#1
The UK is famous for plenty of things, but its sense of humor certainly deserves a place near the top of the list. After all, few can rival the Brits when it comes to sarcasm, wit, and the ability to laugh at themselves. And they’re pretty proud of it, too.
In fact, a 2026 survey by Comic Relief found that 68% of Brits consider self-deprecation a defining part of British humor. Another 72% agreed that making fun of themselves in everyday conversation is simply part of being British.
Sometimes, that humor is so subtle that people from other countries completely miss it. A 2019 YouGov survey found that 68% of Brits understood the phrase “with the greatest respect” as a polite way of calling someone an idiot. Meanwhile, only 40% of Americans interpreted it that way.
So, if a Brit is being unusually polite to you, it might be worth paying attention to what they’re really saying. You could be on the receiving end of an insult without even realizing it.
The British love of a good joke might just be in their blood, considering how long they’ve been at it. Take the Dunmow Flitch Trials, an English tradition believed to date back to the 12th century.
In the town of Great Dunmow in Essex, married couples could win a flitch, or an entire side of bacon, if they convinced a jury that they hadn’t once regretted getting married for a year and a day.
According to the organizers, the tradition is still going strong today, complete with a judge, lawyers, and a jury of six unmarried men and six unmarried women.
#10
Brits have also been known to use their wit to get themselves out of tricky situations, at least according to some old stories. One English legend tells of the Wise Men of Gotham, villagers from Nottinghamshire who supposedly managed to outsmart King John.
When they heard the king planned to pass through their village and turn their land into a public highway, they decided to act like fools. So, when his messengers arrived, they found the villagers doing ridiculous things, including trying to trap a cuckoo inside a hedge.
The trick supposedly worked, and the king decided to stay away from Gotham altogether.
Even today, Brits are still finding clever ways to use humor to their advantage. For instance, in 2018, a woman named Jayne Parsons from Salisbury received a parking ticket after leaving her car on double yellow lines while she rushed to the toilet.
Hoping to get out of paying the fine, she sent Wiltshire Council a humorous poem explaining her situation. To her surprise, the council responded with a poem of its own and agreed to cancel the ticket.
The British government has a sense of humor of its own, as you can tell from one of its longest-serving residents. In 2011, a cat named Larry was brought into 10 Downing Street to tackle a rodent problem and given the official title “Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office.”
Since then, he has watched several prime ministers come and go while keeping his position. He’s also become quite the celebrity, with fans following his adventures and an unofficial social media account sharing jokes about British politics.
