On a joint exercise the USMC put a notice outside their quarters which read "second to none" the royal marines put one outside their quarters which read "none"
Sorry this first happened in Suez during WW2, a A Guards Regiment moved into a Camp opposite an Australian Regiment. The Guards proudly displayed their Regimental Motto over the front Gate. (The "Colonial troops were looked down on as Colonial Irregulars"). The very next day , over the Aussies gate the sign "NONE" was proudly displayed!>
I was expecting the famous line from Captain Oates while on Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition. "I'm just going outside - I may be some time ". He had frostbite of the feet and knew he was slowing down the others, thereby endangering them, so selflessly left the tent, never to return.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.” BA Captain Moody, after his packed 747 flew into a volcanic ash cloud at night with no warning. They did eventually get the engines running again and land. The ash had sand blasted the windows so badly the pilots couldn’t see much and so had to do an instrument landing, but the virtual glide slope was inoperable so the copilot had call out their hight as they approached - an approach Moody described as "a bit like negotiating one's way up a badger's arse."
I saw this aircraft at the airport I worked at years after the incident. It was a bit sad - it was being operated by a charter company flying tourists to bucket and spade destinations and was looking careworn. Besides meeting Concorde (on retirement) and the 225 Mriya it was the only aircraft I ever wanted to touch.
When the destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet anti-ship missile on 4 May 1982 in the Falklands War, her crew sang 'always look on the bright side of life' while waiting to be rescued from their sinking ship, as did the crew of HMS Coventry.
@@HappyBeezerStudiosI think the Argentine navy's ship's were nowhere near the British fleet, didn't have the balls! The aircraft took off from land bases (their naval pilots were braver men).
We found an old family letter from a relative who served in WW2 and lost his leg. He wrote to his brother and told him not to tell their mother because she'd "make mountains out of mole hills". 🤦♀️
Sarcasm: The art of saying the opposite of what you mean with a straight face. Understatement: The art of saying things are better than they truly are, whilst knowing things have gone RIGHT down the u-bend. Black/Gallows humour: If you don't laugh, you'll cry. This has been your British Humour PSA.. :D
The first is irony, understatement also applies to reacting to positive events in a stylised subdued manner - "I've won the jackpot, I've got more money than Musk", "Excellent, two servings of pudding tonight then"
The Queen met some American hikers near her home in Scotland Balmoral whilst out on a walk with her protection detective officer. The Americans stopped to chat, and asked about Balmoral and were they local Residents. Yes said the Queen. Have you ever met the queen? T he Americans asked. No said the Queen, but this Gentleman has! turning to her Detective.
@@colingregory7464 It is actually on video! the Americans were videoing the view at the time, they only found out after they got back to the states and a friend recognised Liz.
Another Spike Milligan story for your perusal - during the war Spike's artillery battery was setting up on a hill & managed to let one of their huge Howitzers roll off down the slope narrowly missing some Royal Signals Corps trucks that were setting up on the slope below. Spike jumped into a truck & made his way down the hill & enquired "Has anybody seen our Howitzer?" Harry Secombe, who was later to form the Goon Show crowd along with Spike, stuck his head out of a truck & asked "What colour is it?"
One of my favourite quotes was from the brother of a guy that I worked with. He was an RAF pilot and was involved in the bombing raids of airfields during the first gulf war. He was being interviewed by the BBC following one of these raids which involved very low level flying. I can't remember the questioned asked by the interviewer, but his response was something along the lines of "I don't know, we were just concerned with dropping the bombs and running away bravely"
Them: why do you have to be so sarcastic all the time? Me: Well, I actually won the International Sarcasm Championship in 2004. Them: Oh..did you? Me: No.
Awww - YES ! I can't express my joy at a well-turned phrase. As a Scottish-Irish man born in England, I absolutely exult in our heritage, stoicism, matter-of-factness. Having an expressive language helps, let's be fair. Immensely proud of our world status for all sorts of things, and people like, in no particular order - Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, John Cleese, Harry Worth, Tony Hancock, Billy Connolly, Harry Seacombe, Al Murray, Milton Jones, Sean Locke, Alan Jones, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman - - the list goes on. And THOSE are only a paltry few of the the comedians... Winston Churchill, who might drink half a bottle of brandy before lunch - - "Winston, you are drunk!" - "Yes madam, and you are ugly. But in the morning, I shall be sober !" And Winston again -"Winston, if I were your wife, I'd poison your coffee." "Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it." And in the terms of the rivalry between top-notch private schools Eton and Harrow - "Dammit Winston, weren't you taught to wash your hands after using the toilet, at Harrow ?" "No, unlike at Eton, we were taught not to piss on our fingers." We all feel so blessed. Cheers !
I like the Churchill story about MP Bessie Braddock. She said to Winston one day,.You’re drunk,disgustingly drunk.To whichWinston replied….’and you’re ugly ,disgustingly ugly…..but tomorrow I will be sober!
My late husband witnessed this when he was in the RAF. Curtis Lemay ( American Airforce General ) was visiting the U.K. He rang the office where my husband was and quite rudely demanded to speak to his RAF equivalent, but did not at first identify himself…..the chap who answered the phone didn’t like his tone so was a bit rude back. Lemay then said ‘do you know who you’re talking to and gave his name .Quick as a flash the RAF guy said ‘and do You know who You are talking to’ ‘ No’ said Lemay. ‘Thank God ‘ said the RAF guy and hung up!!
best description of enlgish people i saw is from a ww2 golf rulebook which states "if the player is disturbed by nearby explosions or gunfire he can retake his shot without penalty"
2 things about that. This video is about British Quotes, (though they do use too many just from Enlgandshire) and Golf being a Scottish invention set those rules.
@@Thurgosh_OG the Richmond Golf Club in Surrey, England, had a special rule due to the ongoing conflict. The rule stated that if a golfer's shot was interrupted by a bomb or if a bomb exploded on the course, the player was allowed to replay the shot without penalty. ....google maps says surrey is in england, i ahve no reason to doubt google maps even though granted i dont know for sure if its right.
So, the singer James Blunt served in the army before becoming a singer, and it’s very possible he prevented WW3 from starting. He was the lead man of 30,000 men and was given orders to destroy Russian troops, about 200 guys. He absolutely refused and said there was no way he was going to be instrumental in starting such a huge war, he said he didn’t care if he was court-martialled for it, a court martial would be much easier to live with than the killing of so many people. We don’t always get it right, as the rest of the world delights in reminding us, but one thing we are is respectful and fair. And massive, massive kudos to James Blunt for doing the morally correct thing ❤
Hah! I think he was only in front of 30,000 men because he was a Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry leading a small unit sent to tell the Russians to move out. Singer James Blunt has told the BBC how he refused an order to attack Russian troops when he was a British soldier in Kosovo. Blunt said he was willing to risk a court martial by rejecting the order from a US General. But he was backed by British Gen Sir Mike Jackson, who said: "I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War III." Blunt was ordered to seize an airfield, but the Russians had got there first. In an interview with BBC Radio 5 live, broadcast on Sunday, he said: "I was given the direct command to overpower the 200 or so Russians who were there. "I was the lead officer with my troop of men behind us... "The soldiers directly behind me were from the Parachute Regiment, so they're obviously game for the fight. "The direct command [that] came in from Gen Wesley Clark was to overpower them. Various words were used that seemed unusual to us. Words such as 'destroy' came down the radio."
One of my favourite quotes came from Princess Anne. Back in 1974, when she was only 23 years old, she was travelling back to Buckingham Palace after attending a charity event. At about 8pm, a car suddenly blocked their way & its driver, Ian Ball, pulled out a handgun. Ball shot Anne’s chauffeur, called Alexander Callender, & her security officer, Jim Beaton, as well as a nearby tabloid journalist, John Brian McConnell, who tried to intervene. When the car initially stopped, Beaton had got out to remonstrate with the man whom he believed was simply an angry driver. He was initially shot in the shoulder, meaning he couldn't fire his own weapon properly. He jumped back into the car, trying to get in front of the princess. Ball tried to open the door, & shouted that those inside should open it or he'd shoot at them. They didn't, so he shot & Beaton put up his arm to protect the princess & the bullet hit him in the hand. Ball shot a third time, & it hit Beaton in the stomach. Callender then tried to remonstrate with Ball, & was shot in the chest as a result. Ball yanked open the car door & grabbed hold of the princess' arm. Her husband tried to hold her back. Ball shouted “Please, come out. You’ve got to come.” In the struggle, her dress ripped down the back. The police soon appeared on the scene. Police Constable Michael Hills, 22, was the first to arrive at what he thought was an altercation following an accident. He had been patrolling nearby when he heard the sounds of a struggle. He approached Ball & touched his shoulder. Ball spun round & shot him in the stomach. Before collapsing, Hills managed to radio his station. Passersby came to help. One was a chauffeur driving nearby, called Glenmore Martin. He parked his car in front of Ball's car so that he couldn't escape. Ball turned his gun on him, so Martin backed down & went to help the injured police officer. A Daily Mail journalist John Brian McConnell, was passing by, & he saw the insignia on the limo, so he knew a member of the royal family was in danger. He tried to calm the shooter down, saying “Don’t be silly, old boy, put the gun down.” Ball shot him & McConnell fell onto the road. Another passerby was a former boxer, Ronald Russell. He was driving home from work when he saw what was happening so stopped to help. He crept up on Balls when he was shooting Hills. When Hill leaned back into the car to try to grab the princess again, Russell punched him in the back of the head. The princess thought that she could try to outmanouevre Balls so she pretended to get out of the car on the opposite side to Balls. It was only then that Russell noticed who the woman was. Seing what she was doing, Ball ran around the her side of the car, & she jumped back in. This gave Russell the chance to punch Balls in the face. By now, more police were arriving & started to advance on Balls. Anne told him, "Go, now's your chance!" So he tried to run away but was chased & caught by Peter Edmonds, a temporary detective constable, who had heard Officer Hills’ call regarding the attack when he was nearby & had gone to assist. He had only just arrived when Balls ran away. When Balls was in court for the attempted kidnap, it was discovered he was mentally unwell, & his aim had been to donate the ransom money to the NHS, to better fund mental health services. Queen Elizabeth gave special awards to the men involved in the rescue of her daughter. She awarded the George Cross, Britain’s highest civilian award for courage, to Inspector Beaton. She presented the George Medal, the second-highest civilian honor for bravery, to Police Constable Hills & Ronald Russell, & Queen’s Gallantry medals, the third-highest, to Police Constable Edmonds, John Brian McConnell & Alexander Callender. Glenmore Martin received the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct. Luckily no-one died in the incident, as all the injured men recovered. What was the famous quote relating to this? When Ball was begging Anne to get out the car & let him kidnap her, she kept sayng no, with the immortal words "Not bloody likely!" She's a very down-to-earth lady, which is amazing given she's a princess. She was a sportswoman & the first member of the British Royal Family to take part in the Olympics, in 1976. She's also competed in other international equestrian events, with considerable success. She's also been on a long-standing televised sports quiz, popular with famous British sportspeople, where she didn't stand on ceremony, but instead let her team captain hug her, which is against protocol. Her down-to-earth nature & her bravery have made her one of the most popular members of the Royal Family. She's very much like her mother in that respect. It's easy to imagine her standing up to a kidnapper & refusing to do what he says by saying "Not bloody likely!"
