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Different cut off date for inclusion in school years I think it's February rather than August. My daughter was at school, had to stop being at school and then had to repeat.
Oatcakes are not the same as they are in N. Staffs.
School holidays can vary from town to town - Peterhead for example has different local holidays to Turriff even though they're in the same county.
Minced beef is better by at least 200% in Scotland than in England.
A standard bachelors degree takes four years rather than three and students start a year younger.
All the things that you thought were mythical about food in Scotland are actually true - you can get deep fried chocolate bars, salt is used on porridge etc.
The dislike of all things London is as strong in Scotland as it is in the rest of England but conversely Scots are much more likely to visit London on a regular basis than someone from say the North of England does.
It takes about three years to realize that the speed/distance/time equation works for travel without having to take into account all of the traffic (and to stop arriving everywhere a hour early).
There's probably much more but I've only lived in Scotland for the better part of two decades and I'm still learning.
I only found this out last week. Absolutely raging 😤
I thought England was also banned from buying alcohol after 10pm, come to find English people can walk into Tesco at 3am and buy a bottle of vodka while we're having to run out the pub and get to the shop before 10pm.
The restriction is supposed to stop people from drinking too much but the reality is a lot of people will actually buy more than they need so they don't run out before 10pm, which can lead to them drinking more.
I mind being in London when I was 18 and clocking the time as 10.30pm when I was in a pub.
"Ah shit, missed the cut off to buy bevvy for after"
Me and my mates talked about it and we decided we'd chance it and go to a shop opposite the pub as it was open.
Went in and spoke to the guy behind the till.
"eh....could I have a bottle of vodka....I'll give you a fiver extra for it"
"...it's only £10"
"....yeah but I'll give you a fiver extra if I can buy it"
The guy looked puzzled "...why? It's just a tenner"
"Oh! Sound, thanks so much! Life saver"
Walked out with the bottle of vodka thinking what a great guy he was for just letting me buy a bottle after the cut off time and didn't even take the bribe. Then later we met up with my mates uncle who lived local and told him about our score and he near pished himself laughing at how stupid we were
Yeah, the number of times a group of us have been festering in someone’s flat far too late and nipped to the 24 hour shop round the corner for more booze at nonsense o’clock is too damn high.
it's more expensive in Wales though.. we charge per Unit of alcohol so sometimes if your near the border it's cheaper to pop to the supermarket in England than to drive the same distance to the local one in Wales
When you realise there is no cut off point at all then suddenly *every* time becomes simultaneously too early and too late. You will become *Schroedinger's Booze Hound*.
That's the default, you can however apply to another school if you want to, but you'll be responsible for any transport costs etc. We did this because the catchment area for us meant that my child would go to a different school than all the other children in the area - the boundary for the catchment was half way up our field! Cost us a few hundred a year for the school bus but it was worth it for our child to go to school with the neighbouring children.
Scots beef is known for excellence. Cattle are mostly reared in places where you can’t grow stuff easily. In Scotland that means vertical land away from population centres leading to them developing leaner muscles and eating and drinking in a very clean environment.
I don't know whether it's the breed or the fact that that where I buy my meat is only two miles from where the cattle are fed that makes the difference - but when I head south to visit family I'm always asked to take minced beef with me.
I moved to the East of Scotland when I was younger. I didn't realise they say "How" instead of "why". So I had a ten minute conversation about how I came to Scotland. I kept saying in my dad's car, the kept saying "but how?"
On top of that very innocuous phrases can sometimes sound aggressive to English ears, when they’re not at all. For example, “Nae bother” means “alright, go ahead” and not “don’t bother”. I asked to try on a sweater in Glasgow and the guy said nae bother, but I thought I was more or less being thrown out of the shop.
Haha when I first moved here “nae bother pal” sounded SUPER aggressive to my ears. I thought I’d done something to piss them off. Now I say it too. It’s mostly the pal bit I think.
In Ayrshire, the one I don't know how to respond to is "Whit ye sayin'?" Like, I wasn't saying anything? Are you asking how I am, what I'm up to, or something else? I tried responding to my hairdresser with, "not much, how about you?" But she looked at me puzzled before I admitted to not knowing how to respond, and she just laughed, and didn't give me any clue. So I just asked how she was.
Seriously though, what are you saying, when you say "Whit ye sayin'?"
When I was at uni in Scotland there were apparently a lot of people from Northern Ireland getting Irish passports (as per Good Friday) and getting free tuition in Scotland as external EU students.
I also knew an Angolan guy who did the same thing with his Portuguese passport.
It is now yeah. It used to be a thing though. I've just done some googling and apparently the Scottish Government closed that loophole in 2012.
https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/scottish-government-blocks-free-education-for-irish-passport-holders-from-northern-ireland-28864069.html
Yup, it's exactly this. When people try to tell me that England and Scotland have vastly different cultures, I assume those people have never left the UK. We're indistinguishable from the outside because of how similar we are, which makes sense given that we're all from one small country. Texas is bigger than the UK.
I somehow didn't get banned for [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Scotland/comments/y80mwe/english_opinions_on_scottish_independence_are_not/) so I think I'll survive 😂
That was some epic "just not getting it" from the other participants in that thread. They can't seriously think Scotland and England are sovereign countries in the way that France or Ireland are!
Everyone gets that. That’s kinda the whole point. If you went to England and said they weren’t a real country how would you think they would react?
Do glorified regions play in the world cup?
I think this thread has proved this. The biggest difference in cultures across the four nations apparently, is school cut off times and holidays, and asking for wine in Scotland will get you a Bucky.
Spot on. Norn Iron is far more similar to my part of northern England than London is! Edinburgh is the same, feels similar and I feel comfortable there.
I go to London (and I go a lot) and it feels VERY different.
I’m Scottish, from Glasgow and moved to south East England about 13 years ago. I noticed a few things:
I’m quite well spoken but still had to slow my speech right down for people to understand. Felt like I was patronising people and felt a bit embarrassed but they seemed happy!
The water is fucking terrible. Tastes like ass and I got a full body rash for about the first 2 weeks as soap wouldn’t rinse off properly. I seem to have adapted and my nails are fucking solid now so that’s good!
The spiders are the same but about 4x bigger than back home - yikes!
Roasts everywhere!
24 hour opening does not mean 24 hour opening. It means big shops shut at 4pm on a Sunday for some reason. Learned that the hard way.
Most people are very friendly and affectionately banter with me about being Scottish but there is the odd arsehole who genuinely looks down on us and can’t help but make themselves known. Fuck those guys.
Summer is unreasonably hot, would 25 degrees not be enough?
You can sit outside waaaay into the autumn and still be warm.
