Friends, pandas, countrymen, lend me thine ears! For 'tis a page of memes from the island of Britain that I present upon you. Okay, okay, no more poor attempts at Shakespeare-speak, I promise. I won't bore you with the usual British stereotypes either – mentioning crumpets, double-decker buses and saying 'rubbish' when something's really bad.
Yet Britain indeed has its own unique charm. Just like any other culture does. And while it's true that The Commonwealth doesn't have the best track record when it comes to honoring other cultures, we here at Bored Panda often honor the British sense of humor. This time we're covering the British Memes page on Instagram. Check out our selection and don't forget to upvote your favorites!
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The British Memes IG is one of many pages under the Pubity Group entertainment. Their 'about us' page boasts having more than 20 channels, which, according to them, cover diverse subcultures. It's not all about entertainment and popular culture – they have pages about sports, travel and even news.
The Pubity Groups is a true entertainment powerhouse tailored for Millennials and Gen Z. Most of their pages have a considerable following too – the British Memes page, for example, has a whopping 1.9 million followers. Their most popular IG page is Memezar with a 22.7 million follower count – a page that is all things meme and meme-culture.
what in the bloody jollywhap bloobyblam codswallop bumbernucklers it is a wee bit odd i reckon
While scrolling through these memes, you might notice that British humor (or, rather, humour) is quite distinctive. People often complain they don't understand British comedy shows or stand-up. That's especially true for Americans. Researchers from Birkbeck, University of London, even published a study on this topic.
They showed the participants two excerpts from two British television shows. The study sample included 128 British individuals and 95 American English users. The people had to rate the funniness of the two clips. A bigger portion of American English users rated British humor as less funny. They said they did not get the ironic and sarcastic aspect of British humor.
Many people think that the comedy ensemble Monty Python is the best example of British humor. Dr Ian Wilkie, a lecturer in performance at the University of Salford, reiterated this sentiment to the BBC.
"Having taught younger American students, they take the British sense of humour to be Monty Python, by which they mean a sort-of slightly erring towards the surreal, very iconoclastic in terms of attacking the big targets, very silly."
The equivalent here in Texas & the south is "Bless her heart." That can be genuine concern, utter disgust, amazement at the level of stupidity, etc. It covers a wealth of situations.
As David Woods writes for PBS, American humor tends to be positive and upbeat. The British, on the other hand, derive their humor from oddities and misfortunes. Take, for example, Mr. Bean, another canonical British comedy character. He's always getting into some kind of trouble. Yet, we find his misfortunes funny – it can make us feel better about ourselves.
Mr. Bean is also an odd character. The way he moves, talks, even thinks – there's always something unusual about him. Same with Monty Python. Take the 'Ministry Of Silly Walks' sketch. It's full of absurd physical comedy, just like Mr. Bean.
We have to make the most of those 30 minutes any way we can.
British comedian Stephen Fry also talked about the differences between American and British humor. He said that humor in classical American sitcoms comes from jokes.
And British sitcoms, in his opinion, rely on character, usually on the failure of a character. Fry describes these protagonists as "trying to be grand in a world that's letting them down." He cites such examples as Alan Partridge and David Brent.
I bet she made a right spectacle of herself.
for 2 years not once did you attempt to pull that? not once?... how do people get through a day without dying?
"The American hero is faster, sharper, cleverer," Fry explains. He uses the toga party scene in the 1978 comedy film Animal House as an example. John Belushi's character smashes a guitar player's instrument in that scene. Americans want to be Belushi at that moment, Fry explains, and a British comedian would rather play the folk singer.
Fry believes that the British laugh at themselves. Americans, on the other hand, are not that good at self-deprecation. "Americans, I think – and I wouldn't overstate this – are not that good at laughing at themselves."
But not everyone believes there's such a clear distinction between American and British humor. Dr. Wilkie also told BBC he doesn't exactly think there is a British kind of humor. "I think the best you can hope for is some big, beacon terms (eg. sarcasm, understatement, self-deprecation), that maybe, over a fair amount of time, might hold water."
Oscar Wilde has famously said that sarcasm is the lowest form of wit. Is that a sign that British humor is maybe not so "streets ahead" compared to its American counterpart? In a previous interview with Bored Panda, researcher of humor studies at Keuka College Steven Kapica agreed that sarcasm is somewhere near the bottom of the barrel when it comes to ranking forms of comedy.