It's a modern prejudice to assume a 'secretary' to be a woman. The secretary in question in this case actually was a woman, Laura Mabel Francatelli, but she was secretary to Lady Duff-Gordon, not Lord Duff-Gordon.
The Queen's best comment was......"recollections may vary". There is now a suggestion that the comment was from Catherine and the Queen approved it. But either way, it was very sharp.
A friend of mine whilst driving along a country road in Yorkshire, skidded on a bend, and went straight through a wall into a farmers field. The farmer just said " summat wrong with the gate, lad ? "
I don’t know my left from my right, never have. Once navigating a tiny country road I told. My husband to turn right , we ended up in a field of sheep. To his credit he said “ did you mean this right? “
Spike Milligan has a cameo in Life of Brian, apparently he just happened to be holidaying in Tunisia (where he'd served in the war) while they were filming
In April 1951, at the Battle of the Imjin River, the 650 men of 1st Bn The Gloucestershire Regt were attacked by 10,000 Chinese troops. When the US General commanding the front asked the British Brigadier how things were going with the Glosters (clue there for you, JJ), he took the response that 'things were a bit sticky' as meaning they were fine, so didn't send any reinforcements. 40 men survived - the unit was later awarded the US Presidential Unit Citation.
The British capacity for understatement is surpassed only by the Japanese. What was emperor Hirohito's response to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings? "The war has developed in a manner not necessarily beneficial to the Japanese people"
@@TPRM1 You are quite correct sir, there are many similarities between Japanese and British culture. In both societies there is a shared social context which everyone has, and so there are many unwritten rules and conventions. Many things are left unstated, and humour draws as much upon what *isn't* said as what *is* said. In other countries without such a strong shared social context, they have to rely on less sophisticated humour based on things they do share eg. body functions. Hence, fart jokes are hilarious in the US.
I had my lower right leg amputated 4 years ago, i had to be awake whilst they performed the op, and although i didnt say anything understated, i was quite calm and relaxed about the situation, which everyone was quite suprised by, and whilst the doctors were doing their thing, i serenaded everyone in the operating theatre by singing the titular movie song, Footloose, made famous by Kenny Loggins.. I dont think they had seen anything like that before, and the head surgeon said to me, on the way out of the theatre, that my attitude towards the whole situation was very different , refreshing and understated, and made him smile and chuckle a bit under his mask, which he said never happens during operations.
@@carolinejohnson22 thank you. People have said that to me, but I don't think it was about me being brave, it was about me wanting to be here to see my granddaughters grow up. I know I'm. It going to be around forever for them, but they were 0 and 1 when this happened and I wanted to make sure I was in their life for the first part that they will remember when they got older at least. I'm not 'old' old, I was 43 when it happened. I caught COVID and that caused an infection in my foot, and it had to be dealt with otherwise it would have poisoned my body and I would have died, so no question about what had to be done. I just had to suck it up, and get on with things and let them do their job. We have a saying in the UK. 'Keep calm, and carry on!' and that's exactly what I did, and now I get to enjoy days like today, playing with my granddaughters in the back yard in the sweltering heat, barbequing sausages and burgers and watching how many ice-creams they can devour in one hot august Monday, summer afternoon. I'm not saying it doesn't get to me, or that I don't get down and sad about it because when I'm alone and nothing to do but play things through in my mind, I do get sad and I do get down, but then I remember what I have. And it's better to focus on those things instead. I've got lots to be happy and thankful for. So I don't think of myself as brave. Just lucky for having everything good in my life.
Our family blitz story: my dad was 12 when WW2 began. Like most kids in London, he was evacuated to a supposedly safer part of the country except Dad was taken to a farm just outside of the town Rugby, near Coventry, the SECOND most bombed city in the UK during the blitz after London. Dad survived to age 97 earlier this year.
"Henry Paget, better known as the first marquee of Anglesea...." Perhaps " marquis"? "Viscera" are the abdominal organs, nothing to do with the leg. Yes, I am a pedant.
I think one of the funniest was Douglas Barder giving a talk at a girls school. I had two f**kers to the left of me, two f**kers to the right of me, another two f**kers below and one f**ker coming in from the sun. The headmistress interrupted to explain the fokker was a German plane to which Barder replied, I don’t know about that, but these lot were flying Messerschmitts
Spike Milligan was one of the funniest men ever, but his writings and poems were so insightful. My favourite is "If I die in war you remember me, if I live in peace, you don't"
A ditty of his I learnt in the 70s... The spring has sprung. The grass has ris. The little birds are on the wing. Ain't that absurd? The little wings are on the bird.
@@andyonions7864 "Spring has sprung the grass is ris I wonder where them birdies is? Some say the bird is on the wing But that's absurd. How can the bird be on the wing When the wing is on the bird?
"Duff-Gordon is best known for the circumstances in which he survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, along with his wife and her secretary, Laura Mabel Francatelli."
I was thinking that too, so was surprised when he read 'ladies'. So had to look it up for myself. Apparently, it was actually his wife's secretary, not his, so that explains it!
@@juliehydemew4575 "what do they call purses?" Frankly, I have no idea: something snappy, I imagine - such as _pouch_ , _reticule_ , or _quarters- and-dimes dispenser_ . One can never really tell with Colonials!😉
Thank you , it’s incorrect words like that that spoil things for me. I didn’t particularly like Maggie at the time but oh I’d give my eye teeth to have her type of personality on our side right now.
The SAS killing house was to give high ranking people some experience of what might happen if they were involved for real in a hostage situation and the SAS had to go in and rescue them.
Princess Diana was involved in one of the SAS exercises after which she changed to a shorter hairstyle. Apparently the flash bang grenade had set her hair on fire.
RN veteran here - Number 9 - Beatty at Jutland, The reason "there was something wrong with our bloody ships" was Beatty himself. To speed up the rate of fire of his squadron he insisted that all ports and channels between the guns and the ammunition magazines be kept open, completely against standing orders - and common sense. So when a turret took a direct hit the resulting flash took out the magazine and the ship. His superior, Admiral Cunningham, joining the battle a bit later with the same class of ship suffered NO such catastrophic losses, despite direct hits on turrets And as to who won at Jutland - war is not a football match, a score of ships sunk. In 1805 Nelson signalled "engage the enemy more closely", which meant putting his ships in harms way to achieve the victory. That tradition continued at Jutland (and at Normandy 1944 and San Carlos 1982), losing more ships but gaining the victory. The High Seas Fleet never put to sea again
British understatement has caused difficulties. During the battle of the imjin river, the US command thought the message from the Glosters that things were “a bit sticky”, meant they were basically okay. After the 4 day battle, the US general said it was the most outstanding example of unit bravery in modern war. The hill they fought on was renamed Gloster Hill.
My former military friends and I would like to disagree with you by stating that the best elite unit in the world is the SBS (the ones you don't hear often about and are the guys who train the US's Delta Force), the SAS are, of course the second best elite unit in the world.
Re: Drake and the Armada. I remember at school being informed that the reason that English ships, while being smaller and less numerous and having a smaller crew, often won was not luck. There had been a change in navel tactics over the previous decades. English ships became gun platforms, and reliant on that tactic. Older ship's tactics were based on boarding parties and capture of ships. The French and Spanish had yet to adopt the English tactics by this point and so were unable to close on the small, nimbler gun platforms. This led to their ships being defeated in detail. The lesson here is that changes in tactics of this type should always be noted and reacted to. Micro drones in Ukraine may be such a tactical change.
