“Casual UK”: 50 Funny Posts That Perfectly Illustrate What British Humor Is All About (New Pics)
If British humor was a painting collection then the subreddit r/CasualUK would be the gallery that houses it. This online community has 883K members and politics aside, they constantly share everything that makes their country what it is.
From crazy expensive London apartments to a few blokes enjoying a pint, it's all in there!
Continue scrolling to check out r/CasualUK's most upvoted recent reposts and when you're done, fire up Bored Panda's earlier publication on the subreddit as well!
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Spotted In Manchester
To learn more about British humor, we contacted an up-and-coming comedian from the UK who is making a name for herself with deadpan, low-energy stories, Rachel South. The first words that came to her mind were "sarcastic", "ironic", and "dry".
It's also "self-deprecating or painfully (but sometimes welcomed) insulting of others," South told Bored Panda.
These features reveal themselves in the topics that Brits like to joke about the most, too. "[They mostly make fun of] their appearance, how fed up or embarrassed or awkward they are, other people's misery, sex and the mundane," South explained.
"A lot of stuff is spoken about but maybe the least I see on the circuit is overly specific, unrelatable stuff or offensive material. Most comedians I've met are pretty left-wing!" she added.
G7 Security
Good Old National Trust
When it comes to comparing American and British humor, Ricky Gervais thinks that the former is more "down the line."
Gervais, who co-wrote, co-produced and starred in the hit BBC series The Office, which was on air for two years and adapted for a U.S. series for eight seasons, believes Americans don't hide their hopes and fears.
Echoing similar thoughts as Rachel's, he wrote in Time Magazine that Americans "applaud ambition and openly reward success" while "Brits are more comfortable with life's losers."
"We embrace the underdog until it's no longer the underdog. We like to bring authority down a peg or two. Just for the hell of it," Gervais explained. "Americans say, 'have a nice day' whether they mean it or not. Brits are terrified to say this. We tell ourselves it's because we don't want to sound insincere but I think it might be for the opposite reason. We don't want to celebrate anything too soon. Failure and disappointment lurk around every corner. This is due to our upbringing. Americans are brought up to believe they can be the next president of the United States. Brits are told, 'It won't happen for you.'"
Richard Osman From Pointless Having Some Culture Problems
If You Can Read This, You Are Not A Train!
Struggling To Understand The Hype Around Jeff Bezos And Richard Branson Going To Space When A Guy From Wigan (And His Dog) Reached The Moon In A Homemade Rocket In 1989? Why Is The Media Silent On This?
Gervais finds these differences everywhere from mass media to mundane conversations. "There's a received wisdom in the U.K. that Americans don't get irony. This is of course not true. But what is true is that they don't use it all the time. It shows up in the smarter comedies but Americans don't use it as much socially as Brits. We use it as liberally as prepositions in everyday speech. We tease our friends. We use sarcasm as a shield and a weapon. We avoid sincerity until it’s absolutely necessary. We mercilessly take the piss out of people we like or dislike basically. And ourselves. This is very important. Our brashness and swagger is laden with equal portions of self-deprecation. This is our license to hand it out."
If you think this can sometimes be perceived as nasty, you're right. But only if the recipients aren't used to it. In reality, it isn't. As Gervais says, it's just play fighting. A few more posts from r/CasualUK and you might get it, too.
"Try not to take things too seriously, even if the person talking seems really serious," Rachel South said. In fact, her comedy style represents that her country's quite well so I highly recommend visiting her Instagram account.
Historical Figures Lined Up For Reopening Of Museum Of Gloucester
This 900 Year Old Floor Tile At Gloucester Cathedral Contains The Footprint Of A Very Good Boy
This Company Has Been Getting Boycotted Over Their Name. I’m Sorry But This Is Brilliant British Humour
Now This Is How You Sell A Laminator
I Applaud Tesco For Doing This
True Bill
So what you're telling me, is that it DOESN'T look like this? *sadly cancels travel plans
Heading Back To The Movies: US Vs UK
Only In The UK Would It Be Understood By Everyone This Is A Message Of Affection
City Of Leicester Starts Turning Bus-Stops Into “Bee-Stops”
Today I Stumbled Upon Where History Was Made
Front Seat On A Double Decker Bus
When The Pubs Have Been Closed For 4 Months, A Bit Of Rain Won't Stop These Lads
This Little Guy Has Come To Visit Me Every Night For The Past 2 Weeks
Title Of The Next Bond Film Announced!