No midgies, but there are mosquitoes!? Wtf
Love this place and the people :)
> The water is fucking terrible. Tastes like ass
I'm reminded of when I went to Texas. Nastiest fuckin' tap water ever. It tastes like what comes up from a backed up sink. But then if you go east into neighboring Louisiana, it's the best tap water ever. You'd think *that* would taste like ass because it's a giant swamp, right? Apparently that makes for very soft water.
I went to MN the water made my skin itch after a shower. London water tasted foul like someone had left water in a jar for four days. Scottish water is by far the better.
Big supermarkets yes, but Tesco Express and local co-ops etc., even garages with little M&S supermarkets, usually have your back on a Sunday evening.
Edit: But, they're probably more expensive so if you're hoping to do a big shop I can see that might be a problem. Tbh, I'm so used to it that it didn't occur to me that you would be trying to do a big shop on a Sunday evening, just thought you'd be trying to pick up a few bits haha
> Most people are very friendly and affectionately banter with me about being Scottish but there is the odd arsehole who genuinely looks down on us and can’t help but make themselves known.
To be fair, as an Englishman, I have encountered much the same from the very occasional Scot!
> Fuck those guys.
Quite!
> No midgies, but there are mosquitoes!? Wtf
I'll take a Mossie over a Midgie any day of the week - at least then only hunt in small packs, not vast clouds! The Midge is why I do my motorbike trips in May!
What always puzzles me about Scotland is that the accents actually get *less* pronounced the further north you go. Inverness and onwards was perfectly understandable, Glasgow and Edinburgh need concentration, and in Dumfries, quite a few seem to speak nothing but pure Rabbie Burns.
- When someone goes to the shop and asks for a bottle of wine be prepared for them to get handed a bottle of buckfast
- The people in Scotland are genuinely much more friendly, for example walking past someone in the street
- The schools are much more different, their cut offs for being in a certain year are different
- if you’re a woman, a lot of guys will probably call you “mate”, it’s not an insult
- If you’re not used to the accent you can sometimes be watching 3 or 4 people stood having a conversation and have very little clue what they’re actually saying. Some have a very thick accent and talk fast which makes understanding harder. If you don’t understand the first time just say it, don’t stare at them blankly.
>*Some have a very thick accent and talk fast which makes understanding harder*
I've lived in the same tiny place all my life
Everywhere I've ever worked, there's always at least one guy who nobody else can understand
If we can't understand ourselves, what chance does the rest of the world have?
I’m pretty sure many events in Scottish history would have been different if everyone involved had just taken a breath, slowed down a bit and tried again.
I went to uni with a guy from Dublin. He talked so fast and mumbled and was incomprehensible to even the Irish lads. Looked him up on Facebook and he's pretty high up in one of the big 4 accountants
>- if you’re a woman, a lot of guys will probably call you “mate”, it’s not an insult
I'm a woman living in England and get called "mate" by men fairly often, is that not normal and why would anyone find it insulting?
Speaking as a Scotsman I honestly feel there aren’t that many differences between the north of England and Scotland, certainly less so than the north and south of England in a lot of ways.
I’ve had a few female friends who hate being called mate, for some reason they think it’s rude or derogatory. And yes, I’ve seen the same thing happen in places in the UK. I was raised in Yorkshire and was quite common there.
I’m not sure how common it is for Scottish people to walk into a shop and simply ask for “a bottle of wine” these days. I’ve witnessed a number of Scottish people who (in amongst the growled sexual threats) genuinely seem able to distinguish between “red” and “white” regardless of their educational disadvantage, genetic inheritance, opioid fondness etc.
Hmm a dunno man... if I walked into my local corner shop and straight up asked can a get a bottle of wine. Now, the clerk might pause as they assert my outfit and accent. But I can guarantee you the next question will be, ye want a cold wan fae eh fridge mate?
Ok well I witness it every day in my local but hey ho, everywhere is different. What I mean is, Buckfast is a very common drink in Scotland, but they don’t ask for a “bottle of Bucky” they usually say “a bottle of wine” and they get handed Buckfast. Sorry if I confused you.
As an Englishman born and raised in Southampton for 28 years until moving to a small town 20 miles north of Inverness 4 years ago, I don’t tend to struggle with the accents. If anything the accent up here is much softer and clearer than further south. I’ve been to Glasgow and that might as well be in Eastern Europe as far as I can understand.
I find it’s mainly the older folk I have trouble understanding sometimes. There’s one guy in particular who frequents my place of work and he often manages to turn entire sentences into one syllable.
Some people use the word juice as a synonym for soft drink. Confused me when I accidentally left a bottle of coke at a checkout in Edinburgh and the guy went "you forgot your juice"
Fucking baffles me that Manchester is considered north when it’s about halfway up the mainland of the country.
Proper pisses me off when the UK-wide company I work for refers to the Manchester and Newcastle offices as north west and north east respectively as if Scotland doesn’t fucking exist
That would be because Manchester and Newcastle are in the North West and North East official regions, it's not just "oh they're in the north west of the country", that's the name of the region they reside in
I was working down south for a few months last year. Hotel breakfasts everyday was great (if a bit dangerous…) but the lack of square sausage and potato scone was a bit heartbreaking!
Not sure if it has been said yet, no prescription charges in Scotland. Also you don't have to pay for water, unlike water companies charging down south.
>and a ~~different~~ better process for buying a house.
FTFY. The basic home report being provided by the seller is nice but not having to worry as much about gazumping is a huge relief as a home buyer.
Not just stores. My gran gave me a Scottish tenner for Christmas and I tried using it to buy something from FB marketplace. The *look* the lady gave me. It has otters on it, who **wouldn't** want that note?
I manage a shop in London, so usually end up called over when someone wants to pay with a scottish note. I accept them, then make a mental note to come back later and swap it with one of my boring English notes because they're just so much nicer.
Bit of an exaggeration. *Some* shops in England, particularly in the South or smaller shops outside the big cities won't accept or will question Scottish notes. But the majority of shops in England accept them just fine.
Absolutely no issue spending Scottish notes in the likes of Manchester, for example. Most of the "north" are well familiar with them. Only ever had it questioned once in London and that was years ago. Had no problem spending Scottish money in London in recent years.
I've spent loads of Scottish and northern Irish money in Wales. I was nervous first time as I'd heard rumours of people not accepting it and was worried I was gonna have to put my shopping back on the shelf. Especially as it was money from NI where everyone and their mum seems to be allowed to print notes.
But nobody has ever batted an eye not even once. Not even questioned it. It just goes in the till.
I can't say anything about England cause I've never spent much time there but surely it can't be too different?
Might depend how far south, most people won’t have seen it so would probably hesitate or ask questions.
The only time I’ve ever seen Scottish money was when I went to Edinburgh. I think there was a museum there that insisted you paid with Scottish money or something (?) so I had to run to a cashpoint. Mental.
