thinner. Still pretty robust though.
When visiting our New York office I told an American colleague that we number the floors like that to save building costs, which prompted him to explain how that wouldn't work - a priceless example of the American failure to discern irony and humour. But I have never heard of browsing time. I've just had a new bathroom fitted and I insisted on separate hot & cold taps. They can still be obtained brand new and I prefer them. By the way how does "Arkansas" sound, does it rhyme with "Kansas"?
Bit late to the party but I love my Henry! It’s my workshop/building one rather than for the house. And he was ably employed by a plumber friend for many years before I took him on. Who knows how many tons of brick/plaster/wood/metal he’s sucked up over the years and still going strong!
Across the pond you are waiting for your kids to light up like a Christmas tree when they stick their fingers in the outlet and you still complain about safety switches are you real
I remember my maternal grandparents house when I was a young child in the 60's. The only tap in the house was cold and in the kitchen and there was no cooker. There was also no bathroom. They had a cast iron oven built into the fireplace and a shelf thing over the fire for pans. You wanted hot water, you had to boil it in a pan on the fire. They had tin bath on a hook on the wall for use with hot water produced in the same manner. Oh, and the toilet was outside!
I, in the 40s and 50s lived in a house similar to the one you describe except, we had no electricity. We did however, have a gas fired wash boiler that we used to heat the water for the tin bath. Luxury!!!
I was born in a house like that and lived there until I was five when we moved to a newly built 1960s property, with the joy of having an indoor toilet and a bathroom with hot and cold running water and central heating. The house I was born in also had the old gas mantles on the bedroom walls, they were disconnected when electricity had been installed back in the 1930s but they were still there. We kept a paraffin heater in the outside loo to stop it freezing up in winter.
When I were a lad . . ., couldn’t help it, for some reason Monty Python just popped in my head.
Yep, my family of 5 lived in tenement in 2 rooms with only a tin bath in front of coal fire until I was 7 (I'm 63) and we moved to brand new house. Sometimes a fire would start in the chimney (aka the lump was up) and all the residents had to wait in the back garden until the fire brigade put it out. The toilet was on the landing down some stairs and was shared with another family.
On the upside, energy was cheaper and you could chuck almost anything on the fire without worrying about Greta and co creating a fuss 😅😅
The 3 pin plug goes into the socket, the hot and cold taps work well if you put a plug in the sink and fill it with hot and cold water to whatever temperature suits you.
ive a Henry hoover in my worshop. It`s used for cleaning up swarf(small shards of metal from machining), oil and water. It`s still working after fifteen years, sumply fantastic.
The British have a device known as a "Sink Plug" which allows you to mix the water in the bowl.😊😊When I turn on my hot tap I have to run it for a while before it gets hot as the pipes between the hot tank and the cap cool down.
I have the reverse problem: if I want a cold drink I have to run the cold tap for a while because the feed to it is routed next to the hot water pipe!
Is it weird or normal that I run both taps and just move my hands between them whilst rubbing them together?
@@Tree_a_Boar Not weird but definitely a British thing, lol.
Separate taps are simple you put the plug in the sink run the hot water then the cold until you get the water as hot as you want
If you put the plug in the sink, do you need to switch it on at the socket?
In the UK, the 2 taps are because, our cold water is fresh fed & in older buildings our hot water is tanked, originally because it gets heated and held in a tank, in some old buildings this is fed by a secondary tank in the roof, to prevent running out in large households, I'm sure I don't need to explain how much of a risk drinking standing water is to a persons health, on top of possible deposits from long periods of exposure to copper, steel, & even lead in some cases. Now all of this is minimal and of no harmful level, and your water is only standing as long as your not using the hot water, but probably better to not ingest it, So Hot & cold taps helps prevent someone drinking the wrong one. Obviously things are different now with plastic tanks, eco boilers ect. that heat what & when you want it.
lived in UK for 65 years and never heard of browsing hours! This is a weird supermarket!
Browsing hours was introduced years ago when large shops opened on a Sunday. By law shops are not allowed to sell goods before 10.00am on Sunday but allowed to open at 09.30 so people could shop or browse but not buy. This helped the little corner shops that were allowed normal hours on a Sunday.
It's very commonplace for UK supermarkets to have a crowd of frustrated would-be shoppers standing outside the doors at 9:50am and banging on the glass and pointing at the staff whenever they spot them walking past on the inside etc, therefore many supermarkets have for years now been opening the doors at some point ahead of 10am, often 20-30mins ahead rather than a full hour, to avoid the staff feeling like they've become some sort of zoo exhibit, and to avoid the customers becoming an angry mob outside. Of course the earlier they open the doors for browsing the early the crowd start arriving and congregating outside, and it's partly for that reason (and partly because of the continuous stream of people who "just need to grab some milk!" trying to physically push their way in through the exit door at 4:05pm or later, because the store can't shut that one yet until the last few legally served customers have dawdled their way out) that I believe that we just need to abolish Sunday trading restrictions now and allow a normal trading day. Sunday trading restrictions lead to more verbal and physical abuse of retail staff on Sunday than any other day, as well as them dealing with the notably higher levels of general stress due to far higher numbers of simultaneous customers in the 6 hours the store is open than would be the case if many of those shoppers could choose to either shop earlier in the morning, or later in the afternoon/ evening, and thus spread things out to be more manageable for the staff, so I do believe the law as it stands actually defeats the object it set out in 1994 to achieve, namely the protection of the rights and working conditions of retail workers with respect to allowing some Sunday trading.
