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What is the difference really? Just asking because I've heard some say they're English and others say they're British...

If there is...what is the signifance of calling yourself either one or both?

English people are from England, British is a description of all of those relating to Great Britain. Like a Scotsman can be called British or Scotish but under no circumstance call him English. And an English is British as well, it is just that British is their common name while the English part describes what part of GB he/she is from

Yes.

To define:

The United Kingdom is a country, with UN representation and a Head of State. It consists of the four areas of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain is the vaguely triangular landmass just above France. It consists of Scotland, England and Wales. It was once a distinct country, but for a long time Ireland, and subsequently Northern Ireland, has been part of it- hence the full name for the UK is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

Ireland is the smaller landmass to the west of Britain. It consists of the Republic of Ireland (normally just called Ireland), which is a seperate country, and Northern Ireland, which as described is part of the UK.

Because England was the historical centre of the Union, at some point conquered all the other countries, and has the capital, England and Britain have become somewhat synonomous. In fact, there is little distinctively English that most would not consider distinctively British, especially from outside (tea, cricket, muffins (though what the Americans call English Muffins we certainly don't!) etc.- all Enlgish, really, but considered British).

Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland, on the other hand, have far stronger national identities of their own, aside from the 'British' ideal.

In the modern day, these historical distinctions don't really make much difference any more; not many people in the Union really hate each other any more, but the four parts still have a strong rivalry (noramlly, but not exclusively, united in disliking the English...).

I was expecting that Ush

Its like saying American or saying yanky! Right??

what better to get it from an Englishman...........................................................................................................in New York

where the hell did you Brits come up with Yanks? atleast we had a reason to call you Red Coats...

Pretty much!

I mean, Spain might be highly regional, but we are still the only country that enters four different national teams for sports...

Because you called yourselves Yanks when you come over during the two World Wars. Don't blame us.

And everyone- particularly the Scots- called us Redcoats. You really called us Limeys.

damn...they should teach us that crap in history class... *shakes fist in great fury at terrorible history teachers*

yanks

must be a new york thing....stupid yankees...

yankee

\Yan"kee\, n. A nickname for a native or citizen of New England, especially one descended from old New England stock; by extension, an inhabitant of the Northern States as distinguished from a Southerner; also, applied sometimes by foreigners to any inhabitant of the United States.

It probably was Northern Supremacy. I mean, look at the marching song you sang:

"Over There, Over There
Send the word, send the word,
Over There
That the Yanks are coming,
The Yanks are coming,
The drums rum tumming everywhere"

man i'd rather be called something derogitory like a cracker or a honkey than a damn yank. I'm quickly starting to dislike my fore-fathers!

yanks

NORWEIGEN


^thats bad enough

lol ^^

Yay we all had our derragatory name for each other. Arn't we special!

No no, you see, the education system does it on purpose, so it seems like the GREAT United States of America never did ANYTHING wrong at all. The Lousiana Purchase is a perfect example, as is all that Pilgrim crap. We get it fed to us sugar-coated.

Yup Thats why You wait till High School or College and take a college level World History Class

Wow I learn more here then I do at school... Screw going to school for 6 hours a day, I'll just log onto KMC

That plan would be okay, if only every member were as bright as Ush.

However, I feel most members IQ falls below that of Ush's underwear. Sad, but true.

hehe mechy wadda ya saying?

We're a bunch of ticko's.

hey speak for yourself

Why is it derragatory to call you yanks?

no idea but I always thought the song yankee doodle sounded gay

Its like saying someone's American, they could be Canadian, Mexican, Brazilian, any country in N/S American, really....

and Ush, did you write that out or copy it from somewhere

Well we, at least me, say American because the country is called United States of America.

yea same here
what else do you have to say? US citizen? sorry but that takes too long

...for fire

I wrote it out myself.

I'm English... the main difference between us is that British tends to denote a Celtic or Celtic-ruled race, either Goidelic such as the Scots, Manx or Irish, or Brythonic, like the overlords of the Welsh (the welsh themselves were not Celts, but NEVER say that to a Welshman...) or the Bretons of France... The English on the other hand are descendants of Saxons, Angles, Jutes, Frisians and other Norse-Germanic settlers... we of Leicestershire also have a percentage of Danish blood from the Viking settlers in our area... which is why we feel more at home dealing with fellow Scandinavians, rather than Europeans... we are not part of Europe, and most do not consider themselves European, except the snobby ones...

ok.....I'm a global gal, coz I have lived in more than one country.

Born in SA, mom English/SOuth African and Dad German/Jewish, but I live in England and travel loads all ova!

Yey 4 me!

"British" as a term lost that connection (to a Celtic origin) centuries- more- ago when it first fell into disuse. Unless you are talking about pre-Saxon times, Britain means nothing but a landmass- as meant when the term returned to use relatively recently- and hence is associated with all three cultures on it.

