English or British - Confused? I'll explain.
Whilst travelling and training, I will refer to myself as British, but when I have translators, the translation will be made as that I am English. This is also true, I am both English and British. Further confusion comes about when I say I come from the UK or the United Kingdom.
Let me explain.
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, consists of four (4) countries, being, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, can be shortened to become, the United Kingdom, the UK, Great Britain or Britain, and should not be referred to as England, as England is only one part of the UK.
If you call the Scottish, Welsh and Northern Irish nationals as "English" they will be upset, they greatly resent being called English. Many countries group together in their language the four kingdom countries as English, the French have “anglais”, the Italians have “inglesi”, and the Turkish have "İngiliz".
It is noted that in Turkish there exists Britanyalı, which means "from Britain", but the word "İngiliz" is the common usage for both English and British, it is "Britannique" in French and "Britannico" for Italian.
Three acts of union brought together the four (4) Kingdoms, beginning with the Kingdom of England with Wales in 1536, with Scotland in 1707, and Ireland in 1800. In 1922 Southern Ireland gained independence from the UK to become the Republic of Ireland, leaving Northern Ireland as part of Great Britain.
Oh yes, we are also referred to as the British Islands, (well, we are the largest island in Europe), as defined in the Act of 1978 as meaning the United Kingdom, excluding the Republic of Ireland, the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man.
NOTE: The Isle of Man and the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey (the Channel Islands) are not part of Great Britain; they are not part of the United Kingdom nor are they part of the European Union. They are self-governing British Crown dependencies.
To confuse and make matters worse, we are also referred to as the British Isles. This means the grouping of more islands with Great Britain including the whole of Ireland, (Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland), the Orkney and Shetland Islands, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Isle of Wight, the Scilly Islands, Lundy Island, the Channel Islands and many other smaller islands.
See article on the national flag of The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, click here.
Dear Phillip
I Think you are neither British nor English. You are Wordish (this is my cat) But Thank you for all these knowledge.
I hope we meet again. You are also my anchor now. When I see the middle aged man who has Grey hair I remember you and start to smiling. (İf you read the book which calls "Little Prince and C4 fox and the little Prince's talking you will understand what I mean.)
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Thank you for your comments. OK I'll be Wordish, and an old "grey hair" wolf as well.
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