Observed in London
Welcome to everybody interested in the English language and culture.
You will find here information about English culture, everyday habits (based on observing the natives) and, most important of all, about interesting English words/expressions used by native speakers, overheard in real life situations on London streets and in London workplaces.
Mobile phones rule (public transport pleasures)
During my five and a half interesting years in London I think I have made very few journeys on public transport without eavesdropping on people's conversations. Well, not really eavesdropping as you cannot avoid hearing them. Most of them are loud and many of them quite private. At some point I started 'collecting' the most interesting ones.
My number one so far is a guy arguing with his partner. It was only me and him on the top deck of a double decker bus. The argument lasted all the way from Earlsfield to Mitcham (about 45 minutes) and helped me expand considerably my knowledge of English profanities. About every 5 minutes the guy turned his head to me and said 'I am so sorry about it, I do apologise', then happily continued.
The second one was a girl talking to somebody about how nice her hair is and how much she likes it. It took her all the way from Earlsfield to Clapham Junction (also about 45 minutes) without changing the topic even once! This is quite an accomplishment!
Third place - a young girl on the bus from Carshalton College, explaining very loudly and explicitly how she is suffering because of her period, no details spared.
Conversations like 'I am sitting on the bus, I am passing the Sainsbury's, I am passing the Pizza Hut on the corner, I am still sitting on the bus, I am looking out of the window, I am passing a bus stop etc etc' have become so familiar that I do no longer give them much thought now, while in the past I used to wonder who the receiver of this account of dramatic news is.
Quite recently I overheard another one, I think it will be also near the top in my rank (new number 2 possibly). A young man was sitting next to me on a DLR train talking to somebody and telling them about a job interview he had just attended. He informed his interlocutor that he got the job, but he didn't take it. I assume the question he was asked on receiving this info was 'Why?'. I had the pleasure to overhear the answer: 'They wanted me to work every day. You can't work everyday, man!'. I chuckled and hid myself behind my newspaper.
And another one (I think I will stop ranking them as it is too difficult): a young woman sitting on a bench in Victoria Park. She spoke to a friend I guess. What she said was more or less like this: 'I am calling to ask when you have time for me to call. I want to call you and tell you about my visit to the hairdresser's. I really need to call you and tell you that she cut my hair. So when do you have time? You know I have been to the hairdresser's and she cut my hair so I want to call you and tell you about it. She cut it, you know. Yeah, I wanted her to cut it. It is fine, I like it. So?! When do you have time for me to call?' and so on and so on. It lasted for about 10 minutes. I was wondering what else she can say about the cutting of her hair apart from what she had already said. Will the conversation she was insisting on having last about an hour? I suppose so on the basis that the asking to have that conversation took her 10 minutes.
