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I know I shouldn't let this bug me as much as it does, but I'm really sick of people and online forums referring to the entire UK or Great Britain as England.
I've been looking at getting a Kindle which I'd have to get through Amazon in the US. Browsing through their selection of books, I discovered in the history section that there is no category for UK or GB. JUST England. Low and behold, where did they put the books on Scotland? In the England category.
I do NOT live in England! I live in Scotland, the UK, Britain, but I do NOT live in England. I don't have anything against England, but get your geography right FFS!
Yea, yea, I shouldn't let it bug me but it does. There is a centuries long rivalry between Scotland and England and when people say stupid things like Scotland being IN England, I get annoyed.
I had to do a survey through work and one of the questions I had to ask was on nationality. I had always previously classed myself as British but I found when doing the questionnaire that the Irish, Scots and Welsh were adamant they were not British but either Irish, Scottish or Welsh. I was amazed as their feelings were so strong regarding this. They felt the same as you that the English had hijacked the term British. I have a work colleague who is married to a Scot and she gets really angry that when a sportsman (eg Andy Murray) does well he is labelled as British yet when he fails to progress he is labelled as Scottish by the press.
I think a lot of the problems are down to how the media portrays Britain. It certainly opened my eyes and changed the way both myself and my colleagues who are English now answer a nationality question - of course we are now English not British.
Last edited by English Liz; 01-01-2010 at 05:41 PM..
Scots and Welsh do know that technically they are British but prefer not to be called that. You're right, the English hijacked the term. Ask any American what a British accent is and they'll describe an English one.
Yes, I've noticed that when Andy Murray did badly he was Scottish, but when he did well he was British. That's typical.
Scots and Welsh do know that technically they are British but prefer not to be called that. You're right, the English hijacked the term. Ask any American what a British accent is and they'll describe an English one.
Yes, I've noticed that when Andy Murray did badly he was Scottish, but when he did well he was British. That's typical.
Scotland, England, and Wales are not countries - they are principalities of the United Kingdom (or the same as states in the United States). It is the UK that has membership to the United Nations, NATO, has embassies around the world etc etc and elects the British Prime Minister. All issues related to socio economics, politics, and fiscal policy is made in westminster, some of which is devolved to Scottish or Welsh parliaments.
The only confusion on this issue is by members of the british public that do not understand what defines a country or culture relative to international borders.
And while we're about it, America is not just the USA, and people from the south of that country are not Yankees. But geographically, Ireland is one of the British Isles. And in my experience, the group most likely to deliberately confuse English/Brits are Irish Nationalists.
And while we're about it, America is not just the USA, and people from the south of that country are not Yankees. But geographically, Ireland is one of the British Isles. And in my experience, the group most likely to deliberately confuse English/Brits are Irish Nationalists.
uh huh. And when someone says America to you, what country do you think of? Chile? Argentina? Canada?
When someone says anti-American things, who are they talking about?
To be correct, a Yankee is someone from the NE US. The term Yankee or Yank is incorrectly used by the rest of the world. I'm not from the NE but did live near Boston as a child, so I like to use the term Yankee for myself. And I'm American not a United Statesian or whatever stupid alternative term people want to use. I'm also naturalised British.
The reason it is such an issue is because of cultural identity. I may be a national of the United Kingdom, but I see myself as English, and it does irritate me when people are unable to distinguish between England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales- and as has been mentioned previously things like thinking that Britain is England. Another confusing factor is that we have different football teams, and this is very important.
But the point about the distinction between the US and America is also pertinent. How do people in South America feel about this? I don't think it's quite the same, though correct me if I'm wrong, because people from the US refer to themselves as coming from 'America', whereas we generally distinguish between our respective principalities.
I doubt that people from South America want to be called Americans. They would want to be called Brazilians, Chileans, etc etc. You may have noticed that the term American is very often used with a negative word attached in many parts of the world.
uh huh. And when someone says America to you, what country do you think of? Chile? Argentina? Canada?
When someone says anti-American things, who are they talking about?
To be correct, a Yankee is someone from the NE US. The term Yankee or Yank is incorrectly used by the rest of the world. I'm not from the NE but did live near Boston as a child, so I like to use the term Yankee for myself. And I'm American not a United Statesian or whatever stupid alternative term people want to use. I'm also naturalised British.
I hope people understand that. Being from Texas, I am not a Yankee.
I also have to put in, a lot of British that I have met over here in the U.S. don't ever correct me if I spoke about Great Britain. I understand what Great Britain/UK is now, but when I didn't, I assumed it was just England and most of the British I met here were English and never corrected me on that.
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I don't have anything against England, but get your geography right FFS!
