You know you're British when...Twitter debates national traits

Revelers crowd the Mall to watch The Queen appear on the Buckingham Palace balcony (AP)

So – what makes us British? Children’s television, excessive politeness and a shared loathing of self-service tills, according to Twitter.

Users have been debating the essence of the UK using the trending hashtag #youknowyourebritishwhen.

A recurring theme was the dreaded demands of automated self-service tills in supermarkets.

One person wrote: “#YouKnowYoureBritishWhen IT’S IN THE F****** BAGGING AREA.”

Twitter’s younger users also shared memories of popular children’s television programmes like BBC adventure show Raven – dubbed “the original Hunger Games”.

Another common theme was the stereotypical habit of apologising to anything and anyone, including inanimate objects, for no good reason.

 Politeness, tea and an endemic obsession with the weather have also been tipped as top British traits.

Less flattering was the recurring combination of teenage pregnancies, obesity, fake tan and bad teeth.

The infamous picture of Boris Johnson, the Mayor of London, waving two Union flags while stuck dangling for a zip wire has been re-tweeted more than 400 times.