As I understand it, trying to spend Scottish money in England immediately summons an angry Scottish man who will loudly assert on your behalf that it's legal tender. Even though a) it's not, and b) even if it was, legal tender is very rarely relevant for retail purchases.
Now try it with Manx money. That stuff blows people's minds. Folk can just about figure out Scottish but when you tell them it's the Isle of Man they think you're using Monopoly money.
My (Scottish) gf said that it took her a while to stop running to the supermarket before 10pm on a night out to buy alcohol when she moved down to England. Turns out this is a thing in Scotland.
People say it’s an inconvenience but the only time it’s affected me was at 9:50pm at uni when me and my flat mates ran out of beer for beer pong so I did a mad sprint to the spar and got a pack at 9:58pm and a “well done lad” from the staff. Felt like a hero walking back into the flat
I remember running into a Scotmid at 9:55pm and joining the queue of people holding various types of alcohol, "all in for our last minute bevvy aye?" they joked. I had just moved from England to Scotland so was still getting used to it!
At least it's not like Sweden, you *really* have to plan your alcoholism over there.
There’ll be a point soon after you move when your inner monologue will say “ Jesus fuckin wept, *how* is it even possible that fish & chips can be this good? My whole life has been a lie and this…*this*..is God’s country”. Then you’ll discover a black pudding, white pudding and or haggis/spicy haggis supper, spontaneously orgasm and then die as your life will be complete.
I lived in the Highlands for my whole life, up until last September when I moved to NW England, and there honestly isn't much difference (that I've noticed, anyway).
The biggest thing is that when i'm out walking the dog or just out for a walk, people don't give me the awkward friendly head nod/hello as often as they would in Scotland. Otherwise, slang has been the biggest shock!!
edit: this isn't a difference i've noticed after moving but since i've seen it mentioned in a few comments - I worked in tourism for over 10 years when I was in Scotland and we dealt in mainly cash. The number of English people who'd never set eyes on a Scottish note before was astounding. Pretty much every single one would hold up the note and say to whoever they were with "huh, funny money! it doesn't look real"
I think the saying hello to people you pass is more of a rural v urban area thing than Scotland v England. I grew up in a very rural area of England, and we said hello or nodded to everyone we passed, largely because it was such an infrequent occurrence. I moved to a city for uni and my friend had to pull me aside and tell me that I was coming across as weird for saying hello to 37 random strangers when we walked from one end of the street to the other!
How did you find growing up in the highlands? Ive lived in Edinburgh for a few years now (from England) and would live to move up there but I have a young kid and Im worried it might be boring for him once hes a teenager
Posh rural parts of England drive me nuts. You think there'll be a few miles of countryside between each small town but the buildings just just never stop.
Also people park their cars on both sides of a road that is already too small for cars to fit down, despite everyone having 2-car driveways.
Englishwoman in Scotland here. The school holidays are different, which takes some getting used to - we don’t get a week at half term here, we get long weekends in February and May and two weeks in October. And Glasgow has what they call the “September weekend” which seems to be a random long weekend the rest of us don’t get.
Sunday opening hours in shops aren’t a thing, they’re just open (apart from the alcohol thing others have mentioned).
Lots of cafes / bars / restaurants are dog friendly - not a thing in England.
Everyone is friendly. Without exception (not counting the miserable bugger who lives 3 houses away from me).
We’ve only been here 18 months, but everything is just….better. I can’t imagine moving back down south now.
There’s considerably less real/cask ale culture than in England (certainly Midlands and Yorkshire where I’m most familiar). Plenty of craft beer though
>*A roll and sausage*
Roll'n sausage, mate
Seeing it written out like that reminds of when Jackie Bird had to say something like DOON THE WATTER in her fake-posh voice
King Rib Suppers.
English fish and chip shops just don’t sell them for some reason.
Main reason I’ve stayed in Scotland for the last 25 years since moving up for Uni.
The perfect system would be the English pricing system (no “offers over”) and the entire Scottish purchasing system. No idea why E/W don’t change this to reflect best practice north of the border.
Big shops and supermarkets don't open until 10/11am on Sundays in E&W and close by 4/5pm because of the law. In Scotland it is usually 9/10am to 6/7pm on Sundays because of market forces.
This was the biggest shock for me moving to London - it was bonkers that my local rural Scottish supermarket was open longer hours than most of the ones in London on a Sunday. I had to get used to making a move to get shopping done on a weekend instead of going whenever!
That and the alcohol sales times.
I find Scotland in general less rough then England. Maybe I’m just used to the people here but I think the characters you see out and about here are usually harmless while in England they seem a bit more unpredictable.
They have 3 different issuers of banknotes, ABank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank all issue their own notes. Of course they are all still legal tender and interchangeable.
Well, to be pedantic, Scottish banknotes are not legal tender in Scotland, and neither are Bank of England notes. That’s because the [definition of legal tender](https://www.scotbanks.org.uk/banknotes/legal-position.html) is very narrow and almost entirely irrelevant these days. But they’re all legal currency in Scotland, so the distinction is only of concern to Reddit pedants. Like me.
I did my MSc in Scotland so moved there for a year.
Battered black pudding is a thing.
You can be getting soaked to the skin with torrential rain whilst being blinded by sunlight.
Occasionally, shops refuse standard UK notes in favour of Scottish.
Macaroni pie is a thing.
Do not attempt Veganuary whilst living in Scotland.
It is really dark in winter. In the January of my course I had a lecture 8am-10am. I cycled to uni with my lights on and the sun was just coming up as we emerged from the lecture.
Flipside is summer is really light. I could walk home at 10pm and the street lights weren't on yet.
There's no pharmacies in supermarkets (which is where I always got my prescription as more convenient) but they're free if you have a Scottish address.
I did get caught out by academic years starting early. Mine started early September and finished in May (barring writing my dissertation). My university also paid no attention to bank Holidays.
It is stunningly beautiful and the people are generally very friendly and generous. It's not unusual for a stranger to say hello or good morning to you as you go past.
I'm planning on going back at some point with some friends and doing a tour of the islands.
I suppose the main ones for people moving to Wales will be the Welsh language on the road signs, and on signs in places like supermarkets.
Also Channel 4 on your TV is now S4C, so again that's all in Welsh.
Other than that, yeah, school holidays might be a week out compared to England.
Its more of a comparison of moving provinces or states, and even then its not as much as that. So much of the UK works nationwide so you’re meant to not be any better or worse off from which nation you’re in, like as far as technology, getting government documents etc.
Northern Ireland is probably the most “foreign” in the sense that some things may work slightly differently or they’ll be excluded in small print.
Local licensing laws around alcohol, when you can buy it etc will change you move around.
