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

by seattleniceguy 28 Replies latest jw friends

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  seattleniceguy

  I'm curious. Do you call it the UK, England, or Britain? I have the sneaking suspicion that these terms each mean something slightly different from one another, but I thought I'd see how the natives use them.

  In my imagination, the UK refers to England proper, plus Scotland, Ireland, Wales, and other territories. I imagine that Britain is the designation for a no-longer-existant empire. That seems to mean that England would be the name of the country itself. Am I on track here? Do you distinguish between the names?

  SNG
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  Aztec

  Could your pic be any cuter SNG? I suspect most of them call themselves Brit's but I could very easily be wrong. *shrugs*
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  Crumpet

  Well it confuses me too as when i try to book flights and you get the drop down menu I start by looking for Britain and then UK. I don;t really think of it as UK but apparently the rst of the world does.

  But as for me (don't start singing the Kingdom Melody now) forever I shall be - English and my boyfriend staunchly Scottish!

  I rather expected when I looked at this thread for it to be a cheeky one - so was pleasantly surprised.

  So anyway - what do you call where you live?
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  scotsman

  I think you'll find that few of us call ourselves Brits. Maybe some English and Nothern Irish unionists.

  I'm Scottish and I'm from the UK.

  edited to add: having discussed it with my Northern Irish partner, he'd call himself British, but we agree that Brits is what other nationals would call people from the UK.
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  Peppermint

  To be honest we never refer to ourselves as Brits. I would call myself English.
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  scotsman

  SNG

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

  Crumpet,

  Like you, I invariably look for Britain, then Scotland before the UK when scrolling through countries.
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  New Worldly Translation

  The United Kingdom is England, Scotland, Wales & Northern Ireland

  Britain is England, Scotland, Wales

  If I remember correctly from my history classes the term Britain was first used by the Romans for the Island of Britannia. The United Kingdom was created by the Act of the Union in the 1800's (I think) which tied in the territory of N. Ireland politically. I think most N. Irish unionists call themselves British which while not technically correct is as good a term as any. To me the term English always sounds too nationalistic and football hooliganic so I prefer British.
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  Honesty

  Home.

  Recent ancestors were from Wales and Scotland.
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  drwtsn32

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

  Iceland?
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  jaffacake

  I'll let the Scots, Welsh & Irish speak for themselves.

  Most of us English tend to refer to ourselves as British or English, personal preference, although we hold British passports. English is a bit more nationalistic.

  The United Kingdom is Great Britain (England Scotland & Wales) & Northern Ireland.

  The Republic of Ireland is not part of Britain or the UK (I think)

  Wheras me, I'm a Geordie, you wouldn't understand my dialect. I'm from the North East corner of England that reaches to the Scottish border. I'm on the northern side of Hadrian's wall!