I actually had to look up “Smarmy”.. it didn’t mean what I thought it did.
I regularly get picked up about my sense of humour, in both worlds. I daresay it’s one of the first traits that anyone will pick up from me – I have a wickedly dry sarcastic tone, coupled with a quick wit and a tongue which has absolutely no connection to my brain. The other day, someone said they aspired to be as witty – that arranged can be. No, really.
Renounce your nationality and pledge allegiance to Her Majesty The Queen.
Brits have a natural flair for witty and dry humour. It’s everywhere.. it’s what rocks our socks. We make fun of every situation, regardless of how grave. It’s how we deal and it’s how we function. We know how to laugh at ourselves, and we don’t take ourselves too seriously. Heck, you can’t when you just lost your empire.
We enjoy our humour, and we’ll take any chance we can to make satire of a situation. It’s the background of where so many of my “funnies” posts come from.. we’re a nation of people who love a good laugh, usually at someone else’s expense.
One of my favourite TV shows in the UK is “Have I Got News For You” which takes a satirical look at the week’s news events, and it is the pinnacle of all that is British humour. We never take politics seriously in Britain – you have to look and behave the part to be in a position of power. We’d never elect an Austrian former bodybuilder-turned filmstar to Parliament, let alone a gaffe-prone cowboy. Heaven help us, but we most definately wouldn’t elect a short, angry guy with a dodgy moustache to run the country. We’d be far too busy rolling around the floor, clutching our sides and laughing.
But us Brits are truly funny when we lose our cool.. mainly because you don’t even realise it. Unlike Americans, we don’t take out 9 people with a shotgun in the office. Us Brits, on the other hand, are completely apathetic.. and then we ask “Okay.. what now?”. When we’re really pissed off, we write a letter. It’s the British way.. you can’t knock it.
I’m sometimes told that where you’re from and who you are in First Life bears little insignificance to who you are in Second Life.. they try to make out that you can be anyone. But I’m of the opinion that that is just not true. Who we are in you in the First Life shapes your personality, your confidence and the way your think, act and behave. All traits which are clearly evident in Second Life.
So I figure that although Second Life levels the play field for a lot of people, we’re all essentially constrained by our real life personas. In my case, I’m apparently a “smarmy Brit”, which I can live with. I’m happy being who I am, and I won’t try to hide it in Second Life.
My thoughts are don’t try to be someone else.. there’s too much of that going on, and everyone needs to find their own space, doing their own thing for us to all co-habit together in this virtual world. Be happy with who you are, not with who you want to be.. because if you try to be someone you’re not, you’re never going to get there.
And swearing an oath to the Crown isn’t really going to help you either.
Bailey Longcloth on December 3, 2008
Smarmy Brit ROFLMAO That so suits you.
They can however swear an oath of fealty to the Crown and Pearl.
Natalya Homewood on December 3, 2008
*Google defines smarmy* hehehe oh yus
Yay for making a joke out of serious situations I say, lifes too short to take everything seriously!
(apart from dance, dance is a very serious subject
)
Bailey Longcloth on December 3, 2008
Life is way too short Natty!
I love that Prad can poke fun at himself.
Gahum Riptide on December 3, 2008
Nah. Real life bleeds in at those un-antialiased edges.
Landsend Korobase on December 3, 2008
I’ve long had the knack for picking out who’s a Brit in SL, and preferring their company in SL above all other nationalities (sorry, please don’t throw stuff at me if you’re not from there, I’m not from there either, got no idea how I put up with my own company tbh). And the reasons why are the ones you’ve outlined above, particularly the sense of humour and the not taking life too seriously bits. When I used to go searching for other pubs in SL I’d always type in “UK” or “British” or “England” as a search term because it greatly increased my chances of actually enjoying the place.
Besides which, they have the best accents in the world. Ever waited for a song to finish just so you could hear the accent of the SL DJ again..? No? Me neither, but the closest I come to that is for the range of UK accents.
Another great post Prad, entertaining and thought-provoking. Been great to have so many lately to read and enjoy, keep them coming
Aribeth Coronet on December 6, 2008
You broke a nail? Tea.
Your washing machine broke down? Tea.
You’ve just been dumped? Tea.
What, you crashed your car? Let’s have tea!
The apocalypse is here?! TEA
Personally I can’t stand the stuff, but that does seem to be our nations’ solution to all of it’s problems. A cup of tea. And maybe a chocolate Digestive biscuit.
Eolande Elvehjem on December 7, 2008
the longer i live the more i’m convinced that my birth in the US and thus citizenship was some sort of mis-delivery error. i laughed at george w. bush too and now the rest of the nation is laughing along. wish everyone had been laughing *before* we elected him eh?
how does one defect from the effing USA anyway?
Pep Daniels on January 7, 2009
NOT AN ADVERT! A RECOMMENDATION TO THOSE WHO HAVE POSTED ABOVE
Watching the English: The Hidden Rules of English Behaviour – Kate Fox
There are only two types of people who should read this book. Firstly, the British (ignore the “English” in the title; the author explains that it is only there because it is NLP-positive from a foreign viewpoint, and will attract more readers than “Inhabitants of Several Smallish Islands Off Europe”) who may or may not have a self-comprehension of why they behave the way they do but will chuckle heartily at the finger being pointed straight at them, and secondly, anyone else who would like to attempt to obtain some degree of elucidation as to why we are as we are. Unfortunately the great majority of the world that don’t get it will still not get it . . .