'Americans: why not pretend to be Canadian?'

[MADem]

2. That is rather hilarious!

This bit (besides the East End snark and the remark about the Boris Bike bank advert) appealed the most to me: http://www.guardian.co.uk/sport/2012/jul/16/etiquette-guide-visitors-london-olympics?commentpage=2#start-of-comments

• Pay no attention to those bow-tied etiquette experts you sometimes see on CNN International, telling you how to behave while in Britain. These people are generally of dubious provenance, normally live in California and tend to peddle advice that is either irrelevant or out of date. For example, they will often say that Britons love queuing and are so fond of apologising that they will often say "sorry" even when something isn't their fault. In reality, Britons are just as likely to jump to the front of a queue and then punch the person behind them for coughing. It all depends on how muggy it is.

• British people may seem to apologise a lot, but it doesn't quite mean the same thing here. In the UK, "I'm sorry" actually means either a) I didn't hear you; b) I didn't understand you; or c) I both heard and understood you, and I think you're an idiot.

• You might expect locals to be, in the circumstances, a bit defensive about the weather. But it's true: it really doesn't rain like this every summer. This is exceptional, which is why it's so cold in your hotel room. There aren't normally this many soldiers in the streets either. No, honestly.....


• London's bike hire scheme couldn't be simpler, by the way: just go up to the terminal at any docking station, pay by card and take away one of our so-called "Boris bikes". When you're done with it, simply throw it into the nearest canal. They're disposable!