Why are Nordies so dour?

JohnnyFlash

I’ve had the misfortune of being up North for the past 2 days. Now we all know about the terrible roads, the flags, the grey and dilapidated towns, the run down chippers and off-licences everywhere; the lousy sense of humour, the shocking standard of basic spelling and grammar skills amongst the people, the depressing murals, and so on and so forth.

What baffles me the most though is how dour the people are up here. It’s not exactly rudeness or unfriendliness either, but this aura they give off. Like the weight of the world is on their ample shoulders (obesity is a real problem up here as well). Life appears to be lacking in any levity or zest for them. Where a smile looks like it’s causing them some discomfort.

Has anyone noticed this as well? I mean we can all go speculating as to the reasons for it, but that’s the sort of uninteresting thread best suited to boring oddball obsessives in the current affairs forum. I’m looking for us to share experiences of meeting, conversing, and dealing with dour Nordies.

topper75

Presbyterianism.
No known cure at present.
Very sad.

Infernal Racket

The fleeeeegs

Bigus

I’ve found them nearly always to be extremely well balanced, .........massive chips, on both shoulders.

ytpe2r5bxkn0c1

Depends on where in the North you are. I meet some of them most week's and they're great craic, friendly and interesting.

The Satanist

Your man Arlene Foster is an awful eejit altogether

GBX

Its to do with eating all that odd form of Tayto crisps

kneemos

The bitterness has been bet into them for generations.

rgmmg

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I’ve had the misfortune of being up North for the past 2 days. Now we all know about the terrible roads, the flags, the grey and dilapidated towns, the run down chippers and off-licences everywhere; the lousy sense of humour, the shocking standard of basic spelling and grammar skills amongst the people, the depressing murals, and so on and so forth.

What baffles me the most though is how dour the people are up here. It’s not exactly rudeness or unfriendliness either, but this aura they give off. Like the weight of the world is on their ample shoulders (obesity is a real problem up here as well). Life appears to be lacking in any levity or zest for them. Where a smile looks like it’s causing them some discomfort.

Has anyone noticed this as well? I mean we can all go speculating as to the reasons for it, but that’s the sort of uninteresting thread best suited to boring oddball obsessives in the current affairs forum. I’m looking for us to share experiences of meeting, conversing, and dealing with dour Nordies.

Probably because you speak with a Southern accent :pac:

I was born in the North and grew up in the South.

Life seems a bit tougher up there but most folk are more straight talking and don't have as much time for the waffle as those south of the border.

maccored

ah stop the whinging. why do southerners whinge and complain so much? You should have had the RUC rather than the guards ... that'd tighten ye

Hamsterchops

Its a Scottish trait isn't it?

EmmetSpiceland

Have been “Up North” a few times but rarely enjoy staying for too long.

The “Titanic museum” and the “Giant’s Causeway” are worth a visit but driving through town after town with kerbs painted blue, white and red, as well as the bunting, are very unwelcoming, to say the least.

Having a barman, or some barfly, growl at you about how “we call it Magners here in the UK” is another “off putting” element of the stay.

I’m sure there’s some lovely “spots” up there, probably hard to find, but one place that should be, particularly, avoided is “Portadown”. A town full of ignorance and malice.

I should point out that I haven’t received any real “hassle” from the loyalist/unionist side but, by god, the amount of time you have to waste listening to “nationalists” griping at you, you personally, for “leaving them behind” and “not caring”. It’s ridiculous.

Ridiculous and sad.

Jimmy McGill

Most of them have a massive chip on their shoulder in my experience. Just as bad as people from Cork.

Conall Cernach

God be with the days when the North had the better roads.

lawred2

Warrenpoint is a nice town

JohnnyFlash

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Have been “Up North” a few times but rarely enjoy staying for too long.

The “Titanic museum” and the “Giant’s Causeway” are worth a visit but driving through town after town with kerbs painted blue, white and red, as well as the bunting, are very unwelcoming, to say the least.

Having a barman, or some barfly, growl at you about how “we call it Magners here in the UK” is another “off putting” element of the stay.

I’m sure there’s some lovely “spots” up there, probably hard to find, but one place that should be, particularly, avoided is “Portadown”. A town full of ignorance and malice.