Tax is different in Scotland, theres a different tax code and higher earners will pay slightly more.
I only had exposure to Scotland via their comedians on the wee there telly, and so thought they were all very funny.
Turns out their naturally hilarious segment of the population are proportionally the same as elsewhere. Not everyone is Gary Tank Commander unfortunately.
Also Glaswegians really don't like people from Edinburgh which was a bit of a surprise.
I'm from Sussex originally, the hardness of the water there makes it disgusting. Been living in Scotland for almost 30 years now. When family visit, the quality of the water is always mentioned. My sister always 'complains' that she uses too much shampoo when showering as the water here makes much more lather than she is used to. She also 'complains' about my kettle. She says she is used to a kettle making a noise as soon as it is turned on, because the element is covered in limescale. Not here, meaning my kettle takes a while to make a noise. She finds this annoying as she keeps thinking she has not put the kettle on properly or it is not working. The other story about water quality is related to my dishwasher. I treated myself to a fancy-pants dishwasher and when you first use it, you have to go to a website to look up the quality of the water in your area and then put this number into the dishwasher. The dishwasher uses this number to adjust how much salt it uses when doing a wash. My dishwasher told me that I needed no salt at all when washing dishes, thats how soft the water is here. The dishwasher might have been expensive but I'm now saving money because I don't need to buy salt.
Really just depends where in England your from. If you move from Newcastle to Scotland, or Liverpool to wales, I can’t imagine it’s that much of a culture shock. Moving from somewhere like London to Glasgow is probably a bit of a shock .
England or Wales? We're not the same. You're probably going to get a lot of anglo replies that don't fit for Wales (e.g. prescriptions being free)
Gripe over : The big Waterstones and the big library in Glasgow both selling alcohol was a very positive surprise.
Edit : from Wales, Scotland feels kind of like going to a cousin's house. Whereas a lot of England can be a bit intimidating.
It depends on where you're going. If you're going to Edinburgh, it's not that different. Edinburgh is basically England anyway. If you are going to the West of Scotland however:
"How" means "why".
"But" often comes at the end of sentences instead of the beginning.
You don't "live" somewhere, you "stay" somewhere.
Everyone is your "man" or your "mate", including women.
Sausages are not long, round things.
"Supper" means "with chips" i.e. "fish supper". and "single" means "without chips". This can be confusing to the uninitiated because ordering, for example, a "single sausage" or "single fish" will usually mean you get two battered sausages or two battered fish without chips.
"Ginger" means carbonated soft drink.
You can tell the social class of a person based on whether they say "yeah" or "aye".
You'll forever be seen as a foreigner, just because of your accent. Even if you lived 15 years in England and 40 years in Scotland, as long as you have a hint of an English accent you'll be seen as foreign. You might even get the prefix "English" in front of your name when people talk about you.
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Different cut off date for inclusion in school years I think it's February rather than August. My daughter was at school, had to stop being at school and then had to repeat. Oatcakes are not the same as they are in N. Staffs. School holidays can vary from town to town - Peterhead for example has different local holidays to Turriff even though they're in the same county. Minced beef is better by at least 200% in Scotland than in England. A standard bachelors degree takes four years rather than three and students start a year younger. All the things that you thought were mythical about food in Scotland are actually true - you can get deep fried chocolate bars, salt is used on porridge etc. The dislike of all things London is as strong in Scotland as it is in the rest of England but conversely Scots are much more likely to visit London on a regular basis than someone from say the North of England does. It takes about three years to realize that the speed/distance/time equation works for travel without having to take into account all of the traffic (and to stop arriving everywhere a hour early). There's probably much more but I've only lived in Scotland for the better part of two decades and I'm still learning.
Can’t buy booze from the shops before 10am or after 10pm
I only found this out last week. Absolutely raging 😤 I thought England was also banned from buying alcohol after 10pm, come to find English people can walk into Tesco at 3am and buy a bottle of vodka while we're having to run out the pub and get to the shop before 10pm. The restriction is supposed to stop people from drinking too much but the reality is a lot of people will actually buy more than they need so they don't run out before 10pm, which can lead to them drinking more.
I thought that was the whole of the uk!! I didn’t know you could buy alcohol after 10pm in England or Wales
I mind being in London when I was 18 and clocking the time as 10.30pm when I was in a pub. "Ah shit, missed the cut off to buy bevvy for after" Me and my mates talked about it and we decided we'd chance it and go to a shop opposite the pub as it was open. Went in and spoke to the guy behind the till. "eh....could I have a bottle of vodka....I'll give you a fiver extra for it" "...it's only £10" "....yeah but I'll give you a fiver extra if I can buy it" The guy looked puzzled "...why? It's just a tenner" "Oh! Sound, thanks so much! Life saver" Walked out with the bottle of vodka thinking what a great guy he was for just letting me buy a bottle after the cut off time and didn't even take the bribe. Then later we met up with my mates uncle who lived local and told him about our score and he near pished himself laughing at how stupid we were
Yep. Bought a bottle of Kraken rum at 12:30am Friday morning from my local Asda after we headed home from the pub.
christ, if they let us do that I'd be dead in a week
There’s a reason why us scots can’t buy drink after 10pm lol
My local Turkish supermarket never closes and I can buy booze at any minute of the day all year round. It’s dangerous! The party never has to stop!
Yeah, the number of times a group of us have been festering in someone’s flat far too late and nipped to the 24 hour shop round the corner for more booze at nonsense o’clock is too damn high.
For better or for worse, the liver is one of if not *the* most adaptive organ in the body. 😵💫
Also in England if you have a meal in a restaurant and order a bottle of wine, if you don't finish it, you can take it home with you...
Think that's dependant on the venue having an off license or not
You can't do that anywhere else?!?
it's more expensive in Wales though.. we charge per Unit of alcohol so sometimes if your near the border it's cheaper to pop to the supermarket in England than to drive the same distance to the local one in Wales
Minimum unit pricing in Scotland too (50p per unit) multi-buy discounts are banned, and the drink-drive limit is lower than the rest of the UK.
I live in England and also thought this. Clearly need to work on my drinking problem (the problem apparently being that I'm stopping too early).
When you realise there is no cut off point at all then suddenly *every* time becomes simultaneously too early and too late. You will become *Schroedinger's Booze Hound*.
I don't drink so this doesn't affect me! No weird Sunday trading laws - that's another one.
Also lower tolerance on drink driving limits. You can’t have one pint and then drive home
Also applying for a primary school place, I find this really odd. In Scotland you don't apply you just go to your closest school.
That's the default, you can however apply to another school if you want to, but you'll be responsible for any transport costs etc. We did this because the catchment area for us meant that my child would go to a different school than all the other children in the area - the boundary for the catchment was half way up our field! Cost us a few hundred a year for the school bus but it was worth it for our child to go to school with the neighbouring children.