And there is nothing the slightest bit snobby about feeling European.

Wow! I've learned more here than I did in high school...Since I've never taken college level world history, I wouldn't have been so confused...In short, since the name UKoGB encompasses all the separate regions it would be safe to say though I would never assume nor dare to call a Scot or an Irishman British? but never call them English? But one who is English can be called either one or the other...And if I understood the last post by Ush, and I like to think that I do, the term "British" is considered dated by todays standard?

No, just the ancient meaning of 'British', which referred to a culture, and that the Romans would have used, has nothing to do with the modern day use of it, which simply refers to a geographical region.

Scots and Welsh ARE British, because they are part of Great Britain.

Northern Irish and Irish are not- they are part of Ireland.

They are seperate land masses.

But CULTURALLY, 'English' and 'British' have become a little synonomous.

Okay, the Irish thing confuses me, but be that as it may, since it has become synonomous culturally, would it be, just out of curiousity, considered insulting to a Scot to be called 'British' as well as one from Wales? Especially to the young urban minded youths of your country...Or is cultural pride a thing of the past and it doesn't matter much today as it did once before whether you're british or whathaveyou?

I cannot think of any reason why a Scot or Welshman would hate to be called British unless it was clear that you wre using British and English interchangably.

Frankly, most people aren't really too bothered by these distinctions; it is only a minority who get stuffy about it. Even if you called me Scottish I would only correct you, as much as a Texan would if you said he was from California.

What's the confusing thing about the Irsh?

The fact that they're separate, are they so because like Canada is to the U.S.? even though both countries are considered N. America. For the most part, canadians do not call themselves other than canadians, and we here in the U.S. seem to have all the license to call ourselves americans. *wonders why*

But being separate, are the Irish considered a country of it's own? I've read some of the history and seen most of the news story on the difficulties that are going on in Ireland with England, if the stories are to be taken as truth...

And thanks for clearing that up for me about the Scots and the Welshman...If ever I were to come across one, it would be okay to say they were British in a respectable way and not be offended by it...

Thank God you do not label yourselves as we do, e.g.: Asian American, African-American, etc...

Ireland is a landmass. On it are two regions- the Republic of Ireland, which is a seperate country, and Northern Ireland, which is part of the United Kingdom, along with Scotland, England and Wales.

history by Ush kicks ass. Eat that Mrs. Jayzak and Mr. McDonald!

and thanks Ush...

mebbe you should petition for a change in American high school education so that kids today won't go...'dehrrrrr'

Heh... well, I don't have any confidence that the average British schoolkid knows what he or she should do about the States either... I mean, a staggering amount still think New York is the capital. And if they don't, it is more likely due to watching American tv than any form of formal education.

hahaha!!!

New York?

The Irish are British... Ireland being the second largest of the British Isles, after Great Britain itself... and lets be honest, the English themselves have been a subject race since 1066, first to the Normans, then the Angevin French, then the Franco-welsh Tudors, then the Franco-Scots Stewarts, then the German Hanoverians... we have been told for centuries that European ways are better, especially French ways, and that to be English is wrong... if we say that we want to reclaim our English identity, and ask for an English assembly with the same powers as the Scottish and Welsh assemblies, we are denounced as racist... We are even taught at school that when the English ruled England it was a barbaric time, with no history and bad laws, despite all the evidence to the contrary, and that civilisation only came to these shores with the Norman conquest... which is why an awful lot of us, especially the further away you get from the capital, get a bit of a bee in our bonnet about being called British, or (the gods forbid) European...

The Irish are NOT British. It is called the United Kingdom of Great Britain AND Northern Ireland, and the only people who are actually referred to as British are those from Great Britain- a distinction people really should remember. 'The British Isles' refers to a region only; it has no political distinction and people inside them are not necessarily British.

BGK, please do not bring this political vein into this thread; that is not allowed here.

well i'm African.... American

that's the official term these days?

So northern Ireland is part of GB and not of The Republic of Ireland?

I've just recently looked at a map of the UK...

So in conclusion, it matters little if you call yourself british regardless of where you're from on the main island...I thank you for that info...

lol british communautairy problems

OK, Im Scottish, TECHNICLY I'm British -BUT- I don't like being called British because in America people take that to mean that youre ENGLISH. Which is why I've got my Location down as SCOTLAND and not BRITAIN.

Does that make sense?. . . Basicly I don't want people to think I'm English.

Ok...easiest think to do is:
"So where are you from?" instead of risking "Hey you're british!"

Wow the ancient britains (english - i dunno who invaded america) should really get sum good lyrics.

So howcum the aussies call the english poms?

technically, if you want to see it from the european vision, it's the vikings that beat them to it

Go Vikings

hence the confusion...when i think british, i think of english almost exclusively...

