TTT: Reasons I Love the UK

/ beckmank

Top Ten Tuesday

Top Ten Tuesday (TTT) brought to you by The Broke and the Bookish.

Ten Reasons I Love X — could be a certain book, character, author, your indie bookstore, a fandom, a tv show, reading, a hobby, a genre. Honestly anything you want to gush about.

Honestly I could gush about a lot of topics. From Harry Potter to British murder mysteries to BBC Sherlock to Benedict Cumberbatch. Wait a minute. I’m sensing a pattern here…

Ten Reasons I Love the United Kingdom

(From afar – I have not visited. Yet.)

1. Tea. I love a good cuppa. And over in the UK they seem to make tea time quite an event, with beautiful place settings and lovely food items to compliment that hot cup of tea.

2. Differences in British English vs. American English words – While much of our language is the same, there are some differences. I’ve read enough British mysteries that I find I now post a letter instead of mail it, go on holiday instead of vacation, and watch the telly instead of the TV. At work, I also find myself sometimes unconsciously typing the British spelling instead of the American one.

3. Pronunciation of British English vs. American English. I know there are a lot of different dialects and accents throughout the UK, and I adore them all. Americans seem to pronounce words harshly, take advertisement (ad-ver-tahyz-muh nt) or research (ree-surch). But listen to the lovely Brits below…just melts off the tongue.

 

4. Guinness. Here in Colorado, we are home to hundreds of local craft beer breweries. It’s wonderful. But Ireland’s got the one and only Guinness.

5. Scotland Yard. The setting of my favorite mysteries.

6. My Must-Watch Television Series. Sherlock. Downton Abbey. Broadchurch. Just to name a few.

7. Ploughman’s Lunch. I first read about this in one of my Scotland Yard mysteries. Honestly I can’t remember now if it was an Inspector Lynley, or an Inspector Jury. And I have never heard of anything more fantastic in my life. Bread and cheese? What’s not to love.

8. The Royal Family. Seriously, the Queen looks so sweet, and those cute great-grandchildren!

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9. Bond. James Bond.

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10. And let’s not forget those pretty faces. Like Benedict Cumberbatch, David Tennant, and Colin O’Donoghue.

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Yep. I think that about sums it up. 10 reasons why I love the UK! (This turned out to be a fun topic this week!)

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What about you? What was did you choose to rave about this week? What should I start fan girling over next? What fabulous thing about the UK did I miss?

Comment below, and link up to your own TTT if you’ve got one!

27 thoughts on “TTT: Reasons I Love the UK”

  5. AHHH I LOVE THIS. XD Yes the UK is intensely awesome! I’m Australian, so we share a fair few things in common with the Brits (except their fabulous accents, omg, jealous XD) like their affinity for tea and spelling with “ou” *nods* BUT AHHH ENGLAND HAS SOME OF THE THE BEST ACTORS OF EVER.
    Here’s my TTT!

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  6. I’m a fellow anglophile — though sadly I’ve not yet been there either — and I love your list! I too have learned tons of British words from novels and TV shows; going on “holiday” is one of my favorites, and for some reason I really like the British “lorry” over “truck” and “windscreen” over “windshield.” Speaking of TV, have you watched “Grantchester”? It’s another fun Masterpiece Mystery show set in England — with another handsome British actor. (P.S. My list is about Harry Potter this week!)

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    • I have not seen Grantchester yet – adding it to my list! I think it’s their accents that make the programs so good for me. I am trying to adopt “jumper” but I think I may actually like “sweater” better? Probably because jumper sounds better with the accent. 😉

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  7. Also a fellow Anglophile so wanted to share my favorite series, the Williamsburg novels by Elswyth Thane. Thane was an ambitious young woman from Iowa who married (not altogether happily) the Jacques Cousteau of her day, an explorer named William Beebe. The Williamsburg novels begin with Dawn’s Early Light, set at the beginning of the Revolutionary War. Later, Elsywth fell in love with England and moved the series there. The Light Heart includes some memorable scenes at the Tate Gallery – which was one of the first places I went when I made my first pilgrimage (visit). I even bought a poster which hangs in my living room to remind me.

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  10. Yeah I can’t help but think that tea over there would just be a different thing. 🙂 And I do appreciate the differences in English too especially when i come off a mystery or historical set over there… it’s just fun.

    And Guinness! And ploughman’s lunch- yum. In fact those last two together… pretty good combo!

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Sit down and share a cuppa with me. Let's discuss.