And the Spanish ships were really troop carriers, failing to pick up an army in the Netherlands. Far too cumbersome for fighting at sea compared to Drake’s fleet. We owe a lot to 22 miles of the English Channel. 🇬🇧👍
I read while Drake did his usual piracy and looting for captive Spanish Ships, He notice and reported to his commander that the Spanish guns were land based cannons high up on large wheels most unsuitable for ships. While British gun was squatted on very low carriage and small wheels. Far more advantages!
After the Iranian Embassy siege the ones involved including a few others watched video of it in a darkened room with rows of seats. One of the SAS sitting at the back was irritated by someones head being in the way of the screen and said, "Move your fucking head". Thatcher's voice was heard saying, "Oh, sorry" and the head moved out the way.
I don’t know why like this in the UK it’s really true we even have an an expression of giving a wry smile at these catastrophic events crazy people great video 🙏
Spike Milligan was a comic genius. He suffered shell shock in Italy in WW2, he saw many horrific things in the in north Africa and Italy. His books Adolf Hitler My Part In His Downfall, Rommel - Gunner Who? And Mussolini His Part In My Downfall, will have you properly laughing out loud then you turn the page and you will be close to tears. He was a truly gentle man I was lucky enough to meet him twice first was quite brief but the second was with my Dad and in no time they were swapping funny War stories.
I read those as a teenager - in a world of Monty Python, Derek and Clive live, Ronnie Barker and Yes Minister I didn't think that Spike Milligan was either unique OR particularly funny. What he was, was famous - from the Goonshow.
Bit of context missing re Drake: 1. He knew that his sailing ships couldn't leave harbour until the tide turned which at that point would yet be several hours. 2. He wasn't in overall command of the English force, he was subordinate to Lord Effingham. 3. He abandoned the battle during the night to go treasure hunting after a Spanish bullion ship and 4. When he extinguished his signal light to go off on his treasure hunt it threw half the English fleet that had been following it into disarray..
I think a better one would be when the Germans tried to get the paratroopers to surrender at Arnhem Bridge. When told the Germans wanted to discuss surrender they said: "We haven't the proper facilities to take you all prisoner! Sorry! We'd like to but we can't accept your surrender! Was there anything else?".
@@sckiddle I’m sorry I cannot find the post you are alluding to for me to verify as to whether it was deliberate to subliminally diminish something or truly and accident. 😁 But I do apologise unreservedly if I missed capitalising a name but I do offer extenuating circumstances, and that is I have a faulty left side shift key and if I tap it left of centre it may or may not work depending on how it feels at that time. All in all though it does not get away from fact that the baldy bearded character with the overly plummy “perceived English” accent, is false, inasmuch as he is either American pretending to be English or actually is British (and has watched far,far too many really poor American films) but still putting on a PE accent. I’m going for the former.
one thing I will give Margaret Thatcher credit for though (not a sentence uttered often) is that she was part of the team that invented Mr Whippy ice cream. True Fact.
And when Sarah Millican told that to her dad (an ex miner) on the basis even bad people have done some good, he paused and said "you're banned from buying a Mr Whippy ever again" she was in her 30's
She invented a way of putting more air into whipped ice cream which increased the volume by making it fluffy. It boosted profits and people were literally paying for fresh air. Real ice-cream made with cream and milk, is much denser and heavier.
In Football,a classic example of "Look On The Bright Side" was Liverpool's famous Kop fans, singing this to the supporters of their bitter rivals: Manchester United after depriving United of the League title on the last day of the 38-game season, even though the game meant little to Liverpool's final position themselves. At the end of the game, all 28,000 home fans behind the Home goal, turned to the right,put their arm on the shoulder of the Man in front and, slowly, waltzed out with a cheery wave goodbye
You mentioned the idea "that's more body parts to pump blood through." Pilot, Sir Douglas Bader famously lost his legs and was able to do maneuvers others couldn't, because, G-Force had less effect on him because he had no legs. Without his legs the blood wouldn't rush to those outer limbs under high G's. Instead staying closer to his vital organs with a higher "artierial pump pressure" kinda deal. Keeping him conscious.
On the Spike Milligan part, you showed the sculpture of Spike on a Park Bench, this is in Avenue House Park in Finchley, North London, where I live. You can sit on the bench next to Spike, which I did back in march, a month after suffering a Subarachnoid haemorrhage (a bleed on the brain) I had just been told tha after 50 years of being a blood and latley a platelet and plasma doner, that because of my head blown gasket, I was not able to donate anymore. I sat on the bench a spoke to Spikes sculpture about it, I got some weird looks from passers by, but when you've come close to checking out, your perspective on life changes. I think Spike was one of the brightest lights the British isles has ever produced, and sitting there chatting to Spike, all be it a sculpture of Spike, was an honour. He'd of probably told me to piss off if he was actually there, just like his daughter, Sile` did in the summer of 1976, at the Finchley Lido.
I have a friend who was a neighbour of Spike's as a kid and went out with Sile for a time. According to her, he was a marvellous father, even when he was flattened by depression...
I think we're quite good at understatements over here. It's funny you say about British people and sarcasm. I'm sat here watching this wearing a t shirt that says "Sarcasm, just one of the many services I offer" 😂 My favourite quotes are "So many books, so little time" Frank Zappa. (Something that is very true for me) and "Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much" Oscar Wilde. Spike Milligan was a genius, his books on his time in the army during world war two are brilliant! Great reaction, hope you're well 😀
Almost correct, however it was Jimmy Carter, rather than Reagan. There is another quote of hers that is a favourite of mine. She was greeting a line of well-wishers at an event when the crowd surged forward towards her. As it happened, she stepped back and was heard to say, "Please do not touch the exhibit!" 😆
The real reason the Queen wore such distinctive clothing was she understood that at any given event there would be vast numbers of people there to see her and most would never get close enough to see her face. Her style would allow those people to identify her and not leave disappointed this of course made her security's job more difficult but she would rather face death than disappoint her people. She made many mistakes in her life (Andrew) because she was only human but as a monach she was beyond reproach.
Name them..she cannot be responsible for the nature of her offspring.no more than take credit for good nature.. you wouldn’t live long enough to even APPR the amazing things she did.. 🙄🏴🇬🇧
My dad trapped his hand, I forget how, but pretty seriously. And had the tops of his fingers removed and he just sat and watched. Didnt turn a hair. The rest of the family were a bit more upset. He just said he was interested in how they did it.
My ex mother in-law her song at her funeral was ding dong the witch is dead. I was mortified but her family said she would have loved it. Actually she probably would have, but god it was crazy to me. 😂
I have *never* seen that man in a video where he does not (confidently, poshly) *completely* mispronounce at least two UK English words, to the extent that I'm not entirely sure he's actually English.
I’m of the belief that he is a yank pretending to be British. It is not so much the mangling or mispronunciation of words but his horrendous choice of words, as in often choosing the American version of the word. Like dove instead of dived, or the American predilection for the word totally when it should have been utterly, and others, that coupled with the random arse backwards grammar makes me think he is a yank.
Was Sir Francis Drake on the poop deck at the time he passed? Spike Millligan is often quoted in our house, particularly from his book 'Silly Verse for Kids' with wonderous poems like 'Maverick Prowles had rumbling bowels' and the ever popular 'English Teeth' Another great reaction JJ !
to the british, these were mildly ironic quotes, when we deploy sarcasm its sometimes that subtle that it (and this is preferred) that the recipient of the sarcasm takes approximately 10 minutes to realise that "Wait, you wasnt serious were you ..... that was sarcasm!" on the dots insert random swearwords our sarcasm can be interpreted as completely innocent reply "yes, of course i would" when you actually mean nope would rather die, its all in the facial expression, if its a happy face then its more than likely a true yes, if there is rolling of eyes or the "eyes of death" stare then no, it was sarcasm.
I'm sure one of the SAS admitted in an documentary/interview that the holes in the targets were premade with a pencil and they just fired in a safe direction, it's not that they couldn't do it but, what they didn't want was the VIP to panic and get hit, they wanted them to have the confidence to sit still and let the SAS do their thing, without putting them at risk in a training scenario.
Most importantly with the SAS showing VIPs what they do. They are not only saying "we do this, be impressed." But "we are the guys that will protect and possibly rescue you, check out our skills. Be the target of the training operation. This is literally your role."
a man walks up to me in a nightclub, he says, everybody i have spoken to tonight has told me to piss off, i looked him in the face smiled and said well i don't want to be the one to break the chain, he walked a few yards away from me kept looking at me but you could see he was trying to process what i had said, after a few minutes he came back and he said are you telling me to piss off. so i looked him in the face again smiled and said jeeze you're too quick for me and i walked off.
I so miss the Queen! I'm not even a royalist. I'm a sculptor and I have made works for her Majesty and King Charles and have met Princess Anne. Bless them.
One of my favourite jokes was, ‘The waiter asking Maggi Thatcher at a cabinet dinner, what she would like, she said I’ll have the beef, “What about the vegetables “ asked the waiter, “they will have the same” she replied.
A British man got in a spot of trouble with a criminal gang who brutally attacked him. As well as giving him a bit of a going over, they punished him by systematically breaking all of his fingers with a ball peen hammer. At the hospital the man turned to the Dr and said "Doctor, when my fingers have healed, will I be able to play the piano?". The Dr said "Yes, absolutely" to which the man replied "Hm, that's weird, I couldn't before..."
