Traditions and customs of the British

“Every country has its customs”, says an English proverb. Englishmen are very proud of their traditions and carefully keep them up in everything. Even the appearances of an Englishman and his character have some specific features. To begin with, the English are very reserved. They don’t like to show their emotions and feelings. They don’t like any boasting or showing off in manners, dress or speech. Englishmen are very polite, even in the streets there is practically no noisy behavior or loud talk. People do not rush for seats in buses or trains, but take stand in queues at bus stops in a quiet manner.

The English are stay-at-home people. They prefer having their own house rather than having a flat. “An Englishman’s house is his castle”, says another proverb. When they don’t work they like to spend their days off at home with their families, working in the garden, growing flowers, etc. Englishman are in the habit of helping their wives about the house, they clean windows, cook supper. By the way, English people keep to their traditions even in meals.

Porridge is the dish Englishman are traditionally fond of. They say, even her Majesty the Queen begins her breakfast with a plate of porridge. Besides porridge they usually have bacon and eggs, marmalade with buttered toast, and tea or coffee. For a change they can have a boiled egg, cold ham, or perhaps fish.

At about 1 o’clock p. m. the English generally have lunch. If they have lunch at home, they enjoy cold meat, potatoes, salad and pickles, with a pudding or fruit to follow. In some houses dinner is the biggest meal of the day, with soup, meat, vegetables, etc. But in the evening there is usually a simple supper – an omelette, or sausage, sometimes bacon and sometimes just bread and cheese, a cup of tea or cocoa and fruit.

On the other hand, some families have dinner rather late in the evening. In this case they do without any supper.

The English are great tea-drinkers. They drink a quarter of all the tea grown in the world. They know how to make-tea and what it does for you. “Seven cups of it wake you up in the morning, nine cups will put you to sleep at night”, joke the world’s greatest tea-drinkers.

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16. Словари.