That’s so people don’t have to stand around outside until the tills open up so then you can purchase the goods ; hence the browsing hour . But not all shops use the hour , you just have to wait until the store opens it’s doors and get your shopping
"You alright?" "Yeah, you alright?" "Yeah"... Beginning & end of convo, no more is needed, walk away from the social situation! 😂
I long time ago I used to have house rabbits & the only hoover that didn't freak them out was Henry! So thank you Henry for your services lol
😂 incredible!
@@AdventuresAndNapsI believe her
Depending on where you are in the UK. that could as short as "Alright?" nods back "Alright" nod. Done.
@@AdventuresAndNapsthis reminds me of the film “Hot shots@ where someone asks Lloyd Bridges “are you all right sir?” And he says “”yeah why what’ve you heard?” 😂
Henry is mostly for commercial use, although some homes (including mine) have them. They are very powerful and the fact you don’t have to carry the weight of the motor etc. means you can hoover all day with no issues. It also means you have a big body to hold a lot of dust. In hotels they are excellent
With the taps older houses used to have a "hot water tank" where the hot water was boiled and kept ready for use. This could get quite nasty (I remember my father telling me that he knew of a family who found a dead rat in theirs). The cold water comes straight from the mains and is considered fit for drinking and the two taps kept the drinking water away from the hot water.
Modern combi-boilers don't have a storage tanks and as such most modern bathrooms and kitchens have mixer taps (unless people want the classic look)
I think also it was a safety feature to prevent the hot water pushing back into the mains water pipes and contaminating them if the mains water supply lost pressure.
Alanna, I can't tell if you were joking about the hot and cold water, but the idea wasn't to either freeze or burn your face, you mix the waters in the basin to get the perfect temperature XD
But in order to do so without it being disgusting you have to have perfectly cleaned sink, which nobody had, especially in public toilets so everyone just ends up freezing and burning themselves
Very hygienic, very, very british. Like british hospitals no so long ago packed with MRSA as they were filthy as the british would say.
You have to have a watertight plug for the washbasin to mix the hot and cold water in it.
I'll never forget the time the Head of Human Resources called the IT helpdesk because his printer wasn't working, so I went down to have a look. Yup, you guessed it. The power switch was off on the wall socket! If I had a pound for every time...
You understand how buttons work don't you? No, not on clothes.
Theres's a reason the first two questions ANY experienced IT support person will ask are 1) Is it plugged in, and 2) Is it switched on.
@@katebuckley7263 ..except when God calls, then you show up in person!!
Sunday trading in large stores and garden centres is restricted to only a few hours. On Easter Sunday they are not even allowed to open.
One advantage of having switches on power outlets is you do not need to unplug to isolate the appliance.
One of my fav Monty Python sketches has a joke about pronunciation versus spelling.
Michael Palin's character inroduces Graham Chapman's character as Mister Raymond - Luxury - Yacht, however Graham's character corrects Palin's character and explains that " My name is spelled Raymond Luxury Yacht, but it's pronounced Throat - Warbler - Mangrove".
Being used to the Ground floor, first floor, second floor etc concept, imagine how confusing it was visiting a famous store in New York to discover floors one and a half and two and a half? The escalators kept going past the half floors even though we could see them. It turned out to be a different set of escalators, Why would they call mezzanine floors 'Half's' ? 🇬🇧
The separate taps thing is, like you said, about hot water storage (or at least how it used to be) and apparently the correct way to go about using the separate taps is to fill up the sink and mix your water in there to the right temperature... but who has time for that?
In practice I normally wash my hands in cold water as it would take too long to wait until it runs hot. I've never lived anywhere that had instant scalding hot water.
2:15 This is where the cleaner comes in at night & wonders to themselves “Did I not leave that switched on? I don’t remember turning off after vacuuming the floor. Mmmmm 🤔 “
Modern homes have single taps. If you are renting, you are probable in older houses. The hot water needed an expanion tank in the attic, anything living in your attic might die in the expansion tank. Scalding hot water is usuallly used in commercial environments like shopping malls where they don't want you to use the hot water. Of course, you could mix the water in the bowl, but no-one has time for that!
The separate taps thing has always confused me. Not why they're there, I get that, but why people complain about the hot water being too hot. Literally any boiler installed in the last 30 years will have a hot water temperature control on it, so if it's too hot, just turn it down.
Yes, but keep it at or above 60C to keep the water free from legionella.
@@VeritasAbsoluta I have bad news for you then. Virtually all heat pumps use water at below 55C as they become highly inefficient at higher temperatures, and as they are the future, then you will have to get used to it. Also, many condensing gas boilers are at their most efficient at about 55C. Then there are all those cool/warm washing machined cycles.
