What makes the British British ?

My post about being British reflects what i have known all my life.
I have always lived in the South of England so that is why i put what i did, just as someone who lives in the North may put something else which is a British tradition for them.
I didn't meant to insult anyone Scottish, Irish or Welsh or infer that only English people are British.
I hope I am not digging a hole for myself. Gulp !!!!!

It’s hard to describe what the essence of British Humour is, I personally think it’s the ability to be able to laugh at ourselves, ( although of course there are times when that becomes extremely difficult ?)

Travalsafar, if your Post offenders anyone then all I can say is , to borrow a phrase from Dads Army - We are all Doomed- ?

No travel not offensive at all. Just rather sweeping generalisations!
Possibly more accurate in the England of Miss Marple or To the Manner Born?
At least you didn't imply that the 4 countries of the UK are no more than counties!
And if ever you you find a few of these activities in Scotland, perhaps I owe you a decent bottle of malt!

Inventing wonderful sport(s) and then more often than not getting beat!.
?⚽⛳⚾?

To year after year get excited about the possibility of an actual sporting achievement.?

Lots of good suggestions but here's Another: the French and British suffer from different complaints. My French teacher who is British but has lived in France for over 20years told me that while we are under the weather or have headaches and sore backs, the French suffer from heavy legs. They are also more likely to use homeopathy which we scorn as a nation.
My American friend has just told me that whereas in the States the buses say Out of Service, here they say; Sorry out of Service

Inventing wonderful sport(s) and then more often than not getting beat!.

Only the British would excel at sports such as cheese rolling, bog snorkelling, space hopping, wife carrying, stiletto shoes running and boat tug of war. Those furriners wouldn't stand a chance against those champs!

I have recently been listening to a Paul Temple series on Radio IPlayer. Paul Temple and his wife Steve have a man servant who calls them by their surname and cooks for them and drives them about and does anything that is required. I told DH I would have loved to have lived in those times, but I would have wanted to be Stevie not Charlie. ?

I think it is also the sense of humour which has not much to do with the stand up comics of today. It is situation humour laughing about a mistake. Even laughing about yourself or being able to laugh at yourself in a serious situation.
Yes
And the Antiques Road Show situation - a friend was on there and had something valued (not tens of thousands but certainly worth a lot more than she thought) and she said 'Oh Really? How nice, worth a bit more than we thought'

Cheese rolling - they are mad as hatters

The British do queue politely which often means they strike up conversations with complete strangers and often exchange their life stories and find they have a lot in common with each other.

The WI

Re queueing, it's the Yanks who do that maybe even more! Only they don't call it queueing - it's 'waiting in line'.

Definitely moaning about the weather, no matter what it's like. When I worked on the front line with the public, it was non-stop - too cold, too hot, too windy, too wet, too dry, too 'muggy', you name it.

Yes, discussing the weather every day!

Not everyone queues like we do. We were abroad on holiday, with quite a lot of people waiting at a coach station.
The coach arrived and there was an almighty scrum, with people pushing and shoving to get on first. We don't do that, thankfully. Not nice seeing elderly people being elbowed out of the way.

NanKate
We mix with a lot of Germans in Spain. Generally speaking their humour reflects ours, the Dutch are the same.
The scandinavians don't 'get it'
And the French, well, they just don't mix with other nationalities, generally speaking
But we put this down to the language barrier.

The French sense of humour is totally different from our British one Petra very often our jokes fall flat or pass by unnoticed.

If the Chinese are to be believed, it is fish and chips. Chinese tourists are flocking to a fish and chip shop near York, so much so the owner has had the menu translated into Chinese and Japanese. He also has a Chinese website.

I can't remember the last time I saw a proper 'British queue' for a bus here in Northwest London. But when the bus arrives all the men and younger people hang back until the older and less able people get on. I should add that I am usually the only indigenous person in the queue so politeness is clearly international.

Your favourite sandwich being a cucumber sandwich!
Self deprecating humour.
Resiliance.

Not anymore though.

Sarcasm, I can't think of any other country that uses sarcasm as well as we do.

We are polite and quick to laugh at ourselves. We love dogs or cats and delight in a proper cup of tea. But our stiff upper lips may have been relaxed by Diana's death.

Thanks for mentioning Henning Wehn, NanKate. I’ve just googled what he’s up to and ended up booking tickets for his current tour.

The German sense of humour is nothing like the British. Henning is funny because, having lived in both countries, he knows the differences and has built his act around them.

Not sure if my MIL was being British or just couldn't be bothered. - When my 10 year old son was left in her care for a week he fell over, knocked his head, broke off half of his front tooth and cut his lip open. He told her he didn't feel quite right and thought she should take him to A&E to be checked out. Her response was "oh there's no need for that - we'll have a nice cup of tea!"

All those mentioned adding obsession with owning property.

Enjoying a proper cuppa tea. Nobody else seems capable of making one.

All the above plus stoicism and being very very accomodating.

Yes, yes, yes all the above.

Nice cup of tea to cure anything.
The weather
We are very much dog lovers
Restrained, yes that's us!
Love a nice queue
Hate the long windy ones as airports and will comment on it.

I love us all.........