This troper's boyfriend manages to fulfil this stereotype at least 30% of the time. Technically, he's from OopNorth, which means he usually fits into a different category of Britishness entirely. The troper in question finds it extremely endearing.

This troper has a habit of acting like this when, and only when, he is dealing with Americans.

Subverted to hell and back with one of this troper's friends. Still possibly one of the coolest people he has ever met.

This Canadian lurker grew up in a household originally from northern Ontario, and remained very close to it's British roots, imagine the fun when this family moves down south to Brampton, a city more in touch with American media. He still has trouble seeing why people find it so heartbreaking that he chooses not to over-emote every word that comes out of his mouth.

Most British people are aware that they come off like this to foreigners, but as a nation we're more mildly eccentric. It doesn't help that people don't expect to be constantly bombarbed with A-Class British sarcasm. It's not that you guys don't get irony, it's just that you don't expect it every hour of every day.

This is a good point. I think it's the humour that can catch a lot of Americans off-guard, since being funny is a holy grail in British society. Everyone likes to think they're funny, wants to be the one everyone in their group of friends calls "the funny one" and, paraphrasing from someone I don't remember, would rather be told they were underperforming than that they weren't funny. In American culture, humour is something ancillary. Appreciated but not required. It's a huge difference, and accounts for the majority of the British reputation for being funny or sarcastic.

I am British, and regarded by my British friends as the British Stuffy one, often compared to Giles. I also had a British family friend who went to America, got married, and is considered the crazy one of her new family. Just to subvert it.

While it's true that most Brits, especially those of an older generation, are generally more reserved (take a look at Her Majesty!), and the nation as a whole tends to have a much drier sense of humor, anyone who thinks that the entire nation is stuffy and proper clearly has never heard of the London Rave scene. And Brits can argue politics and history just as vigorously as the next person, thank you very much, as this troper found out while sailing around Norway and the Mediterranean on the ''Queen Victoria'' and ''Queen Mary 2'', respectively. (For the record, this unfortunately American troper gets on quite fabulously with that British wit, so not all Americans are boors.)

This troper works at a retirement home, and we have one English lady that's always carrying around her tea kettle and a tea cozy in her bag. Out of curiousity I asked her about the main difference between Americans and British folks were. She said Brits were more reserved, and Americans can be "overly friendly and outgoing." In our American culture where introverted people are seen as weird and being extroverted is more favorable... I have to agree with her.

Averted and played straight by some family of this troper. My aunt and cousins are very laid back. Picture a stereotypically stuffy British accountant, though, and you've got my uncle.

Subverted with a classmate of this troper. He's a native Brit who moved here to Florida a few years ago, and is less stuffy and more of a horrifically-ugly dork who makes poor passes at girls (that only end up disgusted at him) and tries desperately to fit in with everyone else, but unfortunately for him has the wit of a teaspoon soaked in soap and just comes off as lame.

Mostly subverted with my British friend is the kindest person there is, who is stuffy only about other people's horrifying tea habits (THEY LIKE SUGAR). However, the French kid of our group has never won an argument.

This troper is Greek, and actually does this. Not coincidentally he finds the British completely amazing. He likes his tea with sugar however...

HERESY!!!

With the exception of my sister, my immediate family is very reserved. It's mostly shyness with ''me'', though I can't speak for the others. We're too reserved to ask about it.

This Troper and her girlfriend are both the embodiment of this trope, (which is a little bit of a MindScrew), and so the main problem we had was not the obvious one, but the fact that neither of could talk about our emotions for long enough to spit out the fact that we loved each other. A private joke of ours is that while Americans have five stages of grief, the English have only one; go straight to denial, do not pass Go, keep a StiffUpperLip, and collect £200.

This British troper lives in the US and enjoys playing up to this trope, after all we must keep up appearances in front of the colonists.

This tropers older brother warned his Italian girlfriend that my family didn't go in for the touchy-feely stuff because of this trope. When my twin sister left on the same day as him and his family I cried so hard that I made his girlfiend cry too, poor girl.

Considering this English troper's former high school classmates utterly subverted this HARD, she was regarded as the most British/stuffy due to her hard-to-place accent that was deemed as posh. They're utterly wrong.

In this troper's experience, the burgeoning population of British expatriots living in NewZealand, where said troper also lives, almost always avert this trope. Those that don't, however, play it incredibly straight.