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# Question.
Just out of curiosity, what is the legal drinking age in Britain? Oh, and btw, what is the difference between 'Britain' and 'England'? Aren't they the same thing? Why the two different words? Please help set an ignorant American straight... ^^;;
(I helped save b3ta! LittleDinosaur, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:08, archived)
# 18
or 17 with a provisional License ;)
Your confusion comes from maps like this I expect www.giervalk.bravepages.com/GreatBritain/Great-Britain-Map-1.jpg
(I helped save b3ta! Professor Fnord Regius Professor of B3ta Chronology, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:09, archived)
# ooh
where can i get a provisional drinking license?
fake ID just isn't my thing, you know.
(I helped save b3ta! _null_, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:10, archived)
# You need to pass the test
there's a written exam too, if you can write a legible sentence after 5 pints you pass. The hardest part of the test is the getting home part, if you reverse around a corner you fail, you need to get a taxi or call your mom.
(I helped save b3ta! Professor Fnord Regius Professor of B3ta Chronology, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:12, archived)
# and of course
the three point turn: Run to toilet, throw up, run back to bar, drink pint

repeat until out of pub.
(I helped save b3ta! _null_, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:14, archived)
# Provisional license?
Like a drivers license or is it a special drinking license? :-D
(I helped save b3ta! LittleDinosaur, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:10, archived)
# That was just a little
joke :)
(I helped save b3ta! Professor Fnord Regius Professor of B3ta Chronology, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:13, archived)
# Yeah,
Maps just like that one. I should probably visit sometime... too bad I have no money. And ESPECIALLY no Euros. How hard do you think it is to get a visa around there?
(I helped save b3ta! LittleDinosaur, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:15, archived)
# you wont get far
on Euros here, sonny jim.
We don't like johnny foreigner.
(I helped save b3ta! Sir Sand GOBLIN ^popular page dis, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:18, archived)
# Visa as in credit card?
Very easy, I owe thousands
we don't use euros here matey
(I helped save b3ta! Penile, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:21, archived)
# oh
didn't know you didn't use the euros. I mean permission to live and work there.
(I helped save b3ta! LittleDinosaur, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:28, archived)
# No visa for visiting
other than that, get a job first would be the best idea - same as if we wanted to come over there.
(I helped save b3ta! JustHere4Coffee remembers when all o' this were car parks, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:37, archived)
# just apply for asylum
and live off the state.

I dunno how hard it is, it's bloody dificult to get one to live and work in the US, costs a canny bit as well
(Janie, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:38, archived)
# lesse
age for drinking: 18

england is just part of britain. Britain is made up of england, wales and scotland. the UK is made of Britain and Northern Ireland

/short fat angry welshman
(I helped save b3ta! _null_, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:09, archived)
# 18
for the booze
(I helped save b3ta! Terry Oblong There's nobody here but us chickens on, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:09, archived)
# Meow Meow Meow Meow
England is a country. Scotland is a country. Wales is a country N Ireland is also (depending on who ya speak to) a country. They make up Great Britain.

I think thats right. he he

oh and 18 for the drink
(I helped save b3ta! Pete Donaldson, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:10, archived)
# but wales is a principality, not a kingdom
and therefore is not directly a part of the uk (which isn't the same thing as "britain") /needless additional factoid

my advice to any johnny foreigners who don't know which is which, is to get it as wrong as possible. anyone who cares about such matters deserves to be wound up a bit
(I helped save b3ta! spacefish bong!, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:15, archived)
# So...
Would a person from Scotland be called British? Or Scottish? Or is it Scotch? Gah! The confusion! ::Grabs head and falls over::
(I helped save b3ta! LittleDinosaur, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:18, archived)
# Someone from Scotland...
...like me is both Scottish and British.

We hold British passports, but we do have a sense of national identity seperate from the rest of the UK (as do the other component countries).

And never, ever call people Scotch - we are Scottish.

Only eggs, whisky and mist can be called Scotch :) Oh... and tape.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:20, archived)
# Moop
I will take careful note of that. Around here, some people are considered of "Scotch-Irish" decent... when the scotts moved to ireland for a while (becoming ireland-ized or something) and then moved to America. So what's up with that term?
(I helped save b3ta! LittleDinosaur, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:25, archived)
# The Scots and Irish...
...are quite closely related. There has always been a lot of migration between the two countries.

Both still have a celtic language (Gaelic) and some parts of Northern Ireland actually speak Scots (it's kind of a Scottish version of English, but too complicated to explain quickly)

Basically the two countries have pretty much the same descendants.

[edit] remember though, it's Scotch Whisky and Irish Whiskey.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:28, archived)
# As far as I know
most scottish don't like being called scotch coz that's a drink.
Technically that's of scottish decent because there's no actual Irish blood mixed in (unless there is then basically you'r fucked coz you end up being Ginger, freckly and burn easily)

like me
(Janie, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:31, archived)
# It has nothing to do with Scots (1 T, note) moving to Ireland and then America
rather, it has to do with the Celtic origins of both the scots and the irish, and the inability of Americans to remember words like Celtic due to there not being a Celtland.

You live in the North American continent, but you're a United States citizen. Canadians also live in North America, but they're not Americans, are they? That's about the simplest way of explaining the difference between England and Britain.
(I helped save b3ta! JustHere4Coffee remembers when all o' this were car parks, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:32, archived)
# Yeah...
...but celtic also includes the Welsh.

*ducks*
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:35, archived)
# Y'know...
I've never heard any american refer to themselves as being of welsh descent...
(I helped save b3ta! JustHere4Coffee remembers when all o' this were car parks, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:36, archived)
# Hmmmm...
...I am making up the figures slightly, but I believe ther are 14 million Americans of Scottish descent, but arount 18 million who claim to be.