I should point out that I haven’t received any real “hassle” from the loyalist/unionist side but, by god, the amount of time you have to waste listening to “nationalists” griping at you, you personally, for “leaving them behind” and “not caring”. It’s ridiculous.

Ridiculous and sad.

Just noticed that Portadown is an anagram of A Prod Town.

Can’t say I’ve ever visited the place, or heard much about it.

Dial Hard

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

Have been “Up North” a few times but rarely enjoy staying for too long.

Why do you use so many quotation marks in your posts? Genuine question!

D3V!L

I love the North and I find the people warm and welcoming. I'm really confused by this thread.

ELM327

Dial Hard wrote: »

Why do you use so many quotation marks in your posts? Genuine question!

Why are "you" so "curious"

Dial Hard

ELM327 wrote: »

Why are "you" so "curious"

Cause they're totally superfluous and I find it curious.

Liamalone

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Just noticed that Portadown is an anagram of A Prod Town.

Can’t say I’ve ever visited the place, or heard much about it.

I very much doubt that you've just noticed that, probably half the reason you started this bitter thread. Is da first time dat I has herd it and I live up ear.

Boom_Bap

D3V!L wrote: »

I love the North and I find the people warm and welcoming. I'm really confused by this thread.

Yeah I'm a fan as well....apart from the tailgating. Rampant tailgating.


I should just open the boot next time I'm up there and invite people to park in it.

JohnnyFlash

Boom_Bap wrote: »

Yeah I'm a fan as well....apart from the tailgating. Rampant tailgating.


I should just open the boot next time I'm up there and invite people to park in it.

In fairness, lots of Nordies are used to stuffing things into the boot of a car.....

EmmetSpiceland

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Just noticed that Portadown is an anagram of A Prod Town.

Can’t say I’ve ever visited the place, or heard much about it.

Haha, very good, J. And fairly accurate. I’ve heard it called “Prod-a-down” before. Best avoided.

There’s not a lot of humour up there, to be honest. Honestly, you’ve got “Frank Carson”, “Give My Head Peace” and “The Blame Game”. All pretty much terrible.

“The Blame Game” in particular. Nordies doing screeching “impressions” of other Nordies with Neil Delaware looking confused but laughing along.

Terrible television.

D3V!L

We're not talking about North Korea by any chance are we ?

Boom_Bap

D3V!L wrote: »

We're not talking about North Korea by any chance are we ?

Lovely this time of year

Lewis_Benson

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I’ve had the misfortune of being up North for the past 2 days. Now we all know about the terrible roads, the flags, the grey and dilapidated towns, the run down chippers and off-licences everywhere; the lousy sense of humour, the shocking standard of basic spelling and grammar skills amongst the people, the depressing murals, and so on and so forth.

What baffles me the most though is how dour the people are up here. It’s not exactly rudeness or unfriendliness either, but this aura they give off. Like the weight of the world is on their ample shoulders (obesity is a real problem up here as well). Life appears to be lacking in any levity or zest for them. Where a smile looks like it’s causing them some discomfort.

Has anyone noticed this as well? I mean we can all go speculating as to the reasons for it, but that’s the sort of uninteresting thread best suited to boring oddball obsessives in the current affairs forum. I’m looking for us to share experiences of meeting, conversing, and dealing with dour Nordies.

All depends where you go.
Belfast is a lovely city and you'll find some of the friendliest people you're likely to meet there.

You have to remember the normal joe blogs there were likely to have their car/house/place of work bombed for a very long time, and are probabaly wary of it going back to that again.

NSAman

Why are they dour? If you had a whiny annoying accent like they do, you would be dour too!

gmisk

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I’ve had the misfortune of being up North for the past 2 days. Now we all know about the terrible roads, the flags, the grey and dilapidated towns, the run down chippers and off-licences everywhere; the lousy sense of humour, the shocking standard of basic spelling and grammar skills amongst the people, the depressing murals, and so on and so forth.

What baffles me the most though is how dour the people are up here. It’s not exactly rudeness or unfriendliness either, but this aura they give off. Like the weight of the world is on their ample shoulders (obesity is a real problem up here as well). Life appears to be lacking in any levity or zest for them. Where a smile looks like it’s causing them some discomfort.

