People from that island west of Europe: What do you call your country?

by seattleniceguy 28 Replies latest jw friends

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  LittleToe

  SNG:
  Hope this helps:

  • English folk are English, British and from England and the UK.
  • Scottish folk are Scottish, British and from Scotland and the UK
  • Welsh folk are Welsh, British and from Wales and the UK
  • Some Irish folk are Irish, British and from Northern Ireland and the UK
  • The majority of Irish folk are Irish, from Ireland / Southern Ireland / Eire (a whole other country) and are not British or from the UK
  • Only folks from the part of the UK that is called England are English. All others have their own respective countries within the union (a common American mistake, when dealing with Scots, etc., that is almost guaranteed to cause outrage)

  You might call yourself British, but you'd never call yourself a United Kingdomer.
  You might, however, say that you were from Britain or the UK.
  I might refer to myself as a Brit, when talking to folks from the US, just because it's easier.

  Just to compound matters, we're also European (though the UK isn't part of the European monetary union, but I believe that Ireland is).
• 

  Englishman

  Great Britain in the geographical sense, comprises England, Scotland & Wales:

  The United Kingdom of Great Britain (as above) and Northern Ireland is a political term referring to the territory under a monarch. In this case it is actually a Queendom!
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  LittleToe

  And if you go to the top of Scotland (at the top of the main landmass) and look left a little, to that largest island - that's where I live
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  Pleasuredome

  britain is wales and england. great britain is engalnd, scotland, wales. UK is great britain and northen ireland.

  because of multi-culturism, we're not allowed to say the words 'english' or 'england' anymore, unless the footy team are playing. i think we ought to change the name to 'roadwork country'.
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  stillajwexelder

  but if you come from Northern Ireland you would hold a British Passport and have British citizenship
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  Pleasuredome

  you can have a britsh pasport if your from the republic of ireland
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  stillajwexelder

  but not automatically
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  seattleniceguy

  Holy crap. Okay, so it's not just me - it is really complex. :-)

  Aztec - Thanks! You too.

  Crumpet - I usually call my country "the US" or "the USA." I don't particularly like the unadorned designation "America" because it sounds really ethnocentric somehow, as if the US is the only country worthy of mention on the American continents. I do, however, use the adjective "American" freely, as in "Standard American English."

  scotsman -

  I'm intrigued. What is "England proper" and where are the "other territories" that form the UK?

  Actually, I had no idea whatsoever when I wrote that - I was just hoping it would be close enough to the mark to spark a discussion to set me straight. :-)

  SNG
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  Mulan

  SNG: You are a Seattleite. Hahahhahaha.
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  Frog

  I dare say SNG you may now probaby wish you had never asked! Having lived in the "UK" for a while I know what a complex issue this all is. I'm fairly certain though, that the true definitions of these terms are not necessarily consistently reflected in the residents understanding of them...