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Advice for foreigners on how Britons walk
BBC News ^ | 31st August 2014 | Mark Easton

Posted on 08/31/2014 12:55:44 PM PDT by the scotsman

We drive on the left, but which side do we walk on?

'Some friends from Australia asked me this question as we battled down London's Oxford Street the other day, weaving our way through determined shoppers, rushing office workers and ambling tourists.

The answer is we don't. The British have little sense of pavement etiquette, preferring a slalom approach to pedestrian progress. When two strangers approach each other, it often results in the performance of a little gavotte as they double-guess in which direction the other will turn.

The British are ambulatory anarchists. We are oblivious to the Rules for pedestrians helpfully published by Her Majesty's Government. There are 35 in total but, frankly, who knew and who cares?

Rule Number One tells us we must "avoid being next to the kerb with your back to the traffic" which implies we ought to walk on the left of the pavement. Such advice is blithely ignored, as any stroll down a busy high street will confirm.

An attempt to bring order to this chaos was suggested in 2000, amid reports of rising "pavement rage". The Fast Lane Campaign proposed designated coloured lanes for pedestrians walking along Oxford Street in London - a fast lane for those rushing to get from A to B and a slow lane for window-shoppers and dawdlers.

Inevitably, the idea was laughed away. One group representing the rights of pedestrians dismissed it as anathema to the anarchic spirit of British walkers.

The British are bemused by countries which police pedestrians - treating those who don't use designated crossings as criminals.

Telling people how to walk is simply not British.'

(Excerpt) Read more at bbc.co.uk ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; United Kingdom
KEYWORDS:
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To: the scotsman
drive
21 posted on 08/31/2014 3:49:42 PM PDT by real saxophonist (Youtube + Twitter + Facebook = YouTwitFace.com)
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To: Gay State Conservative

NYers hate people to walk three abreast. The sidewalks are narrow and 3 tourists walking slowly in a row absolutely breaks the stride. I always have to repel the desire to give then a push.


22 posted on 08/31/2014 4:00:53 PM PDT by miss marmelstein (Richard III: Loyalty Binds Me)
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To: dfwgator
Hell's grannies photo: Hell's Grannies hellgr1.jpg If you fall to the ground, they'll kick you to death.
23 posted on 08/31/2014 4:17:56 PM PDT by tumblindice (America's founding fathers: all armed conservatives.)
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To: the scotsman

I have noticed this. In the U.k., they walk all over the place. In Australia, the walk on the left.

But Oz is much more organized and civilized than Englandistan...


24 posted on 08/31/2014 4:23:28 PM PDT by Happy_Regicide
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To: DeFault User

Soooo..... I looked up nib for another meaning other than something to do with the end of a pen.

The closest definition I could find which might work was “a small pointed or projecting part “

Are you opening the door for her small, pointed, projecting boobs. :)


25 posted on 08/31/2014 4:41:16 PM PDT by Protect the Bill of Rights
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To: DeFault User

Seems I recall one etiquette rule (British?), that the gentleman walk on the outside or next to the kerb/curb and protect the lady from carriage splashes or other refuse (horse manure?) thrown up from the street.
*****************************
I was raised in Dallas TX in the ‘40s-’50s. Men always walked on the curb side of the sidewalk, with the women on the inside. Even in the late ‘60s that was generally the rule. I haven’t been to a downtown area in many years, so don’t know if it’s still done.


26 posted on 08/31/2014 4:46:39 PM PDT by octex
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To: DeFault User

You mean make the bitch walk closer to the buildings so she gets the chamberpots emptied on her and not you!


27 posted on 08/31/2014 4:58:37 PM PDT by Rodamala
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To: DeFault User

That’s what I recall from “The Golden Book Encyclopedia”, appx 1961.


28 posted on 08/31/2014 5:33:45 PM PDT by onedoug
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To: DeFault User

Not just British - also French and others... considered a common etiquette. Was in my Naval Officers etiquette manual as well. I always walk on the road side of my wife to this day - provided there is not a reason to do otherwise. Open doors for her too.


29 posted on 08/31/2014 5:39:27 PM PDT by reed13k (For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothings)
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To: Rodamala

Actually Parisian men walked on the outside because the chamber pots tended to arc out away from the building a bit when emptied - in addition, to catching splashes from the wagons and such...


30 posted on 08/31/2014 5:42:05 PM PDT by reed13k (For evil to triumph it is only necessary for good men to do nothings)
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To: dfwgator

I’d like to join a group like that.


31 posted on 08/31/2014 5:46:00 PM PDT by BunnySlippers (I LOVE BULL MARKETS . . .)
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To: the scotsman

When you on an escalator in London doing down to the tube, it is advisable to stand on the right. Otherwise you’re liable to get trod on by the well-dressed business people running down the left side of the down escalator.


32 posted on 08/31/2014 6:19:35 PM PDT by driftless2 (For long term happiness, learn how to play the accordion.)
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To: the scotsman
Walking? BAH! Try pushing a shopping cart through a crowded supermarket in England! It's a good thing that they are four wheel steer.

For a real adventure try a “B” road barely wide enough for one small car with oncoming Land Rovers, Bentleys and the occasional lorry at 60 MPH.

33 posted on 08/31/2014 8:51:21 PM PDT by OSHA (One despises and wants to destroy the United States, the other is a dead terrorist.)
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To: Protect the Bill of Rights
his /her nibs, Informal: Often Facetious. a person in authority, especially one who is demanding and tyrannical:
34 posted on 08/31/2014 10:08:12 PM PDT by DeFault User (What is the state bird of New Jersey? --Trick question, there are no birds in New Jersey.)
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To: DeFault User

Hah! There are times my family would call me a nib!


35 posted on 09/01/2014 5:09:20 AM PDT by Protect the Bill of Rights
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To: Protect the Bill of Rights

It has to be “her nibs” or “his nibs”. (I was thinking of my wife when I wrote the comment.) There is speculation on where it came from. The best I’ve heard is that it’s related to British slang, “nob”, a noble or person in authority. Terry Pratchett uses “nob” frequently in his novels.


36 posted on 09/01/2014 7:54:42 AM PDT by DeFault User (.)
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To: OSHA

Did that.

Also navigated eight-spoke roundabouts and small villages with cars parked on both sides of the “street.”

...all this while driving on the left side of the road from the right side of the car.

White knuckles all the way.


37 posted on 09/01/2014 7:58:48 AM PDT by Peter W. Kessler
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To: Brother Cracker

38 posted on 09/01/2014 10:45:54 PM PDT by Daffynition ("We Are Not Descended From Fearful Men")
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To: Daffynition

39 posted on 09/02/2014 3:28:45 AM PDT by Brother Cracker (You are more likely to find krugerrands in a Cracker Jack box then 22 ammo at Wal-Mart)
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To: Brother Cracker

40 posted on 09/02/2014 4:41:10 AM PDT by Daffynition ("We Are Not Descended From Fearful Men")
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