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AIBU?

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Original poster

British or English

279 replies

Dellspoem · 06/03/2025 16:32

Currently having a conversation/ debate with a friend. Are you British or English? Do you consider one a nationality and one an ethnicity?

My Asian family members describe themselves as British Asian. Saying 'I'm English' is synonymous with something else, mainly because of the connotations with the English flag and nationalism.

They are both geographic locations, so technically this shouldnt be that different. And you don't get the same with Scottish or Welsh.

What are your thoughts?

OP posts:
biscuitandcake · 06/03/2025 21:19

Kilroywashere · 06/03/2025 20:06

I must be English - Ancestry tells me my DNA is 95% from Cornwall 😁
(Feeling a bit deprived that there isn't a "pasty" emoji)

One day late for you!

Cornwall Cornish GIF by Stargazy Solutions
JassyRadlett · 06/03/2025 21:18

Groosh · 06/03/2025 17:46

You’re not seeing that there is nuance in it. From my pov an Australian with English heritage is not English. Because they are clearly not culturally English. I would also say that a person born in this country to two foreign parents is not English either. But their children or grandchildren might be. Culture and heritage matter, not just what your passport says or where you live.

Show quote history

My point was exactly that culture is vital. Heritage... well, that's open to definition, right? Is it a shared inheritance of John Major's Englishness? If it's about lineage, isn't my centuries long ancestry (interrupted by a century and a half, for most of which time they counted themselves as English) worth more than a couple of generations in situ?

How long does a foreign-born person of English ancestry have to live in England to be considered English? Is it ever? Is it different if their parents were English? Grandparents?

Or does this all underline the daftness of trying to define what is ultimately a national identity of what has always been a nation of immigrants, rather than an ethnic one?

You can't complain if people done integrate and/or assimilate when they're being constantly told they'll never belong.

namechangeGOT · 06/03/2025 20:50

I'm English! Have never and would never describe myself as British.

tinytemper66 · 06/03/2025 20:33

Welsh then British

AllProperTeaIsTheft · 06/03/2025 20:27

Gcsunnyside23 · 06/03/2025 19:34

But if someone asks where you're from you wouldn't say Britain, I would presume you would say England? British isn't a nationality as it's not one country, is Britain not made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? I'm Irish so maybe it's harder to understand as I only claim Irish. I imagine it like when Americans claim to be Irish but they're not, they're American

I'd probably say I'm from the UK.

MixedBananas · 06/03/2025 20:24

Interesting the English Flag has Palestinian Origins soooooo yeah but funny when racists hijack that 😂

Original poster
Dellspoem · 06/03/2025 20:22

Gcsunnyside23 · 06/03/2025 19:34

But if someone asks where you're from you wouldn't say Britain, I would presume you would say England? British isn't a nationality as it's not one country, is Britain not made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? I'm Irish so maybe it's harder to understand as I only claim Irish. I imagine it like when Americans claim to be Irish but they're not, they're American

This is a good point. If asked, I would say London, England.

OP posts:
Groosh · 06/03/2025 20:15

PontiacFirebird · 06/03/2025 18:19

I would also say that a person born in this country to two foreign parents is not English either. But their children or grandchildren might be.
I find that quite offensive. Does the same apply to Scottish? So if I’m born in Scotland to a Ukranian mother and a Syrian father I’m not Scottish? What am I then? Im not Ukrainian or Syrian as I haven’t lived there and wasn’t born there. I may not even speak either language.
In my life I’ve never actually thought English was considered to mean “ white and conservative” I just saw it as a neutral fact! My mother was not born in England, I was, therefore I am English and I’m happy to be so.

Obviously you can think of yourself however you like, but I only have one English parent and I don’t feel fully English. That’s because for me ‘English’ is not just a nationality. I do feel British though.

Kilroywashere · 06/03/2025 20:06

I must be English - Ancestry tells me my DNA is 95% from Cornwall 😁
(Feeling a bit deprived that there isn't a "pasty" emoji)

HermoineFairfax · 06/03/2025 20:00

I am English.

