
The Public Shaming of England’s First Umbrella User - coloneltcb
http://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/the-public-shaming-of-englands-first-umbrella-user
======
Synaesthesia
"But the famous ‘insularity’ and ‘xenophobia’ of the English is far stronger
in the working class than in the bourgeoisie. In all countries the poor are
more national than the rich, but the English working class are outstanding in
their abhorrence of foreign habits. Even when they are obliged to live abroad
for years they refuse either to accustom themselves to foreign food or to
learn foreign languages. Nearly every Englishman of working-class origin
considers it effeminate to pronounce a foreign word correctly."

From George Orwell - England Your England
[http://orwell.ru/library/essays/lion/english/e_eye](http://orwell.ru/library/essays/lion/english/e_eye)

~~~
mc32
What's worse, that or not speaking a perfect Frankish language of when in the
land of Franks? At least the English tolerate all kinds of foreign mangling
pretty well.

~~~
oblio
> At least the English tolerate all kinds of foreign mangling pretty well.

That's because they mangle their own language awfully enough.

I'm not a native English speaker but I've heard quite a few native Englishmen
and their accents are horrible. Received Pronunciation is obviously nice to
hear and quite clear, but those local accents... oh my!

I'm not saying that my accent is any better, but at least I try to make my
sounds be as close as possible to the actual letters used in the word! :)

~~~
BjoernKW
There's no letter-to-sound correspondence in English. English probably - at
least compared with other European language - is one of the most irregular
languages in terms of pronunciation:

[http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/english1.html](http://www.wordsmith.org/awad/english1.html)

This is simply due to the language having been heavily influenced by a host of
other - quite different - languages over the centuries, Old Norse and French
in particular.

There's also the interesting fact that as the first human language in history
English is spoken by more non-native speakers than native speakers. Some
linguists say we might very well see some sort of International English that's
highly influenced by foreign accents.

In fact there already is such a variety although it's only used by a rather
small group of people: The kind of English used by the European Union, its
officials and bureaucrats. EU English is littered with bureaucratic
expressions, loan words and false friends (particularly from French).

~~~
mattmanser
There's pidgin English in Nigeria.

When you first hear it you think it's a different language.

~~~
taco_emoji
There's all kinds of pidgin Englishes (and Frenches and cetera...)

In fact, it's almost impossible NOT to spontaneously invent a pidgin when
there's a language barrier between two people or peoples. When I was in
Vietnam, my friends and I adapted our English ad-hoc depending on who we were
speaking to. With merchants with very little English, we'd speak only in
numbers and yes/no, and maybe say please/thanks in each others' languages.
With our tour guides who were much more fluent, we could speak in complete
sentences, but still tried to keep things in present tense, and tended to ask
questions by using a declarative word order with a rising tone ("we go to the
hotel now?").

And we did this all instinctively--it's easy to see how well-defined pidgin
languages can arise from this sort of linguistic adaptation between two or
more populations.

------
f_allwein
"In the minds of many Brits, umbrella usage was symptomatic of a weakness of
character, particularly among men. Few people ever dared to be seen with such
a detestable, effeminate contraption. To carry an umbrella when it rained was
to incur public ridicule."

This sentiment is very much alive today. I'm always surprised how I seem to be
the only person carrying an umbrella in London when it rains. Especially
bankers seem to prefer getting soaked.

~~~
CalRobert
In Dublin, I think it's considered, if not rude, at least not the height of
courtesy, to use an umbrella in dense areas where you will be bumping in to
people and essentially pushing your water on to them.

However, my feeling is that the real lunacy here is having very narrow
pavements (sidewalks) carrying dozens or hundreds of people while having
streets, which might be carrying ten or twenty people along the same stretch
of road in taxis (which most cars are in Dublin city centre on a weekday
morning), get 8-10x as much space. (I am much more sympathetic to buses).

~~~
NathanKP
The same crowded street problem happens where I live in NYC, but it generally
works out as people get into a rhythm of either raising their umbrella up over
the level of the other person's umbrella or lowering it down below the level
of the other person's umbrella.

But then in NYC you develop a much closer "personal bubble" when you have to
endure being crammed onto the train like a sardine during rush hour, so in
comparison a little umbrella bumping is barely noticeable.

~~~
Declanomous
Screw the personal bubble, I'd prefer it if short people would avoid stabbing
me in the head with the ribs of their umbrella. If you can't lift your
umbrella high enough to go over the tallest person in the crowd, you should
buy a rain coat instead.

~~~
lsmarigo
yes agreed everyone should cater to you specifically in life.

~~~
jessaustin
ISTM "refraining from stabbing" isn't really the same as "catering".

~~~
Declanomous
I think the other guy was right, I'm being very selfish. It's really my fault
that my glasses have been scratched by the ferrules on the ends of umbrellas.

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theaeolist
Steve McClaren was the first England football manager to use an umbrella in
the dugout. It didn't go down well.
[http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2236344/St...](http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2236344/Steve-
McClaren-Wally-Brolly-defeat-Croatia-year-anniversary.html)

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dangravell
As a former pedestrian commuter through the City, I'd love to see the goons
who think a golf umbrella makes a suitable and sociable rainscreen pelted with
fruit.

I almost considered setting up a Tumblr of ridiculously oversized umbrellas at
one point, knocking people off pavements.

