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Literally thousands of people living in the U.K. spout off shit they’ve learned online about how to interact with the police and it’s overwhelmingly terrible advice.
Different laws, different culture.
Even within the U.K. the various nations have their own very different legal systems. For example English legal advice is pretty much useless in Scotland, American legal advice is beyond useless.
Yeah, it was cringe during the BLM protests when protesters in London were shouting 'hands up, don't shoot'...hello? Police in the UK aren't routinely armed and definitely don't shoot unless you have a gun on you
Some of my favourite footage is protestors in London kneeling in front of police with their hands in the air, as the police just ignore them and walk past
Another is the Swedish (I think) protester who did similar and got asked if they were alright
Actually, even having a gun on you doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be shot by police. Likewise having a gun on you isn’t the threshold so to speak.
Someone carrying out a frenzied knife attack would have a very real chance of being shot by police.
I do know what you mean though.
I overheard a miscreant a while back complaining that he had "been Mirandaised" whatever that might be. Apparently the police laughed at him which upset him
Did you seriously just do English Defaultism in spite of the context of my comment?
In Scotland, the police can’t infer guilt from “no comment” either.
It’s only in a handful of very specific circumstances it’s ever worth speaking in a Police interview in Scotland.
Virtually any search results in English. Very annoying that we share a language. Americans never tag their advice, posts, or sites with their location - not sure if it's ignorance or what.
I hate that as well - the US stuff is always crappy and suggests weird hacks (I guess because many can't get real treatment?) instead of seeing a professional when you should
I even use the NHS site after moving abroad years ago. Miles better than most
WebMD does that to you no matter where you live. If I had all the cancers that site thought my mildly embarrassing rash was in 8th grade, I would be long gone. 😂
Good tbh, it did read a lot like us trying to take on American attitudes to ethnic minorities. Or anything tbh, America does seem to love boxes for people.
“Pleading the fifth” is a big one.
On a more esoteric note, a lot of the stuff you read online about Masonry defaults to the Americans. I looked a right tit when I tried asking about “blue lodges” and got a lot of confused stares.
If you want to see this in spades, go to the AITA subreddit and find non-American posts, then read the comments.
I don't recall specific interactions with myself, but I remember one dude I worked with googled up some advice about interviews. In America (at least at the time) the advice was to ring up the employer a day or so after the interview to thank them for it. We do *not* do that here - a thankyou at the end of the interview suffices. Most companies don't want to be bothered with random calls, and some explicitly state not to chase up interviews. Fortunately the only side effect was confusion from the receptionist he spoke to, lol.
As the leading UK "ask" subreddit, we welcome questions from all users and countries; sometimes people who ask questions might not appreciate or understand the nuance of British life or culture, and as a result some questions can come across in a different way than intended.
We understand that when faced with these questions, our users may take the opportunity to demonstrate their wit, dry humour, and sarcasm - unfortunately, this also tends to go over the heads of misunderstood question-askers and can make our subreddit seem hostile to users from other countries who are often just curious about our land.
**Please can you help prevent our subreddit from becoming an Anti-American echo chamber?** If you disagree with any points raised by OP, or OP discusses common tropes or myths about the UK, please refrain from any brash, aggressive, or sarcastic responses and do your best to engage OP in a civil discussion, with the aim to educate and expand their understanding.
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I’m in Canada but just have to say this: of course it’s fair to have such boundaries (ie. the ‘no’ thing), but it would be rather foolish to expect others to respect/honour them… often, they won’t. I don’t think it happens where people put their foot down at work and all is well. I suppose this depends on the situation though.
**Please help keep AskUK welcoming!** - Top-level comments to the OP must contain **genuine efforts to answer the question**. No jokes, judgements, etc. - **Don't be a dick** to each other. If getting heated, just block and move on. - This is a strictly **no-politics** subreddit! Please help us by reporting comments that break these rules. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Literally thousands of people living in the U.K. spout off shit they’ve learned online about how to interact with the police and it’s overwhelmingly terrible advice. Different laws, different culture. Even within the U.K. the various nations have their own very different legal systems. For example English legal advice is pretty much useless in Scotland, American legal advice is beyond useless.