If I had learned to play the bagpipes when I was younger, my uncle could have gotten me a stupid amount of work playing at stuff in America. I would be rolling in it, just for playing at a few highland games and stuff.

Why the fuck did I learn the guitar instead.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:40, archived)
# Celts
are also native of Devon & Cornwall
(I helped save b3ta! GR33DY, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:46, archived)
# does it?
I didn't know that. I do know that If britain hadn't been invaded so much we'd all be talking like the welsh, they're the true Britons
(Janie, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:49, archived)
# Britain is England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.
The British Isles also includes Southern Ireland.
And considering you bothered to find out, I would say you are 100% less ignorant than most Americans.
(I helped save b3ta! Sir Sand GOBLIN ^popular page dis, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:11, archived)
# What's this????!
An American that wants to learn? WE NEED MORE!!! BREED, OLD BOY, BREED!!!
(I helped save b3ta! JollyJack - a stench from the past, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:14, archived)
# Northern Ireland...
...isn't part of Great Britain. It is part of the UK though.

Look at your passport.

(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:18, archived)
# oops
i don't have a passport.
(I helped save b3ta! Sir Sand GOBLIN ^popular page dis, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:19, archived)
# Then how do you get back into the country...
...when you smuggle the immigrant labour in?
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:21, archived)
# i've got someone on the outside.
Also, I have a few sweatshops I remotely manage.
(I helped save b3ta! Sir Sand GOBLIN ^popular page dis, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:26, archived)
# does it?
I wasn't aware that the british isles included the rep or ireland, they're gonna be Maaaaaad!
(Janie, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:33, archived)
# .
As far as I know, it's 18.
(Angelblood, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:12, archived)
# Oh, ok.
Thanks for the geography lesson... they don't teach us about that stuff in school... we don't really learn about Britain or Russia or SE Asia or Scandinavia or Greenland. There are classes on all the rest though. Kinda silly, really.
(I helped save b3ta! LittleDinosaur, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:13, archived)
# Legal drinking=18
Britain is the island, England is the island, excluding Scotland & Wales (unless you are a militant Yorkshire/Cornwall/geordie...)
(I helped save b3ta! Duncan Disorderly, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:14, archived)
# You are allowed to drink...
...at age 16 in Britian, but only wine, beer or cider if accompanying a meal in a licensed restaraunt.

Otherwise, as everyone else has said, 18.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:16, archived)
# What about a fifth of vodka
and a packet of crisps?
(I helped save b3ta! EvS, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:18, archived)
# Depends...
...which part of Glasgow you are in :)
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:18, archived)
# I thought wine with meals was 14
not 16
(I helped save b3ta! Captain Nostril, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:20, archived)
# Nope...
...its definitely 16.

At least it is round here - may be different in England.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:22, archived)
# you can 'drink' at any age really when given it by your parents
you just can't BUY it.
(I helped save b3ta! Professor Fnord Regius Professor of B3ta Chronology, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:24, archived)
# Yes...
...that should be pointed out.

Well done Fnord.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:29, archived)
# more points against the US
in my opinion
(I helped save b3ta! kitty meow meow, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:32, archived)
# Why?
same thing applies there - you can DRINK at any age, you just can't BUY until you're 21 (in the majority of states... they're kinda like mini-countries, bound together by a single currency and top-level bureaucracy... this is totally different to Europe, which is bound together by a single currency and top level bureaucracy...)
(I helped save b3ta! JustHere4Coffee remembers when all o' this were car parks, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:35, archived)
# no
I don't think that's true.

Anyone who gives an underage person alcohol can get into serious trouble.

And if that isn't really the law, that's what they make it sound like
*brainwashed
(I helped save b3ta! kitty meow meow, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:38, archived)
# it's something
like that. Also don't forget that anyone (over the age of 5 i think) can drink in their own home
(I helped save b3ta! Spoon, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:26, archived)
# Blimey, when did they put that up?
Anyway its legal to drink from the age of 5,
at home. Although its parents/guardians that get into trouble if you overdo it.

And apparently its legal to buy a child a drink for consumption in a pub garden (which I guess doesn't count as licensed premises)

Also boats are not covered by the licencing laws...
(I helped save b3ta! Captain Nostril, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:32, archived)
# Once you are a certain distance out to sea...
...in international waters, I don't think any laws apply.

...but I still wouldn't risk murder or that, just in case.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:34, archived)
# 14
is when you can sit in the front of a car legally
or was my mum telling me fibs?
(I helped save b3ta! Penile, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:25, archived)
# That evil
bitch!
(I helped save b3ta! EvS, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:27, archived)
# You can sit anywhere in the car...
...provided you have the appropriate restraint for your size.

For anyone under 14, it is the driver's responsibility to make sure you are wearing a seatbelt.

After that it's your own call, but also your own fine if you are caught.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:32, archived)
# Scotland lose at football
most of the time.

England don't lose as often apart from tonight when they get their arses kicked.
(I helped save b3ta! beaubodor blogless, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:18, archived)
# ...
...First part - sadly true.

...second part - hopefully so.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:23, archived)
# and all britons are united in believing that their team is the best
and being hideously wrong
(I helped save b3ta! spacefish bong!, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:23, archived)
# Except the Scots...
..of course :)

We know we are shit, but watch it anyway.
(I helped save b3ta! Mystery_Bob, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:25, archived)
# I adopt the Doctor Who pose
when watching the footie or rugby these days.

/settee
(I helped save b3ta! beaubodor blogless, Wed 2 Apr 2003, 19:32, archived)