~~~
smcl
I'm with you - I'm tall enough that the little metal tips of most umbrellas
are usually at eye-level, and have received many uncomfortable jabs to the
eyeballs (and more often than not people are annoyed that their umbrella was
nudged, instead of being sorry)

~~~
celticninja
"I do not believe the presence of moisture in the air is sufficient reason to
overturn society's usual sensible taboo against wielding spiked clubs at eye
level.”

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brlewis
In medium wind, the most practical umbrella is the clear plastic dome-shaped
kind that you can hold in front of your face but still see through. Maybe
there will be a new Jonas Hanway who pioneers men carrying this style of
umbrella.

I used to think that men wore whatever was practical and only women were bound
by fashion. This may be true of shoes, but this style of umbrella revealed to
me that it isn't true in general. Men (including myself) will eschew
practicality for our own fashion. I'll keep carrying my impractical black
umbrella for now.

~~~
digi_owl
Both are bound by fashion. But since somewhere around WW1, mens fashion have
been somber and largely static (the largest change being the reduced use of
hats since JFK).

~~~
Paul_S
I think the crystallised male fashion is a massive cultural achievement. Right
up there with shaking hands, sending letters and using cutlery. Shame about
the loss of hats.

------
boomskats
Cabbies. They probably deserved umbrellas then as much as they deserve Uber
now.

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cafard
Umbrellas are still taboo in some branches of the US military. The local paper
a while back had an article about this. The Air Force wouldn't let some
officer carry an umbrella to the Pentagon, but it would pay to replace or
repair his hearing aids when they were damaged by the soaking.

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yodon
Those of us who live in Seattle tend to feel the same way. If you see someone
carrying an umbrella here you can bet they're a tourist.

~~~
Viper007Bond
Portland as well. It's seen as a sense of pride, probably because the rain
here is light.

~~~
wylee
I think the reasons are more practical. It's rare that it rains very hard in
Portland. Carrying an umbrella throughout six to eight months of the year just
in case is inconvenient, and you'll probably end up losing it anyway. A light
rain jacket is easier to deal with and also blocks the wind. I don't think
pride has much to do with it.

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secfirstmd
Having developed a mobile app called "Umbrella" for Security management, this
headline nearly gave me a heart attack... :)

------
lordnacho
Someday, maybe it's already happened, someone will market an umbrella drone
that floats above your head. And something similar will happen.

~~~
joakleaf
Yes. [http://www.popsci.com/watch-umbrella-drones-float-through-
ai...](http://www.popsci.com/watch-umbrella-drones-float-through-air)

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jdavis703
I've always found umbrellas annoying. When walking down city streets they get
in the way of trying to pass people. Sometimes people unfurl them without
looking to see if there's enough space, and people let them dry off on public
transit seats, making them a soupy mess for the next rider who wants a seat.

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linkregister
Maybe this is the origin of the prohibition of male American Marines from
carrying umbrellas. I always wondered why the accessory was permitted for
female Marines, but not for males.

That said, the trench coat (All-Weather Coat, Pewter Gray) is very water
repellant. And Marines in utilities can wear the Gore-tex or poncho.

------
zwetan
"The British also regarded umbrellas as too French"

I guess it was a very bad thing at the time :D

~~~
Chris2048
Still is. Brexit, don't ya know.

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mannykannot
I think there is more than insularity/xenophobia going on here. When faced
with an unpleasant situation, there is some benefit in taking pride in one's
ability to cope. It can easily be taken too far, however, leading to an
aversion to doing something about it, and antipathy towards those who do. It
is as if getting soaked by rain became part of Britain's tribal identity.

Umbrellas are pretty effective against rain, and I think it is amusing that
they were invented to protect against the sun by providing shade.

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bbctol
It says that umbrellas were seen as effeminate, and identifies him in the
article as the first man to use one--was he the first umbrella user in
England, or just the first male one?

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Mvandenbergh
There's still a traditional prejudice among some Englishmen against non-
clergymen using umbrellas in the country (as opposed to in town).

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JoeAltmaier
The popular kind is still a boring, awkward black gamp. To counter the
effeminate charge I assume.

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microtherion
I wonder whether anybody called umbrella users umbr-holes…

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lquist
What are the English 1750s umbrellas of today?

~~~
svachalek
Google Glass. Even without the camera controversy, wearing anything on your
head is hard to pull off. Bluetooth headsets approached acceptance at one
point but have gone back to serious fashion faux pas.

Or to take the other angle of it, anything remotely "feminine" is still
violently opposed for the modern man at least in the U.S. Although the way I
read it, umbrellas were rejected as "feminine" but weren't really allowed for
women either.

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lg
i wonder what they'll say about the first city enclosed in a climate-
controlled glass dome

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vegancap
I _still_ internally laugh at men who use umbrellas.

~~~
chippy
Why?

~~~
ry_ry
Because anoraks are the height of sartorial elegance.