@@TheEulerID Just avoid heat pumps, they might be fairly new but have already been proven repeatedly, to not be as efficient as standard boilers, in most cases.
@@TheEulerID 55 is maybe ok, but 60 is preferable.
Taken from: *Residential water heater temperature: 49 or 60 degrees Celsius?* on the National Library of Medicine website.
_"The optimal temperature for Legionella proliferation in water varies between 32°C and 35°C, but it can easily proliferate at temperatures of up to 45°C. Usually, there is no growth above 55°C, and a temperature of over 60°C has a bactericidal effect. Thus, the WHO recommends that water be heated and stored at 60°C. However, studies in Quebec have shown, even when the thermostat is set at 60°C, a high percentage (approximately 40%) of electric water heaters remain contaminated because of the lower temperature, about 30°C to 40°C at the bottom of the tank. The probability of contamination will increase considerably if the temperature setting is lowered to 49°C. The risk of contamination is much lower for water heaters operating with fossil fuels, and is practically nonexistent for these heaters set at 60°C"_
_"In Quebec, a study of 211 homes (178 electric water heaters, 33 oil or gas water heaters) found Legionella contamination in 40% of electric water heaters. No water heaters using fossil fuels were contaminated. "_
@VeritasAbsoluta You only need to keep the temperature high if you have an old-fashioned boiler where the hot water sits in a tank. Combi boilers can be lower. 50-60°C is recommended for them to decrease risk of scalding.
The power outlet is the way it is in the uk because of health and safety. 👍
My house gas 2 separate taps for hot and cold water in the bathroom. Doesnt really bother me though, because being from england, that is just normal for me tbh
When I was a youngster, we never had switches on sockets and the pins on plugs weren't insulated. So with the switch turned off and uninsulated pins on plugs would not kill you if your fingers ended up around the pins. Later pins became insulated. If an appliance is plugged in and the socket is switched off the current wouldn't flow around the transformer and lead to a potential fire risk.
I have the pink Hetty. In a sad comment on the gender pay gap, she was £5 cheaper than Henry
What gender pay gap?
I do have an Henry. I've also had Dysons in the past, and I have found my Henry not only to last longer, but have a better suction than the more expensive Dyson machines. The one I currently have is almost a decade old, although it's getting to the point where it will need replacing soon.
You can get all the parts.
For anyone interested, the hot water was commonly stored in a big tank in the loft so could become contaminated because it was stagnant for quite some time so wasn't safe to drink but the cold water was safe to drink so it was safer to keep them separate to prevent cross contamination
The switches are for safety and for saving energy, Henry Hoover's are super reliable, ground floor first floor, browsing hours are stupid even for us Brits, hot and cold taps are there primarily to differentiate between hot and cold, especially the blind or hard of sight people, everything else differs from person to person.
Separate taps - you fill the basin to the temperature mix you require. Better for the environment too.
How is it better? Just curious
@@angelique_cs the water isn't just running down the plughole, down the drain.
In England we have to be careful about water - it is not like it rains every day... just every other day!
@@ryklatortuga4146 ah I see 😃 as a Californian, I should have known better about water conservation!
@@angelique_cs Brits do some silly things - but inventing gravity just so rain would fall on the country has to be the worst.
As the majority of the UK is non-Christian / non-religious, please can we get rid of the silly Sunday shopping laws (and the undemocratic and unelected Church of England bishops in the House of Lords too while we're at it too).
It gives some shop workers a break! Like a lie in at the weekend.
@@juliawigger9796or, those staff just have days off monday-friday.
Oh yes! While you’re at it, you can get rid of the Royal Family and the aristocracy, all of which are so undemocratic.
How about you juts get back in your little box and live and let live?
@@BigAl53750 the royal family have privilege, but very little political power, and tourists seem to like them. I think we could do without the sweaty one who associated with Mr Epstein though.
They may not be democratically elected, but quite honestly, when I look at countries that have presidents, I find the stability of a constitutional monarch, and the fact they are politically neutered, quite comforting.
...And no, I'm never going to stop arguing for reason, democracy, free speech and fairness. If you don't like dissenting opinion, then maybe the Internet is not for you.
dare i say it, i think it's nice lol...
it's not like you can't get stuff,
but it does give one day a different feel..
of course, it will go eventually...
and i think that will be a shame..
My son turns off sockets with no plug in too, could be anywhere but he'll spot them like a hawk.
I have Hetty, Henry (red), Henry (blue), Henry cordless and Henry Quick. I'm addicted to the little buggers.
Power switches on sockets make perfect sense.
They prevent accidents. It is not about saving money.
The great thing about Henry's & the extended family is that they are actually made in Somerset, UK. They are often used in offices ect as they are very hardy. The other great feature is that all the parts are available at a reasonable price. They can be worked hard & repaired. That's pretty eco friendly.
The old one were reliable, but the newer plastic ones I see all too often dumped in the street. I see them almost as often as dumped fridges, mattressess, and those folding washing lines 😅
My sister's one is still going strong, but cleaning is not something she does more than once a month 🤣🤣😭