HMS Exeter after the battle of the River Plate (1939). Sent the message to the flag ship after she was severely damaged saying "Wish to revise list of spares"
Drake was *always* fighting the Spanish. When he at birth was slapped by the midwife, instead of crying he slapped her back mistaking her to be Spanish.
The Francis Drake quote is usually held up as an example of bravado and twisted priorities, but I believe it was more an example of good seamanship and local knowledge. He knew that, even though the Spanish ships could be seen on the horizon, the tides and prevailing winds meant it would be some hours before they could get near enough to the shore to engage the British ships or land targets - hence plenty of time to finish the game.
I've always loved Daved Niven on Dick Cavett describing his wartime experience of German artillery fire as rudeness... as if they jolly well ought to be better behaved!
I was once *almost* in an aircraft accident. Immediately after narrowly avoiding a wing-first landing, and just seconds after the 300 passengers on board had stopped screaming, our 737 pilot spoke over the tannoy: "Goodness, that was exciting, wasn't it?" Nobody laughed at the time, I can assure you, but looking back on it years later always makes me smile 😊
At Waterloo (the battle, not the station) Lord Uxbridge-Wellington's ADC, exclaimed 'Good God! I've just had my leg shot off!' Wellington leaned over to examine the wound and said, "Good god! So you have!" The leg in question became a tourist attraction in Brussels, which is unsurprising, given that there's f*** all else to see there.
Re: the Titanic story. Once the crew left the sinking ship to man the lifeboats, the White Star Line (and all maritime companies of that era) stopped paying them. That £5 would have meant so much to that sailor, biding him by until he could get another job and get back home.
I saw a photograph of a bombed barbershop in London during the Blitz. He had a sign outside saying "We've had a close shave. Why don't you get one too?" People really started getting creative with with this stuff.
My Uncle Jack was sitting in a pub during World War 2 having a drink when there was an air raid. Suddenly there was a trmendous explosiion in the direction of his house. The landlord looked at him and asked, "Aren't you going to see if Muriel (his wife) is all right?" What's the point," Jack replied calmly, as he carried on drinking, "if she's okay she'll be in here in less than five minutes' and he was absolutely right.
The reason for the Queen's bold outfits was for security. Not so that people would recognise her, but so that, in an emergency, she could be located by those who need to protect her.
The Battle of Jutland - the only thing wrong with the ships was that in order to feed the guns more quickly anti flash doors were left open - hence their quick destruction
@@Ruthy-FNo one of any social class would say "dove" in the UK except those ignorant of the conjugation of the verb "to dive". It is ungrammatical in British English.
I would have said that dived was past tense and dove was present but what do I know. they seem to be interchangeable to most people(I am certainly not "POSH")
Uxbridge and Wellington were on very bad terms, and Uxbridge was kept out of action from 1809 to 1815 due to that. The bad feeling arose out of Uxbridge's adulterous relationship with Wellington's sister-in-law, his brother Henry's wife, whom Uxbridge married after both of them had divorced their respective spouses. It was just that such a brilliant cavalry commander couldn't be kept out of the Waterloo campaign, so in spite of their chilly relations, Uxbridge was put in charge of the cavalry, and commanded it bravely during the battle, before his wounding. Many decades later, he served in one of Wellington's political administrations, under Wellington's premiership.
You're assuming his secretary was a woman. That's quite a modern thing. In the early 1900's secretaries were often men. The Queen wore bright colours so she would be recognised in a crowd on her walkabouts not so people would recognise her at state occasions.
Actually, you're making the same mistake he is. Duff-Gordon's wife was a famous fashion designer and it was HER secretary that was part of their party. The secretary was indeed female, a miss Laura Mabel Francatelli, 30 years old.
@@cmlemmus494 'm sure you're right and I stand corrected - sorry 🙂 but I wasn't really meaning it that literally. It was just his instant assumption that it would be a woman I was commenting on, whereas in upper class circles its more likely to be a man e.g. King Charles personal secretary or a government secretary.
Don't suppose you'll come back to this month-old site but, if you do, may I point out that satire, not sarcasm, is the basis of UK humour. Satire first appeared in our theatres/literature in the 17thC - introduced by Margaret, the Duchess of Newcastle (who was also the first writer of fiction. It was NOT Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe in 1719.) What many people refer to as 'sarcasm' - even in our modern times - is often just people slagging off other people in a jocular way. Satire is the reason so many people from the USA don't understand when we are being serious or not. Also: People with Bi-polar (like me) are drawn to comedy/satire - Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Robin Williams etc, (again: and me) because the minute you step out on a stage that's all that exists.
The bit about Thatcher mentions purse. In Britain, purse is actually a handbag. Purse is an Americanism. Obviously, this video was produced for an American market. Demeanor is spelled demeanour in the UK. Beatty is pronounced Beetee, not Baytee.
Admiral Cunningham at the evacuation of Crete "It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition. The evacuation will continue."
3:58 You didn't read the last paragraph!! "We're assuming George later tried to explain his cowardice by stating he was trying to protect Thatcher's legs or something since it's obvious she could have politely asked any bullets aimed at her face to fuck right off." xD
On a joint exercise the USMC put a notice outside their quarters which read "second to none" the royal marines put one outside their quarters which read "none"
Love that 😂
Oh I hope that's true 😂
You can tell the marines, are modest.
Sorry this first happened in Suez during WW2, a A Guards Regiment moved into a Camp opposite an Australian Regiment. The Guards proudly displayed their Regimental Motto over the front Gate. (The "Colonial troops were looked down on as Colonial Irregulars"). The very next day , over the Aussies gate the sign "NONE" was proudly displayed!>
😂
I was expecting the famous line from Captain Oates while on Captain Scott's Antarctic expedition. "I'm just going outside - I may be some time ". He had frostbite of the feet and knew he was slowing down the others, thereby endangering them, so selflessly left the tent, never to return.
Same here 🇬🇧
@@clivenewman4810me too
And, he couldn't put his boots on. Went out in the snow in his socks. Well hard.
but rimmer from red dwarf pointed out we only had Scotts diary as putting in "today we shot Oates and chowed down on him with a nice chianti"
Exactly what I was thinking.
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is your captain speaking. We have a small problem. All four engines have stopped. We are doing our damnedest to get them going again. I trust you are not in too much distress.”
BA Captain Moody, after his packed 747 flew into a volcanic ash cloud at night with no warning. They did eventually get the engines running again and land. The ash had sand blasted the windows so badly the pilots couldn’t see much and so had to do an instrument landing, but the virtual glide slope was inoperable so the copilot had call out their hight as they approached - an approach Moody described as "a bit like negotiating one's way up a badger's arse."
Agreed. A legendary masterpiece of British understatement. The fact that he subsequently butter landed the aircraft should not have surprised anyone.
That is one of my favourite examples of British understatement.
I saw this aircraft at the airport I worked at years after the incident. It was a bit sad - it was being operated by a charter company flying tourists to bucket and spade destinations and was looking careworn.
Besides meeting Concorde (on retirement) and the 225 Mriya it was the only aircraft I ever wanted to touch.
When the destroyer HMS Sheffield was struck by an Exocet anti-ship missile on 4 May 1982 in the Falklands War, her crew sang 'always look on the bright side of life' while waiting to be rescued from their sinking ship, as did the crew of HMS Coventry.
Singing keeps the spirits up.😢
Just imagine being on an Argentinian Vessel passing by, seeing the ship slowly go down, and you hear them sing.
@@HappyBeezerStudiosI think the Argentine navy's ship's were nowhere near the British fleet, didn't have the balls! The aircraft took off from land bases (their naval pilots were braver men).
Well the RN are an optimistic lot. Wouldn't expect anything less. 👍
We found an old family letter from a relative who served in WW2 and lost his leg. He wrote to his brother and told him not to tell their mother because she'd "make mountains out of mole hills". 🤦♀️
Sarcasm: The art of saying the opposite of what you mean with a straight face.
Understatement: The art of saying things are better than they truly are, whilst knowing things have gone RIGHT down the u-bend.
Black/Gallows humour: If you don't laugh, you'll cry.
This has been your British Humour PSA.. :D
you took the words out of my typing
The first is irony, understatement also applies to reacting to positive events in a stylised subdued manner - "I've won the jackpot, I've got more money than Musk", "Excellent, two servings of pudding tonight then"
*"It's either the wallpaper or me. One of us has to go."*
(Last words of Oscar Wilde)
4 time Olympic Gold medalist Laura Kenny "you know me, just turn up....see what happens "
The Queen met some American hikers near her home in Scotland Balmoral whilst out on a walk with her protection detective officer. The Americans stopped to chat, and asked about Balmoral and were they local Residents. Yes said the Queen. Have you ever met the queen? T he Americans asked. No said the Queen, but this Gentleman has! turning to her Detective.
I had not heard that one, but definitely a favourite now !
@@colingregory7464 It is actually on video! the Americans were videoing the view at the time, they only found out after they got back to the states and a friend recognised Liz.
My second favourite queenism, after "Recollections may vary" 😂
Another Spike Milligan story for your perusal - during the war Spike's artillery battery was setting up on a hill & managed to let one of their huge Howitzers roll off down the slope narrowly missing some Royal Signals Corps trucks that were setting up on the slope below. Spike jumped into a truck & made his way down the hill & enquired "Has anybody seen our Howitzer?" Harry Secombe, who was later to form the Goon Show crowd along with Spike, stuck his head out of a truck & asked "What colour is it?"