Strange isn't it... the Scots among us don't like being called British in case people think they're English... and the English don't like being called British because they don't want to be confused with the Scots, Welsh, Manx, Bretons et al....

jump over to my country, compared to that, you're easy satisfied

I wonder if the ppl in the islands dont like being called portuguese I mean here we are all portuguese but

I'm not so sure about that BGK; personally if someone called me a Scot, I would take offence at all. I'd correct them, but I wouldn't get arsey about it.

Everyone else in the UK loves to hate the English, but personally I couldn't care less. I always support any UK team playing international sports (unless they're playing England of course, in which case I support England), but can the same be said about other UK residents supporting England when they're playing?.......I think not.

indeed..should not be to hard to understand that!

So does this sum it up:

Great Britian (aka British)= England, Scotland, and Wales

United Kingdom = England, Scotland, Wales, and Nothern Ireland


Thanks for the history lesson, I never really knew the details either, but history was not in my interests when i was in highschool many moons ago. But now it's much more interesting to me.

that should do it..

EDIT

My sentence should say "...wouldn't take offence...".

no worries MM, ur next sentence clued us in to what u really meant.....

Yanks is better than what I've heard some people call Americans!

Except for some people consider it an insult...

believe it or not, but I actually look forward to a day when there are no nationalities.... when everyone the world over can be free from despotic rule, revelling in an international community and proud to call themselves English....

btw, thats a joke....

Hey Americans and British aint surposed to be fighting each other...

Save all that hatred for the noobie terrorists.

Who do they think they are trying to plant a chemical bomb in our contry? I say dam them all to hell.

Give me a knife and i'll kill 10 terrorists
Give me a M16 and i'll kill 200 terrorists
Give me a rocket launcher and i'll give you a bloodbath

Lets not go into that.

hazard, no politics please

Don't make me get Democratic on your ass!

j/k

But remember...

war

The word Yanks originated from the red Indian name for the white settlers (yangees) and it's a corruption of the Spanish for English which is Anglo and the French which is Anglais and therefore infact the 'yanks' are the English. As the English formed the majority of the early settlers there by making English the national language of the United States the other settlers from Britain and Ireland, one country for most of that time, and to include the Scots (from Scotland) and the Welsh (from Wales) together with the already mentioned English and Irish were all labled with the same name.

If you're interested i can tell you about the origins of the British, the english, Scots, Welsh and the Irish

that's all fun and such... but where does the ice go?

Apologies to Finti for posting more or less what you said. I didn't come across your post till after i'd submitted mine.

Wow, never knew that

We're so stupid here in the states

Don't worry. My dad's a history buff.

that's because we're a bunch of mongrels when yah think about it...

but yeah...i've learned quite a bit here than in the text books...

i wonder though...do the british consider themselves europeans as well?

Of all European nations we are the ones with the least European feeling, but it is something that is coming up more with younger people.

I like Europe but i don't really consider myself part of it because we're an island. We're like the person sat in the corner watching the party going on.

they are ... but if you mean EU... or connected to the rest of the continent... the farther the better

i dont consider myself european, im british.....and Britain not even connected to european continent lol...

I'll happily push the island further away

lol...

my sides are hurting...thank you

the same with Scandinavians except the Danes

anything to get further away form Belgium the host of EU parliament so please add Norway to that tow/push operation

hey, I'm not superman
I'm superwaffle

and in the meantime I'll fly over to see where mah is

I agree... as I said before, I'm English... and we have a lot more in common with Scandinavia than we do with Europe.... bring back EFTA!!!

I'm ashamed to say that I'm American. It really sucks.

you know...i could never understand that type of comment, esp. from ones that live here, born here and raised here...to me American is just a word to describe what we are not who are...sure I think England and the surrounding countries notwithstanding Europe is awesome for it's cultural heritage and for it's histories...but,

my whole point of this thread was my utter confusion of what was british and what was english...are they the same or are they different...but now, i'm no longer ignorant of that fact...

i'm not american by birth, but it doesn't suck for me...but one day, oh yes...there will come a day when I will visit England...as a tourist...

so DR...hope it won't always be that way...

well, when you get here, be sure to look us up... we'll show you around...

hey dudes, well i dunnop if it's true but i've heard that british por english whaever don't like very much irish? i mean they r ok with scotish...but why do they don't like irish? i just heard this so please explain it to me

dunno bout that i think the majority of english ppl like the irish and the scots (me included ) but the mutual feeling isnt much returned (especially by the scots lol). to be honest the england scotland rivalry is much like that of Newcastle and Sunderland (two cities in the north east of england).

another thing i want to clear up. we geordies are not scottish lol :P

i'll be sure to keep that in mind...

btw...is there a place called picadilly(sp) square?

There is somewhere... but I think you're thinking of Picadilly Circus in London... its a bit like Times Square NY, but better....

*gets England for Dummies book*

...hmmmm

yes you're quite right....

*tries figure conversion rate of the dollar to the pound*

Yanks...huh.......I think the REbs in the Civil WAr had something to do with perpetuating that title...