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
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...).
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Last edited by Ushgarak on Apr 2nd, 2004 at 07:14 PM
what better to get it from an Englishman...........................................................................................................in New York
\Yan"kee\, n. [Commonly considered to be a corrupt pronunciation of the word English, or of the French word Anglais, by the native Indians of America. According to Thierry, a corruption of Jankin, a diminutive of John, and a nickname given to the English colonists of Connecticut by the Dutch settlers of New York. Dr. W. Gordon (``Hist. of the Amer. War,'' ed, 1789, vol. i., pp. 324, 325) says it was a favorite cant word in Cambridge, Mass., as early as 1713, and that it meant excellent; as, a yankee good horse, yankee good cider, etc. Cf. Scot yankie a sharp, clever, and rather bold woman, and Prov. E. bow-yankees a kind of leggins worn by agricultural laborers.] 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.
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.
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Apr 2nd, 2004 06:39 PM