My favorite books of all time, the eating of curried grass in Italy has me in tears 🤣🤣
@@Bosspigeon230mine too
As a kid in the sixties, Spike and Harry had me in stitches every week on the Goon Show.
@@Bosspigeon230 Inspired by Puckoon, I often told my son: "Just pretend we're eccentric millionaires".
Milligans tombstone reads ‘ I told you I was ill’
One of my favourite quotes was from the brother of a guy that I worked with. He was an RAF pilot and was involved in the bombing raids of airfields during the first gulf war. He was being interviewed by the BBC following one of these raids which involved very low level flying. I can't remember the questioned asked by the interviewer, but his response was something along the lines of "I don't know, we were just concerned with dropping the bombs and running away bravely"
Them: why do you have to be so sarcastic all the time?
Me: Well, I actually won the International Sarcasm Championship in 2004.
Them: Oh..did you?
Me: No.
😂
Awww - YES ! I can't express my joy at a well-turned phrase. As a Scottish-Irish man born in England, I absolutely exult in our heritage, stoicism, matter-of-factness. Having an expressive language helps, let's be fair. Immensely proud of our world status for all sorts of things, and people like, in no particular order -
Peter Sellers, Spike Milligan, John Cleese, Harry Worth, Tony Hancock, Billy Connolly, Harry Seacombe, Al Murray, Milton Jones, Sean Locke, Alan Jones, Eric Idle, Graham Chapman - - the list goes on. And THOSE are only a paltry few of the the comedians...
Winston Churchill, who might drink half a bottle of brandy before lunch - - "Winston, you are drunk!" - "Yes madam, and you are ugly. But in the morning, I shall be sober !"
And Winston again -"Winston, if I were your wife, I'd poison your coffee."
"Madam, if you were my wife, I would drink it."
And in the terms of the rivalry between top-notch private schools Eton and Harrow - "Dammit Winston, weren't you taught to wash your hands after using the toilet, at Harrow ?"
"No, unlike at Eton, we were taught not to piss on our fingers."
We all feel so blessed.
Cheers !
I like the Churchill story about MP Bessie Braddock. She said to Winston one day,.You’re drunk,disgustingly drunk.To whichWinston replied….’and you’re ugly ,disgustingly ugly…..but tomorrow I will be sober!
My late husband witnessed this when he was in the RAF. Curtis Lemay ( American Airforce General ) was visiting the U.K. He rang the office where my husband was and quite rudely demanded to speak to his RAF equivalent, but did not at first identify himself…..the chap who answered the phone didn’t like his tone so was a bit rude back. Lemay then said ‘do you know who you’re talking to and gave his name .Quick as a flash the RAF guy said ‘and do You know who You are talking to’ ‘ No’ said Lemay. ‘Thank God ‘ said the RAF guy and hung up!!
best description of enlgish people i saw is from a ww2 golf rulebook which states "if the player is disturbed by nearby explosions or gunfire he can retake his shot without penalty"
yes, that says it all 😂😂
“Markquiss” surely not “marquee”.
2 things about that. This video is about British Quotes, (though they do use too many just from Enlgandshire) and Golf being a Scottish invention set those rules.
@@Thurgosh_OG the Richmond Golf Club in Surrey, England, had a special rule due to the ongoing conflict. The rule stated that if a golfer's shot was interrupted by a bomb or if a bomb exploded on the course, the player was allowed to replay the shot without penalty. ....google maps says surrey is in england, i ahve no reason to doubt google maps even though granted i dont know for sure if its right.
So, the singer James Blunt served in the army before becoming a singer, and it’s very possible he prevented WW3 from starting. He was the lead man of 30,000 men and was given orders to destroy Russian troops, about 200 guys. He absolutely refused and said there was no way he was going to be instrumental in starting such a huge war, he said he didn’t care if he was court-martialled for it, a court martial would be much easier to live with than the killing of so many people. We don’t always get it right, as the rest of the world delights in reminding us, but one thing we are is respectful and fair. And massive, massive kudos to James Blunt for doing the morally correct thing ❤
Hah! I think he was only in front of 30,000 men because he was a Lieutenant in the Household Cavalry leading a small unit sent to tell the Russians to move out.
Singer James Blunt has told the BBC how he refused an order to attack Russian troops when he was a British soldier in Kosovo. Blunt said he was willing to risk a court martial by rejecting the order from a US General.
But he was backed by British Gen Sir Mike Jackson, who said: "I'm not going to have my soldiers be responsible for starting World War III."
Blunt was ordered to seize an airfield, but the Russians had got there first.
In an interview with BBC Radio 5 live, broadcast on Sunday, he said: "I was given the direct command to overpower the 200 or so Russians who were there.
"I was the lead officer with my troop of men behind us...
"The soldiers directly behind me were from the Parachute Regiment, so they're obviously game for the fight.
"The direct command [that] came in from Gen Wesley Clark was to overpower them. Various words were used that seemed unusual to us. Words such as 'destroy' came down the radio."
Lol those weren't men, they were Paras!
If they were 3 para they were absolutely terrifying. I still remember them terrorising the hospital family accommodation in Aldershot 🥶🇬🇧
One of my favourite quotes came from Princess Anne. Back in 1974, when she was only 23 years old, she was travelling back to Buckingham Palace after attending a charity event. At about 8pm, a car suddenly blocked their way & its driver, Ian Ball, pulled out a handgun. Ball shot Anne’s chauffeur, called Alexander Callender, & her security officer, Jim Beaton, as well as a nearby tabloid journalist, John Brian McConnell, who tried to intervene. When the car initially stopped, Beaton had got out to remonstrate with the man whom he believed was simply an angry driver. He was initially shot in the shoulder, meaning he couldn't fire his own weapon properly. He jumped back into the car, trying to get in front of the princess. Ball tried to open the door, & shouted that those inside should open it or he'd shoot at them. They didn't, so he shot & Beaton put up his arm to protect the princess & the bullet hit him in the hand. Ball shot a third time, & it hit Beaton in the stomach. Callender then tried to remonstrate with Ball, & was shot in the chest as a result. Ball yanked open the car door & grabbed hold of the princess' arm. Her husband tried to hold her back. Ball shouted “Please, come out. You’ve got to come.” In the struggle, her dress ripped down the back.
The police soon appeared on the scene. Police Constable Michael Hills, 22, was the first to arrive at what he thought was an altercation following an accident. He had been patrolling nearby when he heard the sounds of a struggle. He approached Ball & touched his shoulder. Ball spun round & shot him in the stomach. Before collapsing, Hills managed to radio his station.
Passersby came to help. One was a chauffeur driving nearby, called Glenmore Martin. He parked his car in front of Ball's car so that he couldn't escape. Ball turned his gun on him, so Martin backed down & went to help the injured police officer. A Daily Mail journalist John Brian McConnell, was passing by, & he saw the insignia on the limo, so he knew a member of the royal family was in danger. He tried to calm the shooter down, saying “Don’t be silly, old boy, put the gun down.” Ball shot him & McConnell fell onto the road.
Another passerby was a former boxer, Ronald Russell. He was driving home from work when he saw what was happening so stopped to help. He crept up on Balls when he was shooting Hills. When Hill leaned back into the car to try to grab the princess again, Russell punched him in the back of the head. The princess thought that she could try to outmanouevre Balls so she pretended to get out of the car on the opposite side to Balls. It was only then that Russell noticed who the woman was. Seing what she was doing, Ball ran around the her side of the car, & she jumped back in. This gave Russell the chance to punch Balls in the face. By now, more police were arriving & started to advance on Balls. Anne told him, "Go, now's your chance!" So he tried to run away but was chased & caught by Peter Edmonds, a temporary detective constable, who had heard Officer Hills’ call regarding the attack when he was nearby & had gone to assist. He had only just arrived when Balls ran away.
When Balls was in court for the attempted kidnap, it was discovered he was mentally unwell, & his aim had been to donate the ransom money to the NHS, to better fund mental health services.
Queen Elizabeth gave special awards to the men involved in the rescue of her daughter. She awarded the George Cross, Britain’s highest civilian award for courage, to Inspector Beaton. She presented the George Medal, the second-highest civilian honor for bravery, to Police Constable Hills & Ronald Russell, & Queen’s Gallantry medals, the third-highest, to Police Constable Edmonds, John Brian McConnell & Alexander Callender. Glenmore Martin received the Queen’s Commendation for Brave Conduct.
Luckily no-one died in the incident, as all the injured men recovered.
What was the famous quote relating to this? When Ball was begging Anne to get out the car & let him kidnap her, she kept sayng no, with the immortal words "Not bloody likely!" She's a very down-to-earth lady, which is amazing given she's a princess. She was a sportswoman & the first member of the British Royal Family to take part in the Olympics, in 1976. She's also competed in other international equestrian events, with considerable success. She's also been on a long-standing televised sports quiz, popular with famous British sportspeople, where she didn't stand on ceremony, but instead let her team captain hug her, which is against protocol.
Her down-to-earth nature & her bravery have made her one of the most popular members of the Royal Family. She's very much like her mother in that respect. It's easy to imagine her standing up to a kidnapper & refusing to do what he says by saying "Not bloody likely!"
