What's not to love about being British? Afternoon tea, The Great British Bake Off and, of course, the Queen are just some of the reasons we're proud to call ourselves Brits.
But it's always better when those from across the pond are also happy to admit that Britain is better.
So imagine our delight when we spotted this list from American blogger Ivy Lee, who's detailed all the reasons why the US falls short of Britain.
The blogger, from California, published the list on Quora in response to a question on the forum: 'What do the British do better than the Americans?'
And Ivy provided 23 brilliant reasons, mentioning everything from custard creams and longer holidays to the fact that we know how to queue 'primly and properly' (we'll admit, the ability to queue properly takes years of practice).
Of course, the list included the British accent which is 'more attractive than the American accent. This is just an indisputable fact of nature'. And with stars like Benedict Cumberbatch and Maggie Smith representing the UK across the pond, we're not surprised.
Other hilarious reasons why the Brits do it best is because 'they call hamburger beef burger because it's clearly made of beef', and 'they call soccer football because it's clearly played with the foot.' You can't argue with that.
Ivy's appreciation for British music and literature was also clear, as she said: 'They produced Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Chronicles of Narnia, Sherlock Holmes while we produced Twilight.'
'They produced Adele, David Bowie, Elton John, Mick Jagger, Coldplay, Radiohead, Muse, Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Smiths, The Libertines, The Who? (The British), The Faces, The Waterboys, The Buzzcocks, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Zombies, The Slits, The Stone Roses, The Cure, The Darkness while we didn't.'
Although we can be guilty of moaning about our 'occasional' miserable weather, Ivy even found the positives, admitting that we 'know how to appreciate the sun because though the sun never sets in the British empire, it rarely shines in the motherland'.
Well, this has definitely cheered us up!
See the full list below:
1. They call hamburger beef burger because it's clearly made of beef. 2. They call soccer football because it's clearly played with the foot. 3. They use the SI system because so does the rest of the world. 4. Their sockets can be switched off because it's easier, safer and more energy efficient. 5. They look at the day first, as in dd/mm/yy instead of mm/dd/yy because for around 30 days in a row, the month is the same as yesterday. 6. They have the full English breakfast while we have the full sugar and preservatives cereal. 7. They have portion control, resulting in higher life expectancy while we have supersized everything (because why not?), resulting in obesity (this is why not). 8. They have nice relaxing afternoon teas with custard cream biscuits while we drown ourselves in Starbucks just to maintain functionality. 9. Their native sports, football, rugby, cricket are adopted internationally while our sports reside mainly in America. 10. They have 28 days of paid holiday by law, not including maternity leave, sick leave, etc. while we have 10. 11. They have free universal healthcare, praised as the best in the world, while we remain the only developed country (out of 33) that doesn't. 12. They have Charles Darwin on their 10 pound note while we are 42% creationist. 13. They produced Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Chronicles of Narnia, Sherlock Holmes while we produced Twilight. 14. They produced Adele, David Bowie, Elton John, Mick Jagger, Coldplay, Radiohead, Muse, Queen, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin, The Beatles, The Rolling Stones, The Kinks, The Smiths, The Libertines, The Who? (The British), The Faces, The Waterboys, The Buzzcocks, The Sex Pistols, The Clash, The Zombies, The Slits, The Stone Roses, The Cure, The Darkness while we didn't. 15. Their national animal has a full head of mane while ours is bald. 16. They know how to primly and properly queue while we mass frenziedly. 17. They know how to primly and properly apologise, for everything. 18. They know how to primly and properly drive on the wrong side of the road. 19. They know how to appreciate the sun because though the sun never sets in the British empire, it rarely shines in the motherland. 20. They make better and greater varieties of chocolates, cheeses, cakes, alcoholic beverages and dishes with questionable names (bubble and squeak, spotted dick, singing hinnies). 21. They have a greater grasp of sarcasm, irony, self-deprecating humour and also, the entire English language. 22. They beat us at politeness and profanity at the same time. 23. The English accent is more attractive than the American accent. This is just an indisputable fact of nature.
What do you think of Ivy's list? Has she missed anything? Let us know in the comments below!
