Comments on: Why Brits like to talk about the weather

By: Anna

Anna — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 19:25:24 +0000

Hey, this made me chuckle – I’ve just started up TheAnglofile.net and tackled it as one of my first subjects!
Amy is absolutely right. We Brits talk about the weather all the time and yet, there is SO little to talk about! We had a (teeny tiny) tornado in Birmingham a couple of years ago and people will probably talk about that for about a decade. We really use it as smalltalk.
So your blog really brought a smile to my face! Thanks!
Anna

By: Paula Newman

Paula Newman — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 11:30:01 +0000

People where I live (East Coast US) talk about the weather, sure. I’m sure people everywhere talk about the weather. But when I visited the UK a few years ago, almost everyone I spoke with mentioned English weather. I think the English are not at all happy with the weather on their island, and it does seem to me to be a topic that’s always on their mind.

I speak with people in the UK on a daily basis as part of my work, and I get frequent reports about what kind of weather they’re having, more so than I would if speaking with people in the US.

By: Frugal Kiwi

Frugal Kiwi — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 17:00:32 +0000

Here in New Zealand we definitely talk about the weather. Auckland is known for having “Four Seasons in One Day.”

By: dianaburrell

dianaburrell — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 13:04:40 +0000

Heh, Amy. My husband shuts me up fast whenever I start complaining about New England cold. He’s from Michigan.

I also forgot to say that I often go to London in February because it’s warmer/nicer than it is here in Boston. So it cracks me up to hear Londoners crabbing about the “miserable cold.”

By: Amy

Amy — Wed, 23 Sep 2009 12:22:54 +0000

Oh, please. Here in Minnesota, the weather is a HUGE topic of conversation. And Britain? We gots 100+ degree weather with high humidity in the summer; gorgeous fall days; 30-below windchills and deep snowstorms in the winter; and if we get enough snow, we watch spring rains very closely lest all the rivers start flooding. We’ll take your weather talk and raise it a whole bunch.