Don't forget at that time Gentleman's Secretary was a usually Man it was very rare to find a woman in that role.
It's a modern prejudice to assume a 'secretary' to be a woman. The secretary in question in this case actually was a woman, Laura Mabel Francatelli, but she was secretary to Lady Duff-Gordon, not Lord Duff-Gordon.
The Queen's best comment was......"recollections may vary". There is now a suggestion that the comment was from Catherine and the Queen approved it. But either way, it was very sharp.
The most polite way of calling someone a bloody liar ever expressed!
When i heard that i belly laughed and had to explain it to my American friend 😂😂
It's astonishing how much meaning one can express in a mere three words
We had 'Always Look On The Bright Side Of Life' at my dad's funeral, it was so much his humour. I'm sure he would have loved it.
James Bond movies are full of irony, sarcasm and understatement.
QE II's remark, about Harry and Meagan - 'Recollections may vary' - definitely belongs somewhere here!
What about Mandy Rice-Davis "He would say that wouldn'l he"
A friend of mine whilst driving along a country road in Yorkshire, skidded on a bend, and went straight through a wall into a farmers field.
The farmer just said " summat wrong with the gate, lad ? "
😂😂😂😂😂 Love it !!
Aye
I don’t know my left from my right, never have. Once navigating a tiny country road I told. My husband to turn right , we ended up in a field of sheep. To his credit he said “ did you mean this right? “
Keep calm and carry on....as us Brits say
Spike Milligan has a cameo in Life of Brian, apparently he just happened to be holidaying in Tunisia (where he'd served in the war) while they were filming
In April 1951, at the Battle of the Imjin River, the 650 men of 1st Bn The Gloucestershire Regt were attacked by 10,000 Chinese troops. When the US General commanding the front asked the British Brigadier how things were going with the Glosters (clue there for you, JJ), he took the response that 'things were a bit sticky' as meaning they were fine, so didn't send any reinforcements.
40 men survived - the unit was later awarded the US Presidential Unit Citation.
The first one I thought of.
Harrowing....
And the commanding officer, Lt Col James Carne, a VC
The British capacity for understatement is surpassed only by the Japanese. What was emperor Hirohito's response to the Hiroshima and Nagasaki bombings? "The war has developed in a manner not necessarily beneficial to the Japanese people"
I think we’re actually quite similar to the Japanese in some ways. Eccentric, and understated. Maybe it’s part of being an island nation.
@@TPRM1 You are quite correct sir, there are many similarities between Japanese and British culture. In both societies there is a shared social context which everyone has, and so there are many unwritten rules and conventions. Many things are left unstated, and humour draws as much upon what *isn't* said as what *is* said. In other countries without such a strong shared social context, they have to rely on less sophisticated humour based on things they do share eg. body functions. Hence, fart jokes are hilarious in the US.
I don't think 'surpassed' is the correct word. I'd say we have a shared capacity for understatement.
I had my lower right leg amputated 4 years ago, i had to be awake whilst they performed the op, and although i didnt say anything understated, i was quite calm and relaxed about the situation, which everyone was quite suprised by, and whilst the doctors were doing their thing, i serenaded everyone in the operating theatre by singing the titular movie song, Footloose, made famous by Kenny Loggins..
I dont think they had seen anything like that before, and the head surgeon said to me, on the way out of the theatre, that my attitude towards the whole situation was very different , refreshing and understated, and made him smile and chuckle a bit under his mask, which he said never happens during operations.
😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄😄
Should have sung "Stumped" by Minor Threat 😁
So brave 😢
@@carolinejohnson22 thank you. People have said that to me, but I don't think it was about me being brave, it was about me wanting to be here to see my granddaughters grow up. I know I'm. It going to be around forever for them, but they were 0 and 1 when this happened and I wanted to make sure I was in their life for the first part that they will remember when they got older at least.
I'm not 'old' old, I was 43 when it happened. I caught COVID and that caused an infection in my foot, and it had to be dealt with otherwise it would have poisoned my body and I would have died, so no question about what had to be done. I just had to suck it up, and get on with things and let them do their job. We have a saying in the UK. 'Keep calm, and carry on!' and that's exactly what I did, and now I get to enjoy days like today, playing with my granddaughters in the back yard in the sweltering heat, barbequing sausages and burgers and watching how many ice-creams they can devour in one hot august Monday, summer afternoon. I'm not saying it doesn't get to me, or that I don't get down and sad about it because when I'm alone and nothing to do but play things through in my mind, I do get sad and I do get down, but then I remember what I have. And it's better to focus on those things instead. I've got lots to be happy and thankful for. So I don't think of myself as brave.
Just lucky for having everything good in my life.
@@Jams848484 I probably would have but I'm not familiar with that one.
I was expecting to hear “Not bloody likely” - Princess Anne
That was defiance not understatement
@@xhogun8578it was both
Or her fathers reaction, when told of the kidnapping attempt "She'd have given him a Hell of a time".
She's great 🇬🇧🥰🐴
Bowls is bowling on grass
Sarcasm and understatement are both ways of saying one thing but meaning more than that
Our family blitz story: my dad was 12 when WW2 began. Like most kids in London, he was evacuated to a supposedly safer part of the country except Dad was taken to a farm just outside of the town Rugby, near Coventry, the SECOND most bombed city in the UK during the blitz after London. Dad survived to age 97 earlier this year.
"Henry Paget, better known as the first marquee of Anglesea...." Perhaps " marquis"? "Viscera" are the abdominal organs, nothing to do with the leg. Yes, I am a pedant.
Oh joy! A soulmate - I'm a spelling, grammar and punctuation nazi as well!
I think one of the funniest was Douglas Barder giving a talk at a girls school.
I had two f**kers to the left of me, two f**kers to the right of me, another two f**kers below and one f**ker coming in from the sun. The headmistress interrupted to explain the fokker was a German plane to which Barder replied, I don’t know about that, but these lot were flying Messerschmitts
One of Spike Milligan's favourite gags was to go to a funeral parlour, lie on the floor, and shout, "shop!"
Spike Milligan was one of the funniest men ever, but his writings and poems were so insightful. My favourite is "If I die in war you remember me, if I live in peace, you don't"
His series of books covering his war service are absolutely fantastic, full of great illustrations and both hilarious and harrowing stories.
On his tombstone it reads " I told them that I was ill "
His war memoirs are devastating.
They have you crying with laughter on one page, then a few paragraphs later you'll just be crying.
A ditty of his I learnt in the 70s... The spring has sprung. The grass has ris. The little birds are on the wing. Ain't that absurd? The little wings are on the bird.
@@andyonions7864 "Spring has sprung
the grass is ris
I wonder where them birdies is?
Some say the bird is on the wing
But that's absurd.
How can the bird be on the wing
When the wing is on the bird?
The word "secretary" in the Duff Gordon quote would refer to a Male assistant. More like his Valet.
"Duff-Gordon is best known for the circumstances in which he survived the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912, along with his wife and her secretary, Laura Mabel Francatelli."
I was thinking that too, so was surprised when he read 'ladies'. So had to look it up for myself. Apparently, it was actually his wife's secretary, not his, so that explains it!
Surely not sarcastic which is saying the opposite of what you mean and is often cutting? More ironic?
Maggie was English - not American: her so-called _purse_ was, in fact, a _handbag_ (in which, presumably, she kept her purse).
If Americans call handbags ‘purses’, what do they call purses?
@@juliehydemew4575
"what do they call purses?"
Frankly, I have no idea: something snappy, I imagine - such as _pouch_ , _reticule_ , or _quarters- and-dimes dispenser_ . One can never really tell with Colonials!😉
@@juliehydemew4575 • I believe they call them wallets. No idea what they call wallets. 🤔
Thank you , it’s incorrect words like that that spoil things for me. I didn’t particularly like Maggie at the time but oh I’d give my eye teeth to have her type of personality on our side right now.
What about 'dove'?! Dived, please.
The SAS killing house was to give high ranking people some experience of what might happen if they were involved for real in a hostage situation and the SAS had to go in and rescue them.
Princess Diana was involved in one of the SAS exercises after which she changed to a shorter hairstyle. Apparently the flash bang grenade had set her hair on fire.
@@DeanRotheram very practical of her.
RN veteran here - Number 9 - Beatty at Jutland, The reason "there was something wrong with our bloody ships" was Beatty himself. To speed up the rate of fire of his squadron he insisted that all ports and channels between the guns and the ammunition magazines be kept open, completely against standing orders - and common sense. So when a turret took a direct hit the resulting flash took out the magazine and the ship. His superior, Admiral Cunningham, joining the battle a bit later with the same class of ship suffered NO such catastrophic losses, despite direct hits on turrets
And as to who won at Jutland - war is not a football match, a score of ships sunk. In 1805 Nelson signalled "engage the enemy more closely", which meant putting his ships in harms way to achieve the victory. That tradition continued at Jutland (and at Normandy 1944 and San Carlos 1982), losing more ships but gaining the victory. The High Seas Fleet never put to sea again
British understatement has caused difficulties. During the battle of the imjin river, the US command thought the message from the Glosters that things were “a bit sticky”, meant they were basically okay. After the 4 day battle, the US general said it was the most outstanding example of unit bravery in modern war. The hill they fought on was renamed Gloster Hill.
The SAS are the best elite unit in the world. No errors with live ammo, no Alec Baldwin situations. They're pros.