Jesus Saves! (But Can’t Park For S**t)
How To Measure Things Like A Brit
Petrol is a fun one. It's measured in litres at the pump, but by the gallon in fuel efficiency.
I can confirm this is 100% accurate. However, it was recently suggested by the government we can now change everything in blue to imperial measurements (red) . Everyone under the age, of say, 50 thinks this is the most ridiculous idea since Brexit.
This is a simplification. We typically use metric, specifically millimetres to measure furniture and the like. We still use yards to measure some distances - typically stop in 50 yards on a road sign or on a golf course. All weights and volumes on items in a supermarket are in metric, but with some also giving imperial - so 1 pint of milk will also say 568ml. We have moved weather forecasts to saying so many mm of rain, but that will often be qualified by "over an inch of rain" or some such, though thankfully they have stopped giving temperatures in Farenheit as well as Celcius.
Are you serious? For all the shite we Americans take on this site for using Imperial, this is AWESOME! (I speak in admiration, not ridicule.)
why is "tons" in red... A ton equal 1000 kilograms. Therefore is part of the International System
No. 1 Tonne = 1000kg and is part of the metric system. Tons are part of the other one
Load More Replies...they missed a temperature one off is it weather? - is it cold - centigrade, is it hot - Fahrenheit
YES!! UK tabloid in August: "Britain sizzles as temps hit 85." UK tabloid in January: "Temperatures due to plummet to -1."
Load More Replies...Next time a Brit bitches about Americans not using the metric system...
I'll see you and raise you America's flowchart of measurements. Are you measuring alcohol? Beer-ounces, liquor-liters, wine-liters. Are you measuring cannabis flower? Gram, eighth, quarter, half, ounce. We should have switched to metric when everyone else did.
Why will the brits never use the metric system? Because it is french.
Studying this at school was hard. I can't tell you how much I remember. It makes no sense.
Temperature is wrong If its the weather and its hot then its in F, if its cold its C
Yeah, I'm a Brit & I think our system us nuts. We even joke about it on social media '...selling this coffee table, it's the length of 4 bananas' Weird but true 😆
Not quite complete: Temperature for over 55s Fahrenheit T(°F) = T(°C) × 9/5 + 32
I reckon temperature is variable too. Very cold = Celsius, very hot = Fahrenheit
The fact that cow milk and vegan milk are measured differently surprises me the most.
This is horribly accurate. Just missing the weighing system of 'How many bags of Sugar.'
Maybe it is because of my age (born pre-metric), I measure my height is in feet & inches but my weight in kilograms.
How many pounds is a stone? I need to use it in combination with bellhead and would like to be accurate.
I no longer respect y’all just for using the metric system. In fact, I y’all are below those who simply use imperial.
I feel the chart needs adding to......Distance/is it a log distance/no/meters feet inches.. I'd also add centimeter and millimeters for when it gets below an inch. Tempertature seems to be degrees centigrade for cold but Fahrenheit when it is about 15.5 C or more. Volume should include fuel for vehicles which seems to switch from litres and/or gallons to Pound Sterling !!!
Dunno, it actually *does* make sense. The imperial system stuck for those things and situations for which the measurements are just so ingrained in everyday life that it would probably feel weird to switch. The rules are just a result from habit.
Load More Replies...I'm from 'Merica! And we use the stupid Imperial system. Britain makes me sad... It's like a sarcastic tinker bell that throws salt in your eyes the first time you want to fly. And I love it!
The only s**t measurement we use in Brazil is inches for the size of TVs and monitors, for all the rest we use good old metric system.
The problem was, we were all imperial measurements, and then we joined the European bits and became subject to laws that required us to use the metric system, even though our infrastructure was not compatible with it, and it has resulted in a complete mish-mash of systems.
