The English don't really go in for brandishing things much. If we should happen to be walking anywhere, which isn't very often, our umbrellas are kept carefully pointed downwards. If we're not walking anywhere then brandishing something is even less likely: it's hard to brandish anything - except a fist - when you're in a car; and English people don't really brandish fists.
The occasional rude gesture is far from unknown, but it'll be a small quick one - there's unlikely to be anything magnificent about it.
So what can we brandish without embarrassing ourselves?
A paint brush; a pair of secateurs; a feather duster; a hammer; a rolling pin (not to be recommended when welcoming home errant husbands, obviously, but a firmly-wielded rolling pin is useful, for example, for crushing biscuits to make a base for a cheesecake); a fishing net.
A golf club; a broom; a violin bow.
You know something?
I think we'd all feel better for it.
Thing To Do Today: brandish something. This word comes from the Old French brandir, from brand, sword.
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