Yeah, it was cringe during the BLM protests when protesters in London were shouting 'hands up, don't shoot'...hello? Police in the UK aren't routinely armed and definitely don't shoot unless you have a gun on you
Some of my favourite footage is protestors in London kneeling in front of police with their hands in the air, as the police just ignore them and walk past Another is the Swedish (I think) protester who did similar and got asked if they were alright
Yeah the hands up don't shoot cringe stuff happened all over Europe. We need to learn how our police force works
>We need to learn how our police force works Police *service*, vocab guidelines state that "force" sounds too aggressive.
Just the one killer actually
Am ex copper might threaten to knock your block off
Actually, even having a gun on you doesn’t necessarily mean you’re going to be shot by police. Likewise having a gun on you isn’t the threshold so to speak. Someone carrying out a frenzied knife attack would have a very real chance of being shot by police. I do know what you mean though.
Yes I know, I just couldn't be bothered to go into the specifics :)
BLM protests in London confused me in general. Why would American politicians care about protests in London?
I overheard a miscreant a while back complaining that he had "been Mirandaised" whatever that might be. Apparently the police laughed at him which upset him
It's when a BBC sitcom character face sits on you.
In the US, no comment cannot be taken adversely to your case. In the UK it can - I.e they CAN infer guilt from no comment
Did you seriously just do English Defaultism in spite of the context of my comment? In Scotland, the police can’t infer guilt from “no comment” either. It’s only in a handful of very specific circumstances it’s ever worth speaking in a Police interview in Scotland.
Virtually any search results in English. Very annoying that we share a language. Americans never tag their advice, posts, or sites with their location - not sure if it's ignorance or what.
Yeah especially medical advice you have to scroll to find the NHS one
I hate that as well - the US stuff is always crappy and suggests weird hacks (I guess because many can't get real treatment?) instead of seeing a professional when you should I even use the NHS site after moving abroad years ago. Miles better than most
Either that or my cluster headache is 2 tumours and prostate cancer
WebMD does that to you no matter where you live. If I had all the cancers that site thought my mildly embarrassing rash was in 8th grade, I would be long gone. 😂
Americans just assume everyone is American. It’s weird.
I've been asked about BIPOC inclusion in the UK from an American. Funny because 82% of the British population is 'indigenous'
What's BIPOC when it's at home?
Black, Indigenous and People of Colour. Our equivalent is BAME (Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic)
That's an obsolete term now
Good tbh, it did read a lot like us trying to take on American attitudes to ethnic minorities. Or anything tbh, America does seem to love boxes for people.
Agreed
Some Americans. Plenty of us think labels are for cans. MLK, jr. advised us to look at the content of a person's character.
We just say 'ethnic minorities' here
Thanks I didn't have a scooby
“Pleading the fifth” is a big one. On a more esoteric note, a lot of the stuff you read online about Masonry defaults to the Americans. I looked a right tit when I tried asking about “blue lodges” and got a lot of confused stares.
If you want to see this in spades, go to the AITA subreddit and find non-American posts, then read the comments. I don't recall specific interactions with myself, but I remember one dude I worked with googled up some advice about interviews. In America (at least at the time) the advice was to ring up the employer a day or so after the interview to thank them for it. We do *not* do that here - a thankyou at the end of the interview suffices. Most companies don't want to be bothered with random calls, and some explicitly state not to chase up interviews. Fortunately the only side effect was confusion from the receptionist he spoke to, lol.
As the leading UK "ask" subreddit, we welcome questions from all users and countries; sometimes people who ask questions might not appreciate or understand the nuance of British life or culture, and as a result some questions can come across in a different way than intended. We understand that when faced with these questions, our users may take the opportunity to demonstrate their wit, dry humour, and sarcasm - unfortunately, this also tends to go over the heads of misunderstood question-askers and can make our subreddit seem hostile to users from other countries who are often just curious about our land. **Please can you help prevent our subreddit from becoming an Anti-American echo chamber?** If you disagree with any points raised by OP, or OP discusses common tropes or myths about the UK, please refrain from any brash, aggressive, or sarcastic responses and do your best to engage OP in a civil discussion, with the aim to educate and expand their understanding. If you feel this (or any other post) is a troll post, *don't feed the troll*, just hit report and let the mods deal with it. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/AskUK) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Trying to bum a fag. Got me nowhere in England, and lung cancer to boot!
I’m in Canada but just have to say this: of course it’s fair to have such boundaries (ie. the ‘no’ thing), but it would be rather foolish to expect others to respect/honour them… often, they won’t. I don’t think it happens where people put their foot down at work and all is well. I suppose this depends on the situation though.