11 British stereotypes that are unfortunately totally accurate

The UK has a clear identity in the world - we ought to, we invaded most of it.

Images of red buses and moustached men wandering around Westminster fill the imgination aof people around the world when you mention the UK, we assume.

So what are the international stereotypes of our country that are actually true?

We took a bit of a deep dive to bring you a quick breakdown of our most obvious traits.

1. We're miserable and we complain a lot

As a reddit user said in the top-voted comment in a recent thread asking for true national stereotypes:

Britain. We are all complaining miserable bastards.

They're not wrong - in the UN's 2016 world happiness report we ranked 23rd, which is a pretty poor showing for a developed country with every luxury.

The US came 13th and Ireland came 19th, while Denmark topped the rankings.

As for complaining, you're reading this avidly.

2. We only talk about the weather

A 2008 survey of 5,000 people in Britain found that 58 per cent of people enjoy talking about the weather.

That number, as a country, is far too high.

3. We love queueing

If you were in any doubt, 91.97 per cent of Brits find cutting in very annoying.

Do not cut in.

4. We get drunk a lot

In October last year, research revealed that British people topped an international survey of 6,500 for heavy drinking.

66 per cent of the Britons were found to drink at least twice a week, and alcohol abuse is estimated to cost the NHS around £21bn a year.

5. We drink a lot of tea

A 2015 YouGov survey found that the average person in the UK drank on average 876 cups of tea every year.

We also drink more tea as we get older, apparently.

6. We apologise too much

Last year, it was found that people from the UK are far more likely to apologise for, well, nearly everything, than Americans.

Sorry, America.

7. Americans love our accents

A YouGov survey from 2014 found that 35 per cent of Americans found a British accent attractive, compared to only 9 per cent who found it obnoxious.

Sadly, we did not reciprocate.

Only 11 per cent of Brits said American accents were attractive, compared to 16 per cent who said they were obnoxious.

Sorry, America.

8. We're very polite

Well, about some things.

We are very quick to thank people, or apologise for a mistake.

If we receive a favour, 72 per cent say we'd say thank you, and if we bump into someone, 63 per cent say they'd apologise.

However, only 54 per cent of use say we'd give up a seat for an elderly or pregnant person.

Ok, that's a majority, but it should be far higher.

9. We're not very compassionate

There's apparently a reason we play all the bad guys in Hollywood.

We were named in Pew Research Centre's 2013 Global Attitudes Survey as the least compassionate country by two European giants, Germany and France.

10. We're obsessed with the class system

The most recent British Social Attitudes Survey found that the class divide was as strong as ever, with 77 per cent of us saying it was fairly or very wide.

Kirby Swales, director of NatCen’s survey centre, said:

The class divide is alive and well in Britain and the economic instability and austerity of recent years seem to have sharpened our belief that it is difficult to move from one class to another.

11. We have a 'lad' culture

YouGov analysed the profile of 3,300 members last year who described themselves as 'laddish' and found a few recurrent traits.

The result was a young man, who liked fast food, beer, boxing and darts...

...and self-parody apparently, as the Inbetweeners ranked highly in their favourites.

Who says the Brits can't laugh at themselves? Oh, yeah, no-one.

More:The stereotype map of Britain's counties, according to Google autocomplete results

More:The Japanese stereotype map of Europe