Yea we dont do "friendly fire", or "gung ho".
@@Walesbornandbred respect
The irony, we don’t have a gun culture thankfully, but appear to be experts on occasions.
If you have to do it then do it properly.
My former military friends and I would like to disagree with you by stating that the best elite unit in the world is the SBS (the ones you don't hear often about and are the guys who train the US's Delta Force), the SAS are, of course the second best elite unit in the world.
Understatement is essential. People who cause a stir are useless in a crisis...in my UK opinion!!!
Excellent point! Understatement keeps things chill.
Re: Drake and the Armada. I remember at school being informed that the reason that English ships, while being smaller and less numerous and having a smaller crew, often won was not luck. There had been a change in navel tactics over the previous decades. English ships became gun platforms, and reliant on that tactic. Older ship's tactics were based on boarding parties and capture of ships. The French and Spanish had yet to adopt the English tactics by this point and so were unable to close on the small, nimbler gun platforms. This led to their ships being defeated in detail.
The lesson here is that changes in tactics of this type should always be noted and reacted to. Micro drones in Ukraine may be such a tactical change.
And the Spanish ships were really troop carriers, failing to pick up an army in the Netherlands. Far too cumbersome for fighting at sea compared to Drake’s fleet. We owe a lot to 22 miles of the English Channel. 🇬🇧👍
I read while Drake did his usual piracy and looting for captive Spanish Ships, He notice and reported to his commander that the Spanish guns were land based cannons high up on large wheels most unsuitable for ships. While British gun was squatted on very low carriage and small wheels. Far more advantages!
After the Iranian Embassy siege the ones involved including a few others watched video of it in a darkened room with rows of seats. One of the SAS sitting at the back was irritated by someones head being in the way of the screen and said, "Move your fucking head". Thatcher's voice was heard saying, "Oh, sorry" and the head moved out the way.
I don’t know why like this in the UK it’s really true we even have an an expression of giving a wry smile at these catastrophic events crazy people great video 🙏
George Best: I spent a lot of money on birds, booze and fast cars. The rest I squandered
Spike Milligan was a comic genius.
He suffered shell shock in Italy in WW2, he saw many horrific things in the in north Africa and Italy.
His books Adolf Hitler My Part In His Downfall, Rommel - Gunner Who? And Mussolini His Part In My Downfall, will have you properly laughing out loud then you turn the page and you will be close to tears. He was a truly gentle man I was lucky enough to meet him twice first was quite brief but the second was with my Dad and in no time they were swapping funny War stories.
I read those as a teenager - in a world of Monty Python, Derek and Clive live, Ronnie Barker and Yes Minister I didn't think that Spike Milligan was either unique OR particularly funny. What he was, was famous - from the Goonshow.
Bit of context missing re Drake: 1. He knew that his sailing ships couldn't leave harbour until the tide turned which at that point would yet be several hours. 2. He wasn't in overall command of the English force, he was subordinate to Lord Effingham. 3. He abandoned the battle during the night to go treasure hunting after a Spanish bullion ship and 4. When he extinguished his signal light to go off on his treasure hunt it threw half the English fleet that had been following it into disarray..
Yeah, he almost lost the battle for the English. The storm saved them.
I think a better one would be when the Germans tried to get the paratroopers to surrender at Arnhem Bridge. When told the Germans wanted to discuss surrender they said: "We haven't the proper facilities to take you all prisoner! Sorry! We'd like to but we can't accept your surrender! Was there anything else?".
It's great to be reminded of the standards expected of Brits, which we aren't currently meeting.
that also goes for writing and grammar, where you are letting the side down somewhat. I suspect you watch too many hollywood films.
@@cupiddstunt You could at least capitalise a place name if you're criticising someone's grammar.
@@sckiddle
I’m sorry I cannot find the post you are alluding to for me to verify as to whether it was deliberate to subliminally diminish something or truly and accident. 😁
But I do apologise unreservedly if I missed capitalising a name but I do offer extenuating circumstances, and that is I have a faulty left side shift key and if I tap it left of centre it may or may not work depending on how it feels at that time.
All in all though it does not get away from fact that the baldy bearded character with the overly plummy “perceived English” accent, is false, inasmuch as he is either American pretending to be English or actually is British (and has watched far,far too many really poor American films) but still putting on a PE accent. I’m going for the former.
Our beloved Queen always dressed to stand out from the crowd. But bright pastel colours did it in a "not in your face" kind of way.
one thing I will give Margaret Thatcher credit for though (not a sentence uttered often) is that she was part of the team that invented Mr Whippy ice cream.
True Fact.
AND even though she hated the British Working class, she DID cause the overthrow of a fascist dictatorship.
And when Sarah Millican told that to her dad (an ex miner) on the basis even bad people have done some good, he paused and said "you're banned from buying a Mr Whippy ever again" she was in her 30's
And Aneurin Bevan added the flake.
Was that with all the milk she snatched from the schoolchildren?
She invented a way of putting more air into whipped ice cream which increased the volume by making it fluffy. It boosted profits and people were literally paying for fresh air. Real ice-cream made with cream and milk, is much denser and heavier.
When someone has a knighthood, the title "Sir" is attached to their first name, not their surname.
In Football,a classic example of "Look On The Bright Side" was Liverpool's famous Kop fans, singing this to the supporters of their bitter rivals: Manchester United after depriving United of the League title on the last day of the 38-game season, even though the game meant little to Liverpool's final position themselves.
At the end of the game, all 28,000 home fans behind the Home goal, turned to the right,put their arm on the shoulder of the Man in front and, slowly, waltzed out with a cheery wave goodbye
You mentioned the idea "that's more body parts to pump blood through." Pilot, Sir Douglas Bader famously lost his legs and was able to do maneuvers others couldn't, because, G-Force had less effect on him because he had no legs.
Without his legs the blood wouldn't rush to those outer limbs under high G's. Instead staying closer to his vital organs with a higher "artierial pump pressure" kinda deal. Keeping him conscious.
@@choomah wow..interesting!
On the Spike Milligan part, you showed the sculpture of Spike on a Park Bench, this is in Avenue House Park in Finchley, North London, where I live. You can sit on the bench next to Spike, which I did back in march, a month after suffering a Subarachnoid haemorrhage (a bleed on the brain) I had just been told tha after 50 years of being a blood and latley a platelet and plasma doner, that because of my head blown gasket, I was not able to donate anymore. I sat on the bench a spoke to Spikes sculpture about it, I got some weird looks from passers by, but when you've come close to checking out, your perspective on life changes. I think Spike was one of the brightest lights the British isles has ever produced, and sitting there chatting to Spike, all be it a sculpture of Spike, was an honour. He'd of probably told me to piss off if he was actually there, just like his daughter, Sile` did in the summer of 1976, at the Finchley Lido.
I have a friend who was a neighbour of Spike's as a kid and went out with Sile for a time. According to her, he was a marvellous father, even when he was flattened by depression...
I think we're quite good at understatements over here.
It's funny you say about British people and sarcasm. I'm sat here watching this wearing a t shirt that says "Sarcasm, just one of the many services I offer" 😂
My favourite quotes are "So many books, so little time" Frank Zappa. (Something that is very true for me) and "Always forgive your enemies, nothing annoys them so much" Oscar Wilde.
Spike Milligan was a genius, his books on his time in the army during world war two are brilliant!
Great reaction, hope you're well 😀
Frank borrowed it from "Mae West" her quote was "So many men, so little time".
Mae West had some great quotes 😄
Former Queen Mother (Q. Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon) on Ronald Reagan "He is the first man to kiss me full on the lips since my dear husband passed away".
Almost correct, however it was Jimmy Carter, rather than Reagan.
There is another quote of hers that is a favourite of mine. She was greeting a line of well-wishers at an event when the crowd surged forward towards her. As it happened, she stepped back and was heard to say, "Please do not touch the exhibit!" 😆
The real reason the Queen wore such distinctive clothing was she understood that at any given event there would be vast numbers of people there to see her and most would never get close enough to see her face. Her style would allow those people to identify her and not leave disappointed this of course made her security's job more difficult but she would rather face death than disappoint her people. She made many mistakes in her life (Andrew) because she was only human but as a monach she was beyond reproach.
Many mistakes?
Name them..she cannot be responsible for the nature of her offspring.no more than take credit for good nature.. you wouldn’t live long enough to even APPR the amazing things she did.. 🙄🏴🇬🇧
My dad trapped his hand, I forget how, but pretty seriously. And had the tops of his fingers removed and he just sat and watched. Didnt turn a hair. The rest of the family were a bit more upset. He just said he was interested in how they did it.
As you would be.
My ex mother in-law her song at her funeral was ding dong the witch is dead. I was mortified but her family said she would have loved it. Actually she probably would have, but god it was crazy to me. 😂
I have *never* seen that man in a video where he does not (confidently, poshly) *completely* mispronounce at least two UK English words, to the extent that I'm not entirely sure he's actually English.
It wouldnt be Simon Whistler, if he didnt butcher pronounciations of even English names.
I’m of the belief that he is a yank pretending to be British.
It is not so much the mangling or mispronunciation of words but his horrendous choice of words, as in often choosing the American version of the word. Like dove instead of dived, or the American predilection for the word totally when it should have been utterly, and others, that coupled with the random arse backwards grammar makes me think he is a yank.