Has anyone noticed this as well? I mean we can all go speculating as to the reasons for it, but that’s the sort of uninteresting thread best suited to boring oddball obsessives in the current affairs forum. I’m looking for us to share experiences of meeting, conversing, and dealing with dour Nordies.

Sounds to me like you were in Ballymena or Larne....I am sorry you had to go through that.


Generally norn iron people are grand I happen to be one so I am definitely biased...like pretty much everyone else up there...

JohnnyFlash

Lewis_Benson wrote: »

All depends where you go.
Belfast is a lovely city and you'll find some of the friendliest people you're likely to meet there.

You have to remember the normal joe blogs there were likely to have their car/house/place of work bombed for a very long time, and are probabaly wary of it going back to that again.

Belfast is an interesting city to spend a day or two in, but it certainly isn’t a lovely city. It has that grotty and gritty vibe that you also find in places like Holyhead, Hull, and Blackpool.

BDI

I have found from my time in the building trade that northern Irish people are the most likely people to tell you they seen a gay person the night before in a pub they were in. Dublin is shocking bad for it apparently.

Of course I have seen or heard of people from all over the country being homophobic but in work at 10 in the morning, eating a breakfast roll and worrying about Dublin’s soul.

Carry

I used to live in Belfast for about 16 months (pre and around the GFA) and had the time of my life. The people were friendly and welcoming and have a very black sense of humour which I like in general, and they know how to party, boy do they know....

Of course there are some places in Belfast where knuckledragging is prevailant, especially in the strictly protestant areas, likewise in some places in the countryside. But the nationalist/catholic side always proved to be very lively. I had great nights out in West Belfast, also in Crossmaglen where you really can meet some characters.

Though I had the advantage to be not Irish hence was considered as harmless and non-partisan.

I visited Belfast even years after I moved down south and whenever I popped into my former local the barmen greeted me by name as if I've just gone for a couple of weeks.

Belfast as a city has improved big time, though it's still not a beauty but neither is Dublin.

Lewis_Benson

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

Belfast is an interesting city to spend a day or two in, but it certainly isn’t a lovely city. It has that grotty and gritty vibe that you also find in places like Holyhead, Hull, and Blackpool.

Not much different from any other Irish city to be fair.

Gwynplaine

It's abite communiddy

The Satanist

I always found the Titanic thing baffling. It's a giant moment to failure. They should be ashamed of the shoddy workmanship.

kneemos

The Satanist wrote: »

I always found the Titanic thing baffling. It's a giant moment to failure. They should be ashamed of the shoddy workmanship.

A **** driver.

JohnnyFlash

BDI wrote: »

I have found from my time in the building trade that northern Irish people are the most likely people to tell you they seen a gay person the night before in a pub they were in. Dublin is shocking bad for it apparently.

Of course I have seen or heard of people from all over the country being homophobic but in work at 10 in the morning, eating a breakfast roll and worrying about Dublin’s soul.

Speaking of Nordies and unhealthy fast food, my sister was up in Belfast about 25 years ago at a conference in Queens. Even though she’s an academic she’s as ditzy as you’ll find, so she ended up pulling up the car outside a chipper in a strong loyalist area. Headed inside and ordered a bag of chips and a burger. The lad in behind the counter said to her, ‘have ye no chips of your own down south of the border, Missy?’

Woke Hogan

Carry wrote: »

I used to live in Belfast for about 16 months (pre and around the GFA) and had the time of my life. The people were friendly and welcoming and have a very black sense of humour which I like in general, and they know how to party, boy do they know....

Of course there are some places in Belfast where knuckledragging is prevailant, especially in the strictly protestant areas, likewise in some places in the countryside. But the nationalist/catholic side always proved to be very lively. I had great nights out in West Belfast, also in Crossmaglen where you really can meet some characters.

Though I had the advantage to be not Irish hence was considered as harmless and non-partisan.

I visited Belfast even years after I moved down south and whenever I popped into my former local the barmen greeted me by name as if I've just gone for a couple of weeks.

Belfast as a city has improved big time, though it's still not a beauty but neither is Dublin.

At least Belfast has an excuse for looking like a bomb site.

