British numbers confuse americans
Added 2025-09-02 09:41:33 +0000 UTCComments
Saying it as two thousandone is actually more factually correct than two thousand and one, a rare time the US is genuinely "right" 😅🙃
Jamie Derry
2025-09-04 13:37:44 +0000 UTCEasiest way to describe it is if you draw a circle in the centre of any city or village etc all the roads leading off from this will have a number 1, all property numbers start at 1 closest to the centre. So if you are looking for 432 high street it won’t be near the centre it’s gonna be a way out. Hope this helps
Mark Sanders
2025-09-03 09:18:03 +0000 UTCI once saw a £100 note when I was in my late teens (late 90s) when I worked at a BP garage - gas station - never seen one since. Seen plenty of £50s working in retail. Not so much these days. Also, I think with the "53 hundred" thing, it's just not what we're taught in school, but it does creep in, like you say, depends on the situation but we swing towards saying Thousand for thousands, not hundreds! Our denominations are 1p 2p 5p 10p 20p 50p £1 £2 coins (why we still have 1p and 2p is beyond me...) then £5 £10 £20 £50 notes. There were some special £5 coins made once (Queen's Jubilee?), don't think they're common. For bigger purchases, unless you're one of these old school dudes that carries rolls of notes around tied up with an elastic band (cash-in-hand work?) I just use my debit card or bank transfer.
Jason White
2025-09-03 05:08:16 +0000 UTCSometimes though it will be a letter suffix. Especially if it's a house converted into flats. E.g. 64A Castle Road
Relyx
2025-09-03 01:16:33 +0000 UTC53 hundred is a mad way to say 5,300 it makes no sense... It's the same as saying this, 530 is 53 tens.
CONALL MCLAUGHLIN
2025-09-02 18:54:06 +0000 UTCChip and PIN and contactless card payments are very common in the UK, so for large payments, it's much more usual to pay by card than with a stack of £20 notes.
Craig Wilson
2025-09-02 18:35:27 +0000 UTCI tried to explain this to, I think it was Mike, about saying treble not triple and I confused myself and then started thinking "Maybe thats not a British thing, maybe its just me" so i'm glad you've said this haha
Daz Parker
2025-09-02 14:14:59 +0000 UTCI did elephant as a kid 🐘
Emily
2025-09-02 13:58:45 +0000 UTCHouse names and numbers are pretty much interchangeable. You might address a letter to 86 main street or tower cottage main street. Both will get there. Some people might write both.. tower cottage, 86 main street.
Ferris
2025-09-02 13:53:58 +0000 UTCIf there's three numbers for example 000, I would say treble 0, not triple. And saying double works for remembering numbers for me - "oh 800 double 0, 10 66!"
Emily
2025-09-02 13:47:54 +0000 UTCRegarding Stephens comment on apartments within buildings, its the same here, except we would call it a flat. So, you could for example live at- Flat,5 999 letsbe Ave. London (If you were a police officer 🤭)
Karl 70
2025-09-02 12:58:07 +0000 UTC"Never doubt Taylor. Facts! Taylor needs that on a T-shirt, or maybe Stephen lol
Karl 70
2025-09-02 12:53:07 +0000 UTCSome people will use triple for example in their phone number, or for example 2, double 2 or double 2, 2 or just 222. Yeah anything goes really. Quadruple doenst reallly happen though, it tends to be just double2, double2.
Karl 70
2025-09-02 12:52:01 +0000 UTCTotally agree. He' s definetly overstating the street numbers. That might be true on a few quirky streets but its the exception not the rule.
Karl 70
2025-09-02 12:49:28 +0000 UTCOur cash goes as: Coins - 1p, 2p, 5p, 10p, 20p, 50p, £1, £2 Notes - £5, £10, £20, £50
Daz Parker
2025-09-02 12:46:14 +0000 UTCI've never actually seen a £50 note in real life, and i'm 36.
Daz Parker
2025-09-02 12:44:40 +0000 UTC& funnily enough the Royal Mint is in Wales 🤣
Lemmy's Mole
2025-09-02 11:58:26 +0000 UTCI’ve never heard elephant or Piccadilly - I’ve only ever known the American ones; the only one missing I’ve heard is ‘potato’
Kieran B
2025-09-02 11:05:14 +0000 UTCThe 1 will be the genuine 1, you can’t just claim it - there will be a reason why the others aren’t, they’re probably classed as being on other roads
Kieran B
2025-09-02 11:02:54 +0000 UTCThe cartoon guy is wrong - it’s usually the norm that numbers go up in odd numbers on one side and up as even on the other usually from the end that’s closest to a main road or town centre I believe; what he’s describing sounds like an exception (cul-de-sacs go clockwise usually). As he’s in London there might be some weird historic quirks though I suppose - but that’s still not the norm
Kieran B
2025-09-02 10:58:44 +0000 UTCThe UK notes are a bit unique in the sense the countries print their own, apart from Wales. So here in Scotland we do have £100 notes, we also still have a £1 note but it's no longer printed, though still in circulation. In England only the bank of England prints notes, in Scotland it's Royal Bank of Scotland, Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank. So we have 3 different designs for a £10 note as an example. NI has more than 1, I think they used to have 4 or 5 but it's really a couple now. Also unique to England is they have the monarch (King Charles) on their notes, no bank in NI or Scotland will do that. Somewhat related in England the Royal Mail have post boxes in the street and obviously vans. They all carry the royal cypher - so for Queen Lizzy it was EIIR. That's not done in Scotland, as they'll be attacked... The short version is Queen Elizabeth was the second Liz of England, but Scotland had already had one. So the first box in the 50s that went up in Edinburgh was blown up. It's known as the postbox wars. So still to this day the RM don't display it. The notes though get larger to match the denomination and the colour changes. A £100 note is significantly larger than a £5.
Andy
2025-09-02 10:50:52 +0000 UTCCards have been the norm for a good 20 years, paying for a TV in cash would be very unusual - chip and PIN and contactless were much more widespread much sooner than in the US (mainly to do with banking being more joined up). I suppose if you’re paying in cash then yes you’d use 10x £20 notes (we always say notes and never bills) if it was £200
Kieran B
2025-09-02 10:48:14 +0000 UTCTriple is a thing It’s two separate interviewees, Taylor is right, never doubt Taylor
Kieran B
2025-09-02 10:42:30 +0000 UTCWe have coin pounds in £1, £2 & £5.. the £5 is usually for commemoration occasions, Jubilee or Olympics etc..the norm is for a £5 note..the lowest denomination we have, once we binned the £1 note for the coin back in the 1980's.....I miss the £1 note...Isaac Newton was on it, with a very impressive wig.
Lemmy's Mole
2025-09-02 09:57:10 +0000 UTC
