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Old 03-06-2013, 07:05 PM
 
1,601 posts, read 2,123,597 times
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I hear/see this constantly - people refer to all things English as strictly British. Is this the norm now?

I never see Scots/Scottish things, Welsh, or Northern Irish referred to as British, only English.

To me, British/"a Brit" means someone or something from the entire union (i.e. British flag). Am I just being nitpicky?

Discuss!
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Old 03-06-2013, 07:20 PM
 
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
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I cannot say how do an english man prefer to be called, but since Britain is a unitary state, all of people from England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have equally the 'british citizenship'.
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Old 03-06-2013, 07:23 PM
 
4,439 posts, read 6,946,076 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tazzled View Post
I hear/see this constantly - people refer to all things English as strictly British. Is this the norm now?

I never see Scots/Scottish things, Welsh, or Northern Irish referred to as British, only English.

To me, British/"a Brit" means someone or something from the entire union (i.e. British flag). Am I just being nitpicky?

Discuss!
It is not just the norm now as there are people out there that refer England as Britian. It was like that in the past. I know peope that have refered England as Britain and it just not these days but in the past. I guess a reason is most people that live in Britain live in England.
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Old 03-06-2013, 07:45 PM
 
Location: Somewhere out there.
10,483 posts, read 6,095,376 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tazzled View Post
I hear/see this constantly - people refer to all things English as strictly British. Is this the norm now?

I never see Scots/Scottish things, Welsh, or Northern Irish referred to as British, only English.

To me, British/"a Brit" means someone or something from the entire union (i.e. British flag). Am I just being nitpicky?

Discuss!
No you are not being picky at all you are quite correct. It's an American thing and this is predominantly an American forum. Seriously not meaning offence here but a lot of Americans haven't got a clue about this stuff, so its easier to just say 'British'. People I know here may have a vague idea where Britain is, ie 'somewhere over there' but don't understand how its divided up. A lot of them have no idea that Britain is next to France etc. I'm not being critical here. Before I moved to America, while I knew where many of the states were, particularly the ones at the 'edges', I didn't know all of them and didn't really learn them properly until my son had to learn them at school. It's just sort of a 'need to know' thing. Until you need to know you don't necessarily learn it. I don't know why Americans have taken to refer to English as British instead of just using English. But because they do, it's an easier life not to correct them. I guess its like referring to British as Europeans. It's not wrong, its just a bit of a sweeping category. It's not something I get offended by. Technically it should be referred to as the 'United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland' which includes the countries England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. 'Britain' does not include Northern Ireland but the United Kingdom does. Britain refers to the island itself so really people should say 'from the UK' if they want to include Northern Ireland.
The British Isles however is a geographical term which refers to both islands comprising Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) and Ireland, as well as surrounding smaller islands.

Edit: Very confusing now that I think about it. No wonder Americans just go for the easy option. I can see why!

Last edited by Cruithne; 03-06-2013 at 08:13 PM.. Reason: Additional info.
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Old 03-06-2013, 07:50 PM
 
1,601 posts, read 2,123,597 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Cruithne View Post
No you are not being picky at all you are quite correct. Its an American thing and this is predominantly an American forum. Seriously not meaning offence here but a lot of Americans haven't got a clue about this stuff, so its easier to just say 'British'. People I know here may have a vague idea where Britain is, ie 'somewhere over there' but don't understand how its divided up. A lot of them have no idea that Britain is next to France etc. I'm not being critical here. Before I moved to America, while I knew where many of the states were, particularly the ones at the 'edges', I didn't know all of them and didn't really learn them properly until my son had to learn them at school. It's just sort of a 'need to know' thing. Until you need to know you don't necessarily learn it. I don't know why Americans have taken to refer to English as British instead of just using English. But because they do, it's an easier life not to correct them. I guess its like referring to British as Europeans. It's not wrong, its just a bit of a sweeping category. It's not something I get offended by.
I agree, and I tend to not. It's that fine line before becoming a "know-it-all", that and I'd be correcting on a constant basis. It's not worth the headache, so I just silently roll my eyes.
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Old 03-06-2013, 07:59 PM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
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Same with Russia and the Soviet Union. Back when it was the USSR they'd still just call it 'Russia' even if it included much more than Russia.
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Old 03-06-2013, 08:04 PM
 
Location: Keizer, OR
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I have some English friends who refer to themselves as British, but that's usually around foreigners.
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Old 03-06-2013, 08:29 PM
 
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Because all the British isles ethnicities look alike.
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Old 03-06-2013, 08:59 PM
 
Location: São Paulo, Brazil
1,756 posts, read 2,508,182 times
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What I can say is that here in Brazil the media uses all the time 'Reino Unido' (United Kingdom) for referring to Britain. But the people in general uses 'Inglaterra' (England) with the same meaning, for all the four countries and the british isles, and all the britons are collectively named as 'ingleses' (englishmen).
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Old 03-06-2013, 09:04 PM
 
Location: The western periphery of Terra Australis
24,606 posts, read 55,756,157 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by portlanderinOC View Post
I have some English friends who refer to themselves as British, but that's usually around foreigners.
They are British. The post is about people equating Britain to England.
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