Was Sir Francis Drake on the poop deck at the time he passed? Spike Millligan is often quoted in our house, particularly from his book 'Silly Verse for Kids' with wonderous poems like 'Maverick Prowles had rumbling bowels' and the ever popular 'English Teeth' Another great reaction JJ !
Ah yes, the poop deck otherwise known as the heads?
to the british, these were mildly ironic quotes, when we deploy sarcasm its sometimes that subtle that it (and this is preferred) that the recipient of the sarcasm takes approximately 10 minutes to realise that "Wait, you wasnt serious were you ..... that was sarcasm!" on the dots insert random swearwords
our sarcasm can be interpreted as completely innocent reply "yes, of course i would" when you actually mean nope would rather die, its all in the facial expression, if its a happy face then its more than likely a true yes, if there is rolling of eyes or the "eyes of death" stare then no, it was sarcasm.
I'm sure one of the SAS admitted in an documentary/interview that the holes in the targets were premade with a pencil and they just fired in a safe direction, it's not that they couldn't do it but, what they didn't want was the VIP to panic and get hit, they wanted them to have the confidence to sit still and let the SAS do their thing, without putting them at risk in a training scenario.
spoil sports
Most importantly with the SAS showing VIPs what they do. They are not only saying "we do this, be impressed." But "we are the guys that will protect and possibly rescue you, check out our skills. Be the target of the training operation. This is literally your role."
a man walks up to me in a nightclub, he says, everybody i have spoken to tonight has told me to piss off, i looked him in the face smiled and said well i don't want to be the one to break the chain, he walked a few yards away from me kept looking at me but you could see he was trying to process what i had said, after a few minutes he came back and he said are you telling me to piss off. so i looked him in the face again smiled and said jeeze you're too quick for me and i walked off.
the last Queen of England was Queen Anne who also became the first Queen of Great Britain
I so miss the Queen! I'm not even a royalist. I'm a sculptor and I have made works for her Majesty and King Charles and have met Princess Anne. Bless them.
One of my favourite jokes was, ‘The waiter asking Maggi Thatcher at a cabinet dinner, what she would like, she said I’ll have the beef, “What about the vegetables “ asked the waiter, “they will have the same” she replied.
That was a spitting image sketch
@@philipdrew1066 The scene with the baseball bat and the Cabinet was equally epic.
'Spitting Image'
A British man got in a spot of trouble with a criminal gang who brutally attacked him. As well as giving him a bit of a going over, they punished him by systematically breaking all of his fingers with a ball peen hammer.
At the hospital the man turned to the Dr and said "Doctor, when my fingers have healed, will I be able to play the piano?". The Dr said "Yes, absolutely" to which the man replied "Hm, that's weird, I couldn't before..."
HMS Exeter after the battle of the River Plate (1939). Sent the message to the flag ship after she was severely damaged saying "Wish to revise list of spares"
I love your voice, it’s so soothing
It is though innit? 🙂
Drake was *always* fighting the Spanish. When he at birth was slapped by the midwife, instead of crying he slapped her back mistaking her to be Spanish.
I like that the only time you weren’t sure if it was actually the Queen was when she was wearing a different colour hat, proving her point
Sarcarm: the easiest way to make the blank look on an American's face even blanker!
Please note, the unfortunates Maggie bollocked were "handbagged", not "pursed".
The Francis Drake quote is usually held up as an example of bravado and twisted priorities, but I believe it was more an example of good seamanship and local knowledge. He knew that, even though the Spanish ships could be seen on the horizon, the tides and prevailing winds meant it would be some hours before they could get near enough to the shore to engage the British ships or land targets - hence plenty of time to finish the game.
I've always loved Daved Niven on Dick Cavett describing his wartime experience of German artillery fire as rudeness... as if they jolly well ought to be better behaved!
I was once *almost* in an aircraft accident. Immediately after narrowly avoiding a wing-first landing, and just seconds after the 300 passengers on board had stopped screaming, our 737 pilot spoke over the tannoy: "Goodness, that was exciting, wasn't it?"
Nobody laughed at the time, I can assure you, but looking back on it years later always makes me smile 😊
😂😂😂
But isn't that exactly how we'd want/expect the pilot/ship's captain etc. to be?! 😂
@@noniousxltruffles7454 I guess so, in hindsight 😁
At Waterloo (the battle, not the station) Lord Uxbridge-Wellington's ADC, exclaimed 'Good God! I've just had my leg shot off!' Wellington leaned over to examine the wound and said, "Good god! So you have!" The leg in question became a tourist attraction in Brussels, which is unsurprising, given that there's f*** all else to see there.
Except the chocalateries!
Re: the Titanic story. Once the crew left the sinking ship to man the lifeboats, the White Star Line (and all maritime companies of that era) stopped paying them. That £5 would have meant so much to that sailor, biding him by until he could get another job and get back home.
That carried on into WW2 when there was an outcry when it became common knowledge. The rule was changed.
OMG love the more open than usual
It was extremely unlikely that his secretary would be a woman in 1912
I saw a photograph of a bombed barbershop in London during the Blitz. He had a sign outside saying "We've had a close shave. Why don't you get one too?" People really started getting creative with with this stuff.
Oh god, we are bad 😂 it's like seeing a car crash and saying, "You can't park there, mate."
That has actually happened. It was on one of those 'no context Britain' videos
My Uncle Jack was sitting in a pub during World War 2 having a drink when there was an air raid. Suddenly there was a trmendous explosiion in the direction of his house. The landlord looked at him and asked, "Aren't you going to see if Muriel (his wife) is all right?" What's the point," Jack replied calmly, as he carried on drinking, "if she's okay she'll be in here in less than five minutes' and he was absolutely right.
The reason for the Queen's bold outfits was for security. Not so that people would recognise her, but so that, in an emergency, she could be located by those who need to protect her.
Spike also wrote some fabulous children’s poems, you can imagine what they’re like my daughter loved them when she was little.
Understated statements can pack a powerful punch sometimes
I loved these examples.
The Battle of Jutland - the only thing wrong with the ships was that in order to feed the guns more quickly anti flash doors were left open - hence their quick destruction
" dove under the table "!!?? Has never been said in the UK !! We say DIVED !
Agreed 😂 Only the ultra posh would say dove 😂😂😂 In my experience...
@@Ruthy-F oops..was about to say "I would say "dove" " 😅
@@Ruthy-FNo one of any social class would say "dove" in the UK except those ignorant of the conjugation of the verb "to dive". It is ungrammatical in British English.
I would have said that dived was past tense and dove was present but what do I know. they seem to be interchangeable to most people(I am certainly not "POSH")
@@MrBulky992 "Ignorant of the subjugation of the verb" you just included most of the British population
We're actually talking irony and understatement in addition to sarcasm. Not forgetting 'Witty Banter' itself.
Uxbridge and Wellington were on very bad terms, and Uxbridge was kept out of action from 1809 to 1815 due to that. The bad feeling arose out of Uxbridge's adulterous relationship with Wellington's sister-in-law, his brother Henry's wife, whom Uxbridge married after both of them had divorced their respective spouses. It was just that such a brilliant cavalry commander couldn't be kept out of the Waterloo campaign, so in spite of their chilly relations, Uxbridge was put in charge of the cavalry, and commanded it bravely during the battle, before his wounding. Many decades later, he served in one of Wellington's political administrations, under Wellington's premiership.
You're assuming his secretary was a woman. That's quite a modern thing. In the early 1900's secretaries were often men.
The Queen wore bright colours so she would be recognised in a crowd on her walkabouts not so people would recognise her at state occasions.
Actually, you're making the same mistake he is. Duff-Gordon's wife was a famous fashion designer and it was HER secretary that was part of their party. The secretary was indeed female, a miss Laura Mabel Francatelli, 30 years old.
@@cmlemmus494 'm sure you're right and I stand corrected - sorry 🙂 but I wasn't really meaning it that literally. It was just his instant assumption that it would be a woman I was commenting on, whereas in upper class circles its more likely to be a man e.g. King Charles personal secretary or a government secretary.
I've read that Drake knew he had time to finish his game as he would have to wait for the tide to turn before he could sail.
Don't suppose you'll come back to this month-old site but, if you do, may I point out that satire, not sarcasm, is the basis of UK humour. Satire first appeared in our theatres/literature
in the 17thC - introduced by Margaret, the Duchess of Newcastle (who was also the first writer of fiction. It was NOT Daniel Defoe's Robinson Crusoe in 1719.) What many people refer to as 'sarcasm' - even in our modern times - is often just people slagging off other people in a jocular way. Satire is the reason so many people from the USA don't understand when we are being serious or not.
Also: People with Bi-polar (like me) are drawn to comedy/satire - Peter Sellers, Tony Hancock, Robin Williams etc, (again: and me) because the minute you step out on a stage that's all that exists.
The bit about Thatcher mentions purse. In Britain, purse is actually a handbag. Purse is an Americanism. Obviously, this video was produced for an American market. Demeanor is spelled demeanour in the UK. Beatty is pronounced Beetee, not Baytee.
Admiral Cunningham at the evacuation of Crete "It takes the Navy three years to build a ship. It will take three hundred years to build a new tradition. The evacuation will continue."
3:58 You didn't read the last paragraph!!
"We're assuming George later tried to explain his cowardice by stating he was trying to protect Thatcher's legs or something since it's obvious she could have politely asked any bullets aimed at her face to fuck right off."
xD
Probably did!!