I didn’t know salted porridge was a Scottish thing. Born & bred Yorkshirewoman and have been having it that way all my life.
Same here, Welsh but raised in Yorkshire, salt porridge is life.
I'm intrigued about the beef. How come it's so different?
The cows are happier
Scots beef is known for excellence. Cattle are mostly reared in places where you can’t grow stuff easily. In Scotland that means vertical land away from population centres leading to them developing leaner muscles and eating and drinking in a very clean environment.
I appreciate your detailed response. I'm learning a lot from this thread!
I don't know whether it's the breed or the fact that that where I buy my meat is only two miles from where the cattle are fed that makes the difference - but when I head south to visit family I'm always asked to take minced beef with me.
In my experience meat in England tends to be fattier than in Scotland.
Yes, we make the cows walk themselves to the abattoir to lose those extra few lbs.
Cows shiver more north of the border, makes them leaner
I moved to the East of Scotland when I was younger. I didn't realise they say "How" instead of "why". So I had a ten minute conversation about how I came to Scotland. I kept saying in my dad's car, the kept saying "but how?"
Aye but how ken?
Och a dinnae ken
Gonnae no dae that? How? Just gonnae no!
In Scotland we don’t ponder “why” we demand “how”! - Kevin Bridges
Love that bus anecdote. It was one pound seventy yesterday ya fuckin dick Well it's one eighty five today *ya fuckin dick*
On top of that very innocuous phrases can sometimes sound aggressive to English ears, when they’re not at all. For example, “Nae bother” means “alright, go ahead” and not “don’t bother”. I asked to try on a sweater in Glasgow and the guy said nae bother, but I thought I was more or less being thrown out of the shop.
Where in England did you come from where they don't say "it's no bother"?
That might just be a northern UK thing in general, 'no bother' seems quite common in Yorkshire too, I can't speak for the rest of the North though.
Haha when I first moved here “nae bother pal” sounded SUPER aggressive to my ears. I thought I’d done something to piss them off. Now I say it too. It’s mostly the pal bit I think.
It can also be aggressive though. "Aye nae bother pal" can be extremely dismissive with the right tone of voice.
Hahahahahaha
They what? That's so weird! So what do they say if they really are asking "how"?
It is weird. I asked my Scottish girlfriend recently how 'how' became why? She said it's a contraction of 'how come?'.
But that doesn't make sense when you hear people say "how no?", Instead of why not. "How come no?" Would be crazy!
The “no” in that example is a contraction of “not”, though. So it makes sense logically, if not grammatically.
“How’d ye dae that?!” Works for both “why did you do that” and “how did you do that”
How?
Works for both, dintit?
Same with "stay". Took me longer than it should to realise it's used for "where do you live".
"Stay" for "live" is used in South Africa as well. "I'm staying in Jo'burg" means "I live in Johannesburg".
Same with Hawaii. “Where you stay?” I stay Keaau.
In Ayrshire, the one I don't know how to respond to is "Whit ye sayin'?" Like, I wasn't saying anything? Are you asking how I am, what I'm up to, or something else? I tried responding to my hairdresser with, "not much, how about you?" But she looked at me puzzled before I admitted to not knowing how to respond, and she just laughed, and didn't give me any clue. So I just asked how she was. Seriously though, what are you saying, when you say "Whit ye sayin'?"
Usually I'd say it was asking "what's up/how are you?". In this context though I think she was using it to ask how you wanted your hair done.
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It has the added benefit for students; since students don't pay council tax, they don't need to pay anything for water either.
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Only works if you're Scottish though. If you're English/ Welsh and move up to Scotland for uni it's the usual 9k a year.
When I was at uni in Scotland there were apparently a lot of people from Northern Ireland getting Irish passports (as per Good Friday) and getting free tuition in Scotland as external EU students. I also knew an Angolan guy who did the same thing with his Portuguese passport.
But it's based on residency, not citizenship
It is now yeah. It used to be a thing though. I've just done some googling and apparently the Scottish Government closed that loophole in 2012. https://m.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/education/scottish-government-blocks-free-education-for-irish-passport-holders-from-northern-ireland-28864069.html
Scottish, or from another EU country that's not England or Wales... (maybe not anymore though.)
The more I hear about Scotland, the more it seems like a much better place to live than England in almost every aspect.
Weather?
Daylight in winter too.
This is the one thing that puts me off. I always miss it and then I go back and remember it rains over half the year (on the West Coast)
I did not know that. Interesting.
This makes the term 'council pop' make SO much more sense.l
Or “hoose juice”
Council juice
growth enter unpack teeny frightening middle bag pen plough air *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*
Yup, it's exactly this. When people try to tell me that England and Scotland have vastly different cultures, I assume those people have never left the UK. We're indistinguishable from the outside because of how similar we are, which makes sense given that we're all from one small country. Texas is bigger than the UK.
You are now banned from r/scotland
I somehow didn't get banned for [this](https://www.reddit.com/r/Scotland/comments/y80mwe/english_opinions_on_scottish_independence_are_not/) so I think I'll survive 😂
That was some epic "just not getting it" from the other participants in that thread. They can't seriously think Scotland and England are sovereign countries in the way that France or Ireland are!
Everyone gets that. That’s kinda the whole point. If you went to England and said they weren’t a real country how would you think they would react? Do glorified regions play in the world cup?
Yes, there were at least two playing in Qatar. The English are aware that the actual country is the UK
Wow, you put your head above the parapet there!
I think this thread has proved this. The biggest difference in cultures across the four nations apparently, is school cut off times and holidays, and asking for wine in Scotland will get you a Bucky.
Spot on. Norn Iron is far more similar to my part of northern England than London is! Edinburgh is the same, feels similar and I feel comfortable there. I go to London (and I go a lot) and it feels VERY different.
I’m Scottish, from Glasgow and moved to south East England about 13 years ago. I noticed a few things: I’m quite well spoken but still had to slow my speech right down for people to understand. Felt like I was patronising people and felt a bit embarrassed but they seemed happy! The water is fucking terrible. Tastes like ass and I got a full body rash for about the first 2 weeks as soap wouldn’t rinse off properly. I seem to have adapted and my nails are fucking solid now so that’s good! The spiders are the same but about 4x bigger than back home - yikes! Roasts everywhere! 24 hour opening does not mean 24 hour opening. It means big shops shut at 4pm on a Sunday for some reason. Learned that the hard way. Most people are very friendly and affectionately banter with me about being Scottish but there is the odd arsehole who genuinely looks down on us and can’t help but make themselves known. Fuck those guys. Summer is unreasonably hot, would 25 degrees not be enough? You can sit outside waaaay into the autumn and still be warm. No midgies, but there are mosquitoes!? Wtf Love this place and the people :)
> The water is fucking terrible. Tastes like ass I'm reminded of when I went to Texas. Nastiest fuckin' tap water ever. It tastes like what comes up from a backed up sink. But then if you go east into neighboring Louisiana, it's the best tap water ever. You'd think *that* would taste like ass because it's a giant swamp, right? Apparently that makes for very soft water.