Mad_maxx

JohnnyFlash wrote: »

I’ve had the misfortune of being up North for the past 2 days. Now we all know about the terrible roads, the flags, the grey and dilapidated towns, the run down chippers and off-licences everywhere; the lousy sense of humour, the shocking standard of basic spelling and grammar skills amongst the people, the depressing murals, and so on and so forth.

What baffles me the most though is how dour the people are up here. It’s not exactly rudeness or unfriendliness either, but this aura they give off. Like the weight of the world is on their ample shoulders (obesity is a real problem up here as well). Life appears to be lacking in any levity or zest for them. Where a smile looks like it’s causing them some discomfort.

Has anyone noticed this as well? I mean we can all go speculating as to the reasons for it, but that’s the sort of uninteresting thread best suited to boring oddball obsessives in the current affairs forum. I’m looking for us to share experiences of meeting, conversing, and dealing with dour Nordies.

Google John knox

Mad_maxx

Hamsterchops wrote: »

Its a Scottish trait isn't it?

Yes it is, you find it in much of new Zealand as well, ever see an interview with Steve hansen?

That's it

Dr Turk Turkelton

Carry wrote: »

I used to live in Belfast for about 16 months (pre and around the GFA) and had the time of my life. The people were friendly and welcoming and have a very black sense of humour which I like in general, and they know how to party, boy do they know....

Of course there are some places in Belfast where knuckledragging is prevailant, especially in the strictly protestant areas, likewise in some places in the countryside. But the nationalist/catholic side always proved to be very lively. I had great nights out in West Belfast, also in Crossmaglen where you really can meet some characters.

Though I had the advantage to be not Irish hence was considered as harmless and non-partisan.

I visited Belfast even years after I moved down south and whenever I popped into my former local the barmen greeted me by name as if I've just gone for a couple of weeks.

Belfast as a city has improved big time, though it's still not a beauty but neither is Dublin.

So big lad,are you a catholic non-partisan or a protestant non-partisan?

Dr. Bre

North of Ireland , north Korea , north Dublin and the north in game of thrones - all grim ! Coincidence?

Carry

Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: »

So big lad,are you a catholic non-partisan or a protestant non-partisan?

Whom are you addressing with "big lad" regarding my previous post?

Carry

Woke Hogan wrote: »

At least Belfast has an excuse for looking like a bomb site.

Belfast doesn't look like a bomb site. Maybe you are kind of stuck in the seventies?

Upforthematch

EmmetSpiceland wrote: »

I’m sure there’s some lovely “spots” up there, probably hard to find, but one place that should be, particularly, avoided is “Portadown”. A town full of ignorance and malice..

I googled Portadown. Couldn't figure out from Google maps if it is county Armagh or county Down. Then I noticed Google maps doesn't have any county boundaries for the north but does for the rest of Ireland.

Wonder why?

fussyonion

I lived in Newry for a few years and hated it. It was grey and depressing and there was always a maudlin atmosphere.

Found the people very stand offish and I was told to 'F*ck off ya free state b*tch' as I drove by the Buttercrane.

I felt like I won the Lotto when I was able to move back to Dublin.

blinding

The Satanist wrote: »

I always found the Titanic thing baffling. It's a giant moment to failure. They should be ashamed of the shoddy workmanship.

It was a tough iceberg and very fooking big :eek:

Dr Turk Turkelton

Carry wrote: »

Whom are you addressing with "big lad" regarding my previous post?

Hmm something smells fishy about your story of living in the North if you've never heard the phrase "big lad".

Pinch Flat

Always found northerners to be friendly and welcoming. Spent loads of time up there. There’s some right miserable cnuts ok, but no more than down south

Carry

Dr Turk Turkelton wrote: »

Hmm something smells fishy about your story of living in the North if you've never heard the phrase "big lad".

Well, I'm a woman and not big. So no, nobody ever called me big lad.

You can live in the North without getting in contact with certain laddish terms and phrases, ye know. Nothing fishy about that.

Vita nova

Like everywhere you'll get a mixture of people in the north, some dour, some not. Anyway the world needs some dour, serious, straight talking individuals that do what they say they'll do and don't bull**** you.

.