We actually started going metric in the 1950s way before the EU. Though it's true EU regulations gave us a stronger push towards metric. I believe they went further and faster in Ireland and now have much less of a mess? (I'd be grateful for some Irish input on this).
Load More Replies...One innacuracy though, now that we're rid of the dreadful EU, pounds and ounces will resume normal service for many foodstuffs.
Took This On My Evening Walk Last Night; Thought It Looked Quintessentially British
the only thing missing is a man in a suit wearing a bowler hat carrying an umbrella holding a cup of tea saying bloody hell
On The Morning Countryside Dog Walk When I Hear Barking, Couldn’t Figure Out Where It Was Coming From Until I Look Up
Picked Nanny Up To Take Her To An 8.30 Dentist Appointment, She Made Me A Packed Lunch In Case I Got Hungry While I Wait The 45 Mins For The Appointment. Nan's Are Awesome
Coming Back To My Desk, Wondering Where My Pistachios Went, Nearly Had A Heart Attack
Found In Garden Today
I'm Liking The Translation For 'Cappucino' Into Welsh
Be Ashamed
Shots Fired In The Office Kitchen
Can't Get More Casual Than A Pony Waiting Outside The Post Office
Saw This Today On Towan Beach, Newquay... We Can Be A Romantic Bunch. Congratulations Whoever You Are
I really think public wedding proposals are a bad idea. You totally put pressure on the person being asked to say yes. Proposals should be a private, personal thing. If he'd left her name off, taken her up there and shown her the picture, then proposed that would be different. (yes, other people, other ideas. but mine is to make whoever is getting proposed to, to be as non-pressured as possible)
Drove Past Batman On The M5 Yesterday. Good To Know He Is Out There Keeping Us All Safe
My Local Cinema Being A Little Pessimistic About Reopening
The Plot Thickens In Fife
I Thought I'd Clear A Few Things Up
English muffins aren't cake, they are a bread product that is awesome, toasted with a runny fried egg
Free Range Yorkshire Puddings With Gravy
Can’t Beat A British Festival
A Letter I Received This Morning
Going To My Mates For Football Tonight. My Mum Just Popped In To Drop These Off For Me To "Share With My Friends"
Schrödinger's Ballgames
I Present To You The Greatest Lie Told To This Country: 30g Is An Acceptable Serving Size Of Cereal
The bowl size is acceptable. And it should be filled to the top with cereal. Then carefully pour the milk.
My Local Tescos Has Had To Create A No Man's Land To Protect The Price Reducer
I Was Looking At Places In London And Saw This. The Front Door Is A Window?!
The Netflix Documentary We Are All Waiting For
This thing escalated quickly as it was soon discovered other supermarkets had caterpillar cakes. The best way to describe it would be if Linux, Microsoft and Apple built their own versions of Skynet and set them on each other to see who is the rightful heir to world domination
M A T H S
Surely Aldi Could Have Chosen A Better Font
Went To The UK For A Couple Of Days, Bought A Few Souvenirs
Apparently Bacon Is The Most Important Part Of A Full English, Followed By Sausages, Toast And Beans. Agree Or Disagree?
Cup Of Tea, What Is Your Grade? (Mine Is A B2, Anything In The 3c & Beyond We Can’t Be Friends)
It's always fun to see how British see and recognize ourselves, and then how others see us from the outside. Brits usually have a good sense of humour about themselves.
HEY! I'm British and I can laugh at these things because they don't offend me. Most of us can as well.
I love British humor. We used to get really funny shows from there, but the one I loved the most is long gone. "One Foot In the Grave". Wanted to take notes.
the r/casualuk subredit is glorious. I've been part of it for at least 2 or 3 years now xD
It's always fun to see how British see and recognize ourselves, and then how others see us from the outside. Brits usually have a good sense of humour about themselves.
HEY! I'm British and I can laugh at these things because they don't offend me. Most of us can as well.
I love British humor. We used to get really funny shows from there, but the one I loved the most is long gone. "One Foot In the Grave". Wanted to take notes.
the r/casualuk subredit is glorious. I've been part of it for at least 2 or 3 years now xD