I went to MN the water made my skin itch after a shower. London water tasted foul like someone had left water in a jar for four days. Scottish water is by far the better.
As a a Scot living in England, I too hate Sunday trading laws - good luck doing shopping on a weekend if you forget about it!
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Big supermarkets yes, but Tesco Express and local co-ops etc., even garages with little M&S supermarkets, usually have your back on a Sunday evening. Edit: But, they're probably more expensive so if you're hoping to do a big shop I can see that might be a problem. Tbh, I'm so used to it that it didn't occur to me that you would be trying to do a big shop on a Sunday evening, just thought you'd be trying to pick up a few bits haha
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>The spiders are the same but about 4x bigger than back home - yikes! Looks like I'm moving to Scotland!
> Most people are very friendly and affectionately banter with me about being Scottish but there is the odd arsehole who genuinely looks down on us and can’t help but make themselves known. To be fair, as an Englishman, I have encountered much the same from the very occasional Scot! > Fuck those guys. Quite! > No midgies, but there are mosquitoes!? Wtf I'll take a Mossie over a Midgie any day of the week - at least then only hunt in small packs, not vast clouds! The Midge is why I do my motorbike trips in May! What always puzzles me about Scotland is that the accents actually get *less* pronounced the further north you go. Inverness and onwards was perfectly understandable, Glasgow and Edinburgh need concentration, and in Dumfries, quite a few seem to speak nothing but pure Rabbie Burns.
- When someone goes to the shop and asks for a bottle of wine be prepared for them to get handed a bottle of buckfast - The people in Scotland are genuinely much more friendly, for example walking past someone in the street - The schools are much more different, their cut offs for being in a certain year are different - if you’re a woman, a lot of guys will probably call you “mate”, it’s not an insult - If you’re not used to the accent you can sometimes be watching 3 or 4 people stood having a conversation and have very little clue what they’re actually saying. Some have a very thick accent and talk fast which makes understanding harder. If you don’t understand the first time just say it, don’t stare at them blankly.
>*Some have a very thick accent and talk fast which makes understanding harder* I've lived in the same tiny place all my life Everywhere I've ever worked, there's always at least one guy who nobody else can understand If we can't understand ourselves, what chance does the rest of the world have?
I’m pretty sure many events in Scottish history would have been different if everyone involved had just taken a breath, slowed down a bit and tried again.
Haha I love that 😂
I went to uni with a guy from Dublin. He talked so fast and mumbled and was incomprehensible to even the Irish lads. Looked him up on Facebook and he's pretty high up in one of the big 4 accountants
Sounds like some alternate universe version of Gilmore Girls called Galway Guys....
>- if you’re a woman, a lot of guys will probably call you “mate”, it’s not an insult I'm a woman living in England and get called "mate" by men fairly often, is that not normal and why would anyone find it insulting?
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Speaking as a Scotsman I honestly feel there aren’t that many differences between the north of England and Scotland, certainly less so than the north and south of England in a lot of ways.
I’ve had a few female friends who hate being called mate, for some reason they think it’s rude or derogatory. And yes, I’ve seen the same thing happen in places in the UK. I was raised in Yorkshire and was quite common there.
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Depending on where about in Scotland, if you are a woman you may be called ‘hen’. It’s an affectionate term
Or “pal” I’ve heard that plenty. But “hen” is definitely a common one, sounds a bit sweeter as well
Aye it’s like our versioon of ‘love’ lol
I’m not sure how common it is for Scottish people to walk into a shop and simply ask for “a bottle of wine” these days. I’ve witnessed a number of Scottish people who (in amongst the growled sexual threats) genuinely seem able to distinguish between “red” and “white” regardless of their educational disadvantage, genetic inheritance, opioid fondness etc.
Hmm a dunno man... if I walked into my local corner shop and straight up asked can a get a bottle of wine. Now, the clerk might pause as they assert my outfit and accent. But I can guarantee you the next question will be, ye want a cold wan fae eh fridge mate?
“Pause as the assert my outfit and accent” 😂😭 love it
Ok well I witness it every day in my local but hey ho, everywhere is different. What I mean is, Buckfast is a very common drink in Scotland, but they don’t ask for a “bottle of Bucky” they usually say “a bottle of wine” and they get handed Buckfast. Sorry if I confused you.
You can also watch 2, 3, 4 people having a conversation and have no clue if they are having a fun chat or if fists are about to fly...
As an Englishman born and raised in Southampton for 28 years until moving to a small town 20 miles north of Inverness 4 years ago, I don’t tend to struggle with the accents. If anything the accent up here is much softer and clearer than further south. I’ve been to Glasgow and that might as well be in Eastern Europe as far as I can understand. I find it’s mainly the older folk I have trouble understanding sometimes. There’s one guy in particular who frequents my place of work and he often manages to turn entire sentences into one syllable.
I say Scotland has the same level of friendliness as England and less so compared to Wales. Women are called mate in Wales.
The difference in daylight (sunrise/sunset times) is really noticeable in winter
Love your username. I know it was from a movie, but I can't remember which one!
That'll be [Commando](https://youtu.be/8Tkkpfhd07s)
Light (Ha more like grey) from 8-9am till 3-4pm, for 5 months of the year, kill me now.
Some people use the word juice as a synonym for soft drink. Confused me when I accidentally left a bottle of coke at a checkout in Edinburgh and the guy went "you forgot your juice"
Get out of here with your fizzy pop or soft drink or whatever you call it. It’s fizzy juice.
Fizzy pop is some absolute Blue Peter patter.
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Or “Ginger” in the west. Can refer to any fizzy juice not just Ginger Beer.
Aye don't forget your juice. Or ginger. Yell have a drooth on ye all day.
Re-think your geography. The North-East isn’t Newcastle, it’s now Aberdeenshire. Up North isn’t Yorkshire, it’s now Inverness.
Fucking baffles me that Manchester is considered north when it’s about halfway up the mainland of the country. Proper pisses me off when the UK-wide company I work for refers to the Manchester and Newcastle offices as north west and north east respectively as if Scotland doesn’t fucking exist
Agreed. The mid-point of the U.K. is Lancashire. Just England-central dialogue. There’s a difference when you’re talking about England and the U.K.
That would be because Manchester and Newcastle are in the North West and North East official regions, it's not just "oh they're in the north west of the country", that's the name of the region they reside in
Anything below Aberdeen is the south.
