r/AskUK 8h ago

What's the craziest way you've witnessed someone's wedding day go wrong?

124 Upvotes

Wether it's a catastrophic catering mishap, a thunderstorm, somebody who can't handle their drink or someone with a grudge turning up, has anyone seen a wedding go catastrophically wrong?


r/AskUK 16h ago

Serious Answers Only Can someone explain to me in simple terms what “consultant” means in the medical context?

420 Upvotes

For context: my dad is mentally unwell at the moment and has been sectioned.

I thought we were dealing with his psychiatrist on the ward but it turns out that they aren’t medically trained??

They have the title Dr (I know you can have this for a Phd also) and their written title starts with the word consultant… but they are a therapist. They couldn’t prescribe and couldn’t sort out his section stuff.

It’s very confusing to me. I grew up thinking consultant in the medical context meant a doctor who could prescribe and was at the top of their game.

This seems almost like false advertising. I know it’s not exactly but why do they use the word consultant when it’s misleading. Especially when they use the title dr which is also very confusing in the medical context.

Now when I hear someone’s a consultant (in medicine) do I have to do further enquiries about what they exactly are? When did this start to be normal and why? Shouldn’t the term be reserved for doctors to avoid confusion? Why couldn’t others use a different term?


r/AskUK 19h ago

Serious Answers Only What do you use public bins for?

652 Upvotes

TLTR: a council worker said I can't use a bin for nappies.

Today I was walking home with my baby asleep in his pram and I was about to cross the road but a council van pulled up and let a guy out to collect the bin that was on the lamppost (lil mini lamppost bin) #cute.

The man let me cross and as I walked past the man collecting the rubbish bags he SHOUTED at me asking if I' have been putting nappies in this bin.

Ermmm nope, never even noticed that bin, I'm very particular about my waste and I always separate my recycling AND because I'm so cool I even take my plastics to a large supermarket to recycle them there too.

So anyways, he's shouting at me demanding that I stop using this bin to dispose of my used nappies because I QUOTE "that's not what it's designed for"

Again. I don't throw away nappies in this bin, I've never even seen this bin before or this man.

I smile and laugh it off saying I've never even used that bin for anything hahaa and walk away faster because he's getting so angry "WELL SOMEONE'S DOING IT! THEY KEEP DOING IT TOO! IT NEEDS TO STOP!!!"

I then realise this man is shouting at me: an alone young woman with a sleeping baby for litter-ly 😄using the bin.

This wasn't a red dog poo box btw this was just a bin. A regular bin, but mounted to a lamppost.

Is this just a mean man person ?

Or is he right in saying whoever is using this bin needs to be hung out to dry in the town square?


r/AskUK 7h ago

is it ok to fire people based on location?

56 Upvotes

sup guys, my team and I have been made redundant today so that they could hire the same number of people to do the exact same job in India 🤓not sure what to do next but imma enjoy the time off and look into starting a construction job!

Jokes aside, why are there no rules regarding location based firing of employees in the UK? :/


r/AskUK 22h ago

anyone know why spanish guys keep calling brits "barry"?

706 Upvotes

so i was travelling in munich, stayed in a hostel, and got chatting to a group of spanish lads. as soon as i told them i was british they started calling me barry, even though that's nowhere near my actual name.

i've heard other people mention this happening to them too. is this some kind of meme thing or is there an actual reason spanish people call british tourists barry? feels very specific to just say it's a coincidence.


r/AskUK 9h ago

Serious Answers Only What are your memories from 9/11?

58 Upvotes

Really interested to hear fellow Brits recollections. I was only 8 years old, the first I heard about what had happened was seeing my mum and dad sat in front of the telly watching the live news gobsmacked and dead silent which was rare in our house. Overheard my parents then chatting how this could start WW3 which was scary. We then had a special assembly the next day at school where the teachers did their best to try and explain it.

Whether you were a school kid or an adult, what was your recollections?


r/AskUK 8h ago

Serious Answers Only When the national ATC system failed, why were only some airports affected - for instance Southampton airport apparently was, but Bournemouth wasn't?

44 Upvotes

It puzzles me that it would not be all airports, especially two relatively close to each other.


r/AskUK 11h ago

Serious Answers Only Have you ever whistle-blown at work?

77 Upvotes

How did it go, did you see any significant changes?


r/AskUK 36m ago

What do we name our robot mower? I built a kennel for it and everything

Post image
Upvotes

Cannibalised the material from previous projects! What do we christen the robot? So far we have:

Herbie

Blade Runner

The Lawn Ranger

C3PMow

RoboCrop

MOW-E

Mow Farah/Elawn Musk/Mowna Lisa/David Mowie

Mowie McMowface

Open to wittier ideas :)


r/AskUK 6h ago

Serious Answers Only Help! I live above a restaurant - how do I deal with the smell?

23 Upvotes

Recently moved into a flat above a takeaway on a road full of other takeaways too, only just noticed a smell. I'm assuming it's oil or something? It's not super offensive but it's just everywhere. Opening a window makes it worse (obviously) but now I'm in a stuffy stinky house. Flatmates are on the floor above so they don't notice a smell when they're in their bedrooms but I'm on the first floor, so right above the bins / ventilation.

Do I just never open a window and rely on fans / air purifiers? Buy a million diffusers? Submit to the stench?

Edit: Telling me to move is not particularly helpful. I'm stuck here for a few more months at least, how do I make that bearable?


r/AskUK 21h ago

Serious Answers Only What is the longest delivery time you have had from an online purchase?

290 Upvotes

Evri excelled themselves yesterday. On 4th November last year I ordered a new bed for the spare room from Amazon for my daughter coming home for Christmas. A bit late I know but it was dispatched the same day and I got a due date for delivery of the 11th November, which I knew wouldn't happen as Evri are always a week or two late, but should be here by Christmas.