MajorCarolDanvers · 06/03/2025 19:59

I am Scottish AND British.

both identities are important to
me.

Cockerdileteef · 06/03/2025 19:57

I think everyone born here should be able to identify themselves as "English" though - it's your choice what feels right, nobody else's.

NameChanges123 · 06/03/2025 19:55

I say I'm British. Neither of my parents was born in England.

Cockerdileteef · 06/03/2025 19:54

Born in England but of Scottish heritage on one side and NI (British-identifying variety) heritage on the other. English doesn't fit right, "British" has always been my cop out as it's an umbrella identity and I don't have to choose... or get past the more negative connotations of "English", though it maybe needs reclaiming from those.

DS is uncomplicatedly just "English".

DH, born in England, always proudly puts "Yorkshireman" on the census :-)

Ketzele · 06/03/2025 19:49

I would have said British and English, but according to Kemi Badenoch I can't be English because my parents are forriners.

TheFirstTimeEverISawYourFace · 06/03/2025 19:44

I'm a Londoner.

Onlyvisiting · 06/03/2025 19:44

I'd always say English. Only really hear British from foreigners aka Americans!
Obviously I'm aware I AM also British, it's just not the description that feels like me. Although it's not something I've ever given much thought to and never comes up in conversation!
FWIW I am white, all family born and bred in England for many generations, so I wonder if I were more (at all!) mixed heritage if I might feel differently.
Editing to add: I am definitely not a flag waver and activily dislike most people who describe themselves as 'patriotic' as it seems to go hand in hand with racism and anti immigration and general narrow minded bigotry

ErrolTheDragon · 06/03/2025 19:44

Gcsunnyside23 · 06/03/2025 19:34

But if someone asks where you're from you wouldn't say Britain, I would presume you would say England? British isn't a nationality as it's not one country, is Britain not made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? I'm Irish so maybe it's harder to understand as I only claim Irish. I imagine it like when Americans claim to be Irish but they're not, they're American

No, nothing like the same thing. Great Britain and Northern Ireland - the U.K. - most certainly is a country. Olympic team, international treaties, passports etc etc. It's made from previous countries which still retain their unique identities, cultures, and to varying extents language and institutions.

Best of both worlds imo.

Horriblevirusagain · 06/03/2025 19:40

I'm English. My family are English. My children are English. I have a St George's Flag and am proud.

whiteroseredrose · 06/03/2025 19:38

Definitely English. Welsh, Scottish and Irish cultures are quite individual.

KnickerlessParsons · 06/03/2025 19:36

Welsh first, British second.

Gcsunnyside23 · 06/03/2025 19:34

But if someone asks where you're from you wouldn't say Britain, I would presume you would say England? British isn't a nationality as it's not one country, is Britain not made up of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland? I'm Irish so maybe it's harder to understand as I only claim Irish. I imagine it like when Americans claim to be Irish but they're not, they're American

TroysMammy · 06/03/2025 19:30

Welsh then British.

RiRaAgusRuailleBuaille · 06/03/2025 19:27

It would be so fascinating to know what people think about Northern Irish folk saying they are British - nothing else, just British, not even Northern Irish as that has the word ‘Irish’ in... I’ve met people from the North who are mortally offended by other Brits saying they have an “Irish accent” as they consider themselves to be purely and only British. It’s always quite a smack in the chops to drive around parts of the North and be faced with hundreds and hundreds of union flags and bunting and painted kerbs, murals and posters demonstrating how British the residents are. You’d never see it in England, (well maybe for a Jubilee or something; our street in Sussex went bonkers with the bunting). Probably the strongest definition and expression of Britishness there is. And most people in the rest of the UK have almost no knowledge of this!

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 06/03/2025 19:21

My official nationality is British, but I’m English, as distinct from Scottish, Welsh or N Irish.

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