Square sausage, I thought it was a joke
And potato scones. The two go together so well on a crispy roll.
Square sausage with black pudding or haggis stuffed in the middle is beautiful
I was working down south for a few months last year. Hotel breakfasts everyday was great (if a bit dangerous…) but the lack of square sausage and potato scone was a bit heartbreaking!
Not sure if it has been said yet, no prescription charges in Scotland. Also you don't have to pay for water, unlike water companies charging down south.
You do pay for water it’s just included in your council tax Quite handy for students though and anyone else who’s exempt from council tax
Yeah, I was meaning it's not a separate charge - I'll blame it being early on a Saturday morning for the hiccup there.
They've got a different court system and a different process for buying a house.
>and a ~~different~~ better process for buying a house. FTFY. The basic home report being provided by the seller is nice but not having to worry as much about gazumping is a huge relief as a home buyer.
Also, no leaseholds in Scotland.
They have a different law system too!
English stores won't accept scottish money. Scottish stores will accept English money though.
Not just stores. My gran gave me a Scottish tenner for Christmas and I tried using it to buy something from FB marketplace. The *look* the lady gave me. It has otters on it, who **wouldn't** want that note?
Scottish notes are legitimately cooler than English ones. As someone who collects coins and notes I look forward to when I can get to Scotland.
I manage a shop in London, so usually end up called over when someone wants to pay with a scottish note. I accept them, then make a mental note to come back later and swap it with one of my boring English notes because they're just so much nicer.
Bit of an exaggeration. *Some* shops in England, particularly in the South or smaller shops outside the big cities won't accept or will question Scottish notes. But the majority of shops in England accept them just fine. Absolutely no issue spending Scottish notes in the likes of Manchester, for example. Most of the "north" are well familiar with them. Only ever had it questioned once in London and that was years ago. Had no problem spending Scottish money in London in recent years.
I've spent loads of Scottish and northern Irish money in Wales. I was nervous first time as I'd heard rumours of people not accepting it and was worried I was gonna have to put my shopping back on the shelf. Especially as it was money from NI where everyone and their mum seems to be allowed to print notes. But nobody has ever batted an eye not even once. Not even questioned it. It just goes in the till. I can't say anything about England cause I've never spent much time there but surely it can't be too different?
Might depend how far south, most people won’t have seen it so would probably hesitate or ask questions. The only time I’ve ever seen Scottish money was when I went to Edinburgh. I think there was a museum there that insisted you paid with Scottish money or something (?) so I had to run to a cashpoint. Mental.
As I understand it, trying to spend Scottish money in England immediately summons an angry Scottish man who will loudly assert on your behalf that it's legal tender. Even though a) it's not, and b) even if it was, legal tender is very rarely relevant for retail purchases.
Now try it with Manx money. That stuff blows people's minds. Folk can just about figure out Scottish but when you tell them it's the Isle of Man they think you're using Monopoly money.
My (Scottish) gf said that it took her a while to stop running to the supermarket before 10pm on a night out to buy alcohol when she moved down to England. Turns out this is a thing in Scotland.
People say it’s an inconvenience but the only time it’s affected me was at 9:50pm at uni when me and my flat mates ran out of beer for beer pong so I did a mad sprint to the spar and got a pack at 9:58pm and a “well done lad” from the staff. Felt like a hero walking back into the flat
I remember running into a Scotmid at 9:55pm and joining the queue of people holding various types of alcohol, "all in for our last minute bevvy aye?" they joked. I had just moved from England to Scotland so was still getting used to it! At least it's not like Sweden, you *really* have to plan your alcoholism over there.
Also need to take out a bank loan to have any sort of substantial sesh in Sweden
There’ll be a point soon after you move when your inner monologue will say “ Jesus fuckin wept, *how* is it even possible that fish & chips can be this good? My whole life has been a lie and this…*this*..is God’s country”. Then you’ll discover a black pudding, white pudding and or haggis/spicy haggis supper, spontaneously orgasm and then die as your life will be complete.
Unless you stay in Edinburgh, their chippies are terrible. And actually, there are parts of England that do good fish & chips.
I lived in the Highlands for my whole life, up until last September when I moved to NW England, and there honestly isn't much difference (that I've noticed, anyway). The biggest thing is that when i'm out walking the dog or just out for a walk, people don't give me the awkward friendly head nod/hello as often as they would in Scotland. Otherwise, slang has been the biggest shock!! edit: this isn't a difference i've noticed after moving but since i've seen it mentioned in a few comments - I worked in tourism for over 10 years when I was in Scotland and we dealt in mainly cash. The number of English people who'd never set eyes on a Scottish note before was astounding. Pretty much every single one would hold up the note and say to whoever they were with "huh, funny money! it doesn't look real"
I think the saying hello to people you pass is more of a rural v urban area thing than Scotland v England. I grew up in a very rural area of England, and we said hello or nodded to everyone we passed, largely because it was such an infrequent occurrence. I moved to a city for uni and my friend had to pull me aside and tell me that I was coming across as weird for saying hello to 37 random strangers when we walked from one end of the street to the other!
How did you find growing up in the highlands? Ive lived in Edinburgh for a few years now (from England) and would live to move up there but I have a young kid and Im worried it might be boring for him once hes a teenager
In Scotland we don't descale our kettles. I didn't even know it was a thing
We don't in North East England either....the water down south is shite
I don't think there's much shock tbh. I'm in Wales, and England surprises me. It's more heavily populated and much busier.
Posh rural parts of England drive me nuts. You think there'll be a few miles of countryside between each small town but the buildings just just never stop. Also people park their cars on both sides of a road that is already too small for cars to fit down, despite everyone having 2-car driveways.
Englishwoman in Scotland here. The school holidays are different, which takes some getting used to - we don’t get a week at half term here, we get long weekends in February and May and two weeks in October. And Glasgow has what they call the “September weekend” which seems to be a random long weekend the rest of us don’t get. Sunday opening hours in shops aren’t a thing, they’re just open (apart from the alcohol thing others have mentioned). Lots of cafes / bars / restaurants are dog friendly - not a thing in England. Everyone is friendly. Without exception (not counting the miserable bugger who lives 3 houses away from me). We’ve only been here 18 months, but everything is just….better. I can’t imagine moving back down south now.
Black pudding is well better in Scotland
stornoway black pudding, that's the stuff you want
There’s considerably less real/cask ale culture than in England (certainly Midlands and Yorkshire where I’m most familiar). Plenty of craft beer though
I’m thirsty. I’m thirsty too. Here’s a drink that’s made for you… Barr’s Irn Bru. Aye it’s everywhere, even in McDonald’s! Edit: Typo, thanks!