This is classic though, what is it with people having to put EVERYTHING on social media. 'hmm Dennis is posing with a massive wad of cash ...but he hasn't worked for months... ooooh. oh Dennis'
"It doesn't take much skill to inflect a phrase with sarcasm in response to an authority's power move, or to use sarcasm to point out what is already obvious to everyone. The jokester who feels inclined to perform what everyone else is thinking isn't [a] comic genius," Kapica told Bored Panda before.
However, Kapica admitted that sarcasm plays an important role in human interaction. "I think it is better to think of sarcasm as a rhetorical device than as a form of comedy.
As a rhetoric device, sarcasm can be an effective means of gauging, guiding, and winning one's audience 'in-the-moment.' But that's 'live' sarcasm. Internet-based sarcasm is... oof."
Trust me. There are waaay worse views in Brum.
Now show 17:40. It's either pįssing down or snowing.
Just for clarification for anyone outside the UK, French fries (or fries in general) refer to the long skinny things that you get in places like McDonald's, and they are *not* suitable for a chip butty - that requires actual fat chips, preferably from the chippy.
Chips in the UK are similar to what Americans would call "steak cut fries." Big and chunky.
Load More Replies...I'm wondering if half the disbelief comes from the fact that in the USA, they do not butter their sandwiches? Leading them to think that this would be dry as f**k. I'm not a lover of a chip butty, but a well buttered bap/cob/roll, thick chips, with your choice of condiment (I'd go for HP Sauce), makes a simple, warm, and fulfilling snack.
In the US, we generally don't eat carb-on-carb sandwiches. I know, it's weird, because that totally sounds like something we would go for, but somehow it hasn't caught on.
Load More Replies...You can't have just plain chips you have to add a little bit of ketchup and then it will taste amazing
Erm no, you also need butter. Also BBQ sauce in my case though this is a very hot button topic as most Brits shun me for doing this. The accepted sauces list are: Ketchup, then curry (only from.chip shop) and then nothing
They were probably expect a crisp butty as they name everything the wrong way round - chips = crisps French fries = very English chunky chips
on a further note (this may have been said already but I CBA to read all comments) we brits will put most things between 2 slices of bread and love it. I give you the shepherds pie sanger for example - absolutely delish - as is the corned beef hash sanger and the infamous fish finger sanger
fish fingers and tartare sauce in a sandwich is yummy. also recommended the same, but done in a sandwich toaster. it's lovely
Load More Replies...They are mist excellent. And by thw way, they are hot chips, not French Fries.
Theyre chip sambos here in Éire. Bloody tasty. They're not French fries. Those skinny pathetic things are not chips!!!
That's not a proper chip butty. Where is the ketchup? Think Perishers...
Lots of butter, salt, vinegar, thick WHITE bread and tomato sauce. Too yum to describe 😋😋😋
I am curious now if anyone does fish and chips in between bread slices? Maybe with some salt and malt vinegar and a bit of tartar sauce and a good Russian rye, and goddarnit, I'm gonna try that out now.
Isn't a mitraillette an old fashioned machine gun? I'm just trying to make sense of the name.
Load More Replies...On behalf of the government I'm going to need your passport. You will need to relocate within 21 days or you will be forcibly evicted from the entirety of the United Kingdom
Load More Replies...If you have never tried a chip butty, you are missing out. Add ketchup or HP Sauce, and it's even better.
Cut some potatoes into chip sizes, smash em in deep fat fryer, butter bread dash of ketchup n eat
We use slap(hot) chips in SA, much better than those tiny a*s ‘chips’
You would certainly need a pint or three to wash this abomination down the gullet. Jeez. Maybe add velveta or mayo. Nah, never mind Just don't.
whomever thinks this is appropriate should be arrested, my mouth is dry even looking at this
Not to pop my Brit brothers' and sisters' bubbles, but you guys are not the only people who eat fries/chip sandwiches. They are awesome, also butter is a mandatory ingredient.
You should see the Trago Mills places, they have turrets like a castle!
That was snapped from the metagalactic area? That knockers me knackers!
Note: this post originally had 51 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images based on user votes.
"this post originally had 51 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images". Why? Just.. why?
Football hooligans destroyed the 51st image in a riot
Load More Replies..."this post originally had 51 images. It’s been shortened to the top 50 images". Why? Just.. why?
Football hooligans destroyed the 51st image in a riot
Load More Replies...