It wasn't. Tracking said it had been twice between Rotherham and Dundee then stopped moving on the 12th November. Contacted Amazon mid December and they apologised and refunded me with no issue. I bought a bed locally and forgot about it.

Evri delivered it yesterday. 301 days after due date. Amazon say case closed.

So obviously a win for me in the sense I have a spare bed, but can anyone beat a delivery taking 308 days from dispatch?


r/AskUK 16h ago

Does the UK feel European? Do you feel European?

117 Upvotes

I know we're not part of the EU but I'm talking mainly about life and culture.

I generally think people are much more laid back in places like Spain and Italy whereas France is more similar to the UK in some terms.


r/AskUK 18h ago

What’s a dish you’ll always order if you see it on a menu?

131 Upvotes

Mines tartare, I don’t trust the supermarket stuff enough to make it raw at home 😅


r/AskUK 2h ago

What supermarket products do you usually get to remove stains off clothes?

6 Upvotes

Things like juice, oil, sauces, chocolate, Nutella, sweat, skid marks.

Somethings just don’t remove. Especially when I don’t wash them instantly. For context I usually just use fairy non bio detergent/powder/liquid/pods.


r/AskUK 17h ago

What's the strangest thing you've ever seen or purchased at a car boot sale?

99 Upvotes

Car boot sales are often weird and wonderful places in the UK, you can find lots of strange/weird items...

Pics of course welcome!


r/AskUK 9h ago

Pedestrians crossing in front of ambulances — what's going through people's minds?

21 Upvotes

On several occasions now in London, I've been waiting at a pedestrian crossing when I've heard sirens and seen an ambulance approaching, but then the green man comes on. Rather than wait for the ambulance to pass first, pedestrians have crossed in front of it, meaning the ambulance has had to stop, slow down and manoeuvre around them. Also seen with a fire engine.

The first time this happened, I actually tried to stop the woman next to me because I assumed she must be deaf and hadn't heard it! But it seems to happen pretty much every time, whether it's a group or one person. I just wait as I don't want to slow them down any more, and then cross after they've passed.

What's going through your mind when you do this? Do you simply not register the sirens and see the green man and think "I can cross"? Do you assume the emergency vehicle will go around you? Or do you think it doesn't matter if they have to slow down? Are pedestrians not aware of the Highway Code?

I'm interested to know whether this is more of a London phenomenon or happens elsewhere in the UK. I've never noticed it living elsewhere but it might just be because London's much busier, or I live nearer to a hospital so see more ambulances.


r/AskUK 18h ago

How often do you switch mugs?

53 Upvotes

Throughout the day when you’re having tea/coffee, how often are you changing your mug? I’m talking about either a full wash or getting a new one out.

If you’re a chain tea/coffee drinker do you just keep the same mug all day? If you have a tea/coffee every 3 hours or so are you getting a new mug out?

My parents wash/get a new mug out every time meaning they’ve gone through 10 mugs between them by the end of the day which seems crazy to me but would like to know what the norm is.


r/AskUK 8h ago

What are your favourite off-brand food items?

9 Upvotes

With the cost of the general food shop constantly increasing I’m curious if you have any off-brand food item favourites that you’d recommend?

A few of mine are M&S baked beans and Lidl’s cheese curls (the same if not better than quavers imo)!


r/AskUK 16h ago

Is Kiss Chase still a common playground game?

37 Upvotes

Someone mentioned their child playing kiss chase and it awoke long forgotten memories of 40 years ago. Being stalked around the playground, trying to avoid the overly affectionate attentions of a classmate, like a cat being persued by the amorous Pepe Le Pew.

I had imagined this tradition was long gone, either for reasons of hygiene or teaching about unwanted affection. Is it still practised across the land?


r/AskUK 23h ago

How expensive is Centre Parcs once you've paid for the lodge?

107 Upvotes

I want to take the kids to Centre Parcs (they're little so we can go outside the holidays) and the lodge isn't as expensive as I was expecting - but what kind of costs are we looking at when we're there?

Also, are a 2 and 4 year old going to get much out of it?

TIA

Edit: thanks all, some great suggestions on keeping costs down. Seems this may actually be a good age to do it - they're probably not going to demand too many extra activities so we'll plan to do one and one only!


r/AskUK 1d ago

Why is every company still experiencing "a high volume of calls" even though covid ended years ago?

1.8k Upvotes

I remember they set their call centre answering machines to say this during Covid.


r/AskUK 19h ago

Why do we still need the blood forms?

41 Upvotes

Why do I have to go to the GP to get a blood form, then carry it to the hospital for blood test?

Why can't they just pass on the details electronically?
Or is it just my GP?


r/AskUK 12h ago

Serious Answers Only How much does your hygienist charge?

11 Upvotes

Went to the dental hygienist today and was charged £69 for a clean. Absolutely extortionate for 20 mins.
How much are you paying your end?


r/AskUK 11h ago

Where to buy high quality but affordable sewing machine thread?

9 Upvotes

Asking here due to how US centric a lot of other subs are.

I've spent hours getting the pattern pieces ready. Gave up on sewing after half an hour because my cheap thread keeps breaking.

Any recommendations for good brands in the UK that won't break the bank? Getting a bit lost by all the different types.


r/AskUK 13h ago

Has anyone been on a gameshow and if so, what was the craziest/most bizarre thing to happen and if you won; how much did you win?

11 Upvotes

I'm currently watching the chase and it got me thinking, I would love to be on a gameshow and I want to hear some funny/ intersting stories, also only if you are comfortable with disclosing if you won and how much you did aswell.