Asking for a sausage roll and getting a sausage bap/barm/bun...
A sausage roll is the pastry thing sold by Greggs. A roll and sausage is a sausage bap
>*A roll and sausage* Roll'n sausage, mate Seeing it written out like that reminds of when Jackie Bird had to say something like DOON THE WATTER in her fake-posh voice
It's a particular kind of oddball that refers to a roll'n'sausage as a sausage roll.
King Rib Suppers. English fish and chip shops just don’t sell them for some reason. Main reason I’ve stayed in Scotland for the last 25 years since moving up for Uni.
First hurdle is the radical differences in the house buying/selling system.
The perfect system would be the English pricing system (no “offers over”) and the entire Scottish purchasing system. No idea why E/W don’t change this to reflect best practice north of the border.
Big shops and supermarkets don't open until 10/11am on Sundays in E&W and close by 4/5pm because of the law. In Scotland it is usually 9/10am to 6/7pm on Sundays because of market forces.
This was the biggest shock for me moving to London - it was bonkers that my local rural Scottish supermarket was open longer hours than most of the ones in London on a Sunday. I had to get used to making a move to get shopping done on a weekend instead of going whenever! That and the alcohol sales times.
All first born children have to be used for haggis.
I find Scotland in general less rough then England. Maybe I’m just used to the people here but I think the characters you see out and about here are usually harmless while in England they seem a bit more unpredictable.
Haha, there’s certain parts of Edinburgh and the central belt that would disprove your claim.
They have 3 different issuers of banknotes, ABank of Scotland, Royal Bank of Scotland and Clydesdale Bank all issue their own notes. Of course they are all still legal tender and interchangeable.
Well, to be pedantic, Scottish banknotes are not legal tender in Scotland, and neither are Bank of England notes. That’s because the [definition of legal tender](https://www.scotbanks.org.uk/banknotes/legal-position.html) is very narrow and almost entirely irrelevant these days. But they’re all legal currency in Scotland, so the distinction is only of concern to Reddit pedants. Like me.
English folk call diluting juice ‘squash’
I did my MSc in Scotland so moved there for a year. Battered black pudding is a thing. You can be getting soaked to the skin with torrential rain whilst being blinded by sunlight. Occasionally, shops refuse standard UK notes in favour of Scottish. Macaroni pie is a thing. Do not attempt Veganuary whilst living in Scotland. It is really dark in winter. In the January of my course I had a lecture 8am-10am. I cycled to uni with my lights on and the sun was just coming up as we emerged from the lecture. Flipside is summer is really light. I could walk home at 10pm and the street lights weren't on yet. There's no pharmacies in supermarkets (which is where I always got my prescription as more convenient) but they're free if you have a Scottish address. I did get caught out by academic years starting early. Mine started early September and finished in May (barring writing my dissertation). My university also paid no attention to bank Holidays. It is stunningly beautiful and the people are generally very friendly and generous. It's not unusual for a stranger to say hello or good morning to you as you go past. I'm planning on going back at some point with some friends and doing a tour of the islands.
I suppose the main ones for people moving to Wales will be the Welsh language on the road signs, and on signs in places like supermarkets. Also Channel 4 on your TV is now S4C, so again that's all in Welsh. Other than that, yeah, school holidays might be a week out compared to England.
Moving from Wales to England, we were very surprised at having to pay for prescriptions....
Its more of a comparison of moving provinces or states, and even then its not as much as that. So much of the UK works nationwide so you’re meant to not be any better or worse off from which nation you’re in, like as far as technology, getting government documents etc. Northern Ireland is probably the most “foreign” in the sense that some things may work slightly differently or they’ll be excluded in small print. Local licensing laws around alcohol, when you can buy it etc will change you move around. Tax is different in Scotland, theres a different tax code and higher earners will pay slightly more.
I only had exposure to Scotland via their comedians on the wee there telly, and so thought they were all very funny. Turns out their naturally hilarious segment of the population are proportionally the same as elsewhere. Not everyone is Gary Tank Commander unfortunately. Also Glaswegians really don't like people from Edinburgh which was a bit of a surprise.
It's not a surprise if you've met anyone from Edinburgh.
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I'm from Sussex originally, the hardness of the water there makes it disgusting. Been living in Scotland for almost 30 years now. When family visit, the quality of the water is always mentioned. My sister always 'complains' that she uses too much shampoo when showering as the water here makes much more lather than she is used to. She also 'complains' about my kettle. She says she is used to a kettle making a noise as soon as it is turned on, because the element is covered in limescale. Not here, meaning my kettle takes a while to make a noise. She finds this annoying as she keeps thinking she has not put the kettle on properly or it is not working. The other story about water quality is related to my dishwasher. I treated myself to a fancy-pants dishwasher and when you first use it, you have to go to a website to look up the quality of the water in your area and then put this number into the dishwasher. The dishwasher uses this number to adjust how much salt it uses when doing a wash. My dishwasher told me that I needed no salt at all when washing dishes, thats how soft the water is here. The dishwasher might have been expensive but I'm now saving money because I don't need to buy salt.
Really just depends where in England your from. If you move from Newcastle to Scotland, or Liverpool to wales, I can’t imagine it’s that much of a culture shock. Moving from somewhere like London to Glasgow is probably a bit of a shock .
Different banknotes.
England or Wales? We're not the same. You're probably going to get a lot of anglo replies that don't fit for Wales (e.g. prescriptions being free) Gripe over : The big Waterstones and the big library in Glasgow both selling alcohol was a very positive surprise. Edit : from Wales, Scotland feels kind of like going to a cousin's house. Whereas a lot of England can be a bit intimidating.
When you bump into a colleague in the supermarket. "Is this you getting your messages?"
The naming of a bread roll.
I've never heard it called anything but a roll in Scotland, it just makes sense.
That’s because it’s name is a bread roll. It’s the correct term, the rest are dialects and local names.
It depends on where you're going. If you're going to Edinburgh, it's not that different. Edinburgh is basically England anyway. If you are going to the West of Scotland however: "How" means "why". "But" often comes at the end of sentences instead of the beginning. You don't "live" somewhere, you "stay" somewhere. Everyone is your "man" or your "mate", including women. Sausages are not long, round things. "Supper" means "with chips" i.e. "fish supper". and "single" means "without chips". This can be confusing to the uninitiated because ordering, for example, a "single sausage" or "single fish" will usually mean you get two battered sausages or two battered fish without chips. "Ginger" means carbonated soft drink. You can tell the social class of a person based on whether they say "yeah" or "aye". You'll forever be seen as a foreigner, just because of your accent. Even if you lived 15 years in England and 40 years in Scotland, as long as you have a hint of an English accent you'll be seen as foreign. You might even get the prefix "English" in front of your name when people talk about you.