British vs English

You need to ask that, John Smith? Shame on you.

"John Smith" wrote in message m...
On some inane television show I watched for a moment recently, a
character was asked if he was British. He said, "I'm not British. I'm
English." Is there a difference?

JS

Erm, no the reverse. 'England wins the World Cup! Oh GB didnt win any medals..'

"Paul Ayling" wrote in message news:rEQ4c.589$nN6.3@newsfe1-win...
The rule is "another triumph for Great Britain, England loses again"

John Smith wrote:

On some inane television show I watched for a moment recently, a
character was asked if he was British. He said, "I'm not British.
I'm English." Is there a difference?

JS

Wrong! Britain is only synonymous with the UK to IGNORANT PLEBS LIKE YOURSELF.


"The Grammer Genious" wrote in message ...
Knight of the Road wrote:

"Great Britain" means "those countries which form the larger landmass of the
British Isles"- and consists of England, Scotland and Wales. So I am English
and British too.

No. Great Britain can mean two things. First, it means the UK, which includes
Northern Ireland. Second, it is a geographical term applied to a single island,
the largest of the British Isles. In this definition, the Isles of Wight, Man,
and the Orkneys are near Great Britain but not part it.

... Ireland is not part of Britain. ...

Wrong. The northern part of it is, because "Britain" is synonomous with the UK.

Isle of Man are Manx. Jersey people are French ;-)


"Elio" wrote in message ...

"Mark Hewitt" ha scritto nel
messaggio ...

[cut]

FWIW, The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is the full
name of the country.
The UK consists of Great Brtain and Northern Ireland
Great Britain consists of Scotland, England and Wales.

England is but one country in Britain.

So the character in the TV show was just being awkward, if you are
English,
you are also British.


What about the people living in the Channel Islands and in the isle of Man.
Are those British, English, Welsh?. I understand that they are not even part
of UK but rather have a different status. Which country are they?.
Elio

Rubbish. Im Welsh and British and 90% of Welsh I know also regard themselves as Welsh/British.
How can they NOT be British? They hold British nationality whether they like it or not.

"Owain" wrote in message ...
"John Smith" wrote
| On some inane television show I watched for a moment recently, a
| character was asked if he was British. He said, "I'm not British.
| I'm English." Is there a difference?

Yes. the United Kingdom of Great Britain is comprised of England and
Scotland, each of which retained its separate status as a nation after the
Union. There is also Wales, which got taken over by the English in
12something.

It's an unusual objection to make and I wonder if in this instance it was
done for dramatic or comedic effect. Most English people regard
British/English as synonymous. People in Wales and Scotland do not; they see
themselves as Scottish or Welsh rather than British and get rather miffed at
England being used a synonym for the UK. A Scottish or Welsh person is
likely to get extremely miffed if they are called English. The choice of
language is particularly sensitive if you are in Northern Ireland.

Owain

On Sun, 14 Mar 2004 08:10:56 +0000, Knight of the Road wrote:

Whether a person chooses to describe himself as English, British or European
is largely a matter of political preference, rather than geography.

Political preference, or emotions.

Only folks whom I have seen describing themselves as "European" instead of
their specific tribes have invariably been from Eastern Europe.

"European" butchers are mostly Poles, at least around here.

The Grammer Genious wrote:
Knight of the Road wrote:
... Ireland is not part of Britain. ...

Wrong. The northern part of it is, because "Britain" is synonomous with
the UK.

This doesn't make a whole lot of sense given that the full official name of
the UK is "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". From this
it's pretty clear that "Great Britain" does not include Northern Ireland.

miguel
--
Hundreds of travel photos from around the world: http://travel.u.nu/

Miguel Cruz wrote:
The Grammer Genious wrote:

Knight of the Road wrote:

... Ireland is not part of Britain. ...

Wrong. The northern part of it is, because "Britain" is synonomous with
the UK.


This doesn't make a whole lot of sense given that the full official name of
the UK is "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". From this
it's pretty clear that "Great Britain" does not include Northern Ireland.

miguel

If you are from N. Ireland you are British.

"BrianE" wrote

If you are from N. Ireland you are British.


You would be from the British Isles, but not from Great Britain, since no
part of Ireland forms any part of the "greater (i.e. larger) landmass which
is Great Britain.


--
Regards,
Vince

Truck Driving In Russia- www.coventon.co.uk

Knight of the Road wrote:

"BrianE" wrote

If you are from N. Ireland you are British.



You would be from the British Isles, but not from Great Britain, since no
part of Ireland forms any part of the "greater (i.e. larger) landmass which
is Great Britain.


--
Regards,
Vince

Truck Driving In Russia- www.coventon.co.uk


Interesting thought.