British as they are

English people rarely shake hands except when being introduced to someone for the first time or as a token* of agreement or congratulation.

Some greetings in England are very informal: a simple “good morning” or a wave of the hand across the street is quite enough.

The British people are prudent* and careful about almost everything. Their lawns are closely cropped, their flower beds primly cultivated, and their trees neatly pruned. Everything is orderly. Drinks are carefully measured, seats in a cinema are carefully assigned (even if the theatre is empty you are required to sit in the seat assigned to you), closing hours rigorously* observed.

The list of sports invented by the British is a long one.

Sport occupies 40% of the news pages of the popular newspapers.

There is a special telephone number which you phone , during international matches and it gives you the latest score.

It is increasingly popular to keep fit in Great Britain. They like swimming, cycling, jogging, play football \ volleyball \regby

Everything is served with chips or ice-cream. Of course, British food isn’t always as bad as it’s painted by foreigners. (What can people who eat anything that crawls, jumps, swims or flies, possibly know about real food?).

While it’s true that British food is often bland, may look terrible and can make you sick, for most people it’s just a matter of getting used to it. (What’s wrong with a diet of brown sauce, chips, biscuits and tea, anyway?).

However, it’s difficult not to have some sympathy with foreigners who think that many British ‘restaurants’ should post health warnings and be equipped with an emergency medical centre. (There’s nothing wrong with British food that a good stomach pump cannot cure).

British bookshops are bursting with cookery books and they aren’t all written by foreigners. The UK also has many popular television cookery programmes that usually feature eccentric (and excellent) chefs and scrumptious looking food.

English people consume more tea per capita than anybody else in the world (2.5 times more than the Japanese and 22 times more than the Americans or the French).

French was the official language of England for about 300 years, from 1066 till 1362.

ENGLAND

Fish 'n chips is not much traditional an English dish than Chicken Tikka Massala. The first fish & chips restaurant was only opened in 1860 by a Jewish immigrant, Joseph Malin.

Welsh mathematician Robert Recorde (c. 1512-1558) invented the equal sign (=), and introduced WALES the plus (+) and minus (-) signs as well as algebra to Britain.

Scotland is reputed for its whisky, known outside Scotland as Scotch Whisky. What few people know is that whisky was invented in China, and was first distilled by monks in Ireland in the early 15th century before reaching Scotland 100 years later.

Shortbread is Scotland's most famous biscuit.

SCOTLAND

	The most infamous Scottish dish is haggis, normally made with sheep's 'pluck' (heart, liver, and
	lungs), minced with onion, oatmeal, suet, spices, and salt, mixed with stock, and traditionally
	boiled in the animal's stomach for approximately an hour.
	Scotland is known as "Alba" in Gaelic.
	Many Irish family names start with "Mac" or "O'...", which means respectively "son of ..." and
	"grandson of ..." in Gaelic.	REPUBLIC OF
	The term 'boycott' comes from Captain Charles Boycott (1832-1897), the land agent of an	IRELAND
	absentee landlord from Ulster.