"England"= whole uk

[Cocklodger]

Aibu to get very annoyed with people thinking England is the entire uk?
So if you're British you're very clearly also English. Even to some british people (unreasonable but understandable when it's a foreigner saying it, although it's annoying being asked how things work in "England" when I've never lived there) perhaps I'm more aware As I'm not English but I find it very tiresome (perhaps English people wouldn't notice it as of course in that case it's accurate)
Aibu?

YANBU. Try being from the Republic of Ireland and being asked by British people (mainly English) why our education system isn't the same? why we don't use sterling? Why our kids have different schools holidays and different system and so on, I kid you not. Mainly from my English in-laws

YANBU, but it has always been this way so I don't think there is anything much to do about it.

I'm English, but it pisses me off too.

It's not hard to learn, ffs, and it's not like we haven't had a huge impact in history and on the world.

Yanbu, drives me bonkers.

Yabu!

I teach English as a second language on mainland europe and I think you will find that actually the UK = England = London plus 3rd world style barren landscape

The only time I've been asked if I'm English is abroad, and I think they say English by way of asking if I speak English.

On the rare occasion my nationality is referred to on home soil, I don't remember it ever being anything but British. I'm not English, by the way.

Dulra I know! The sheer ignorance of some people about Ireland is unbelievable. How the hell anyone can think that Ireland (the republic anyway) is England beggars belief!

Or Britain

Germans do that and just don't seem to grasp why it is annoying which is weird for a federal state like Germany, because I bet they'd not be happy if I'd say Bavaria when I mean Germany.

I only hear American's do it. 'I visited England', 'I love England' etc, when they mean the UK.

What annoys me is that when foreign news reporters report about something that has happened in the UK, they always have to include "outside of London".

Very arrogant behaviour tbh. London = England and feel like no where else is of any valuable significance.

YANBU. News reports routinely refer to the education system, health system etc without even the briefest mention that they're talking about systems which only apply in England. It would take two seconds to point that out. Gives me the rage

I was introduced by an Englishman when I was abroad as English. I said no, I'm Scottish. He looked at me and said 'its the same thing'.

He understood better a couple of weeks later when I had the opportunity to introduce him as Welsh. He looked at me and said 'what? I'm not welsh'. I replied 'yeah, and I'm not English, but it's the same thing'.

It took a moment but the penny dropped.

News reports yesterday evening were referring to Europe's Brexit talks with England.

Yay I thought, we got independence on the quiet.

Igneococcus oh god I know, I live in Germany and my kids are in kindergarten here, and a few months ago they did a little project on countries in Europe and they had a UK map up on the wall with a Union Jack on it and a sign that said England. I mean, it's not like Grossbritannien is an unknown word.
I had a German colleague a few years ago who was so annoyed to be corrected on saying that Scotland was in England that she argued with me for quite a long time about whether I thought Scotland counted as an own country because it had its own currency, own education system etc etc. She just didn't seem to get that while Scotland is in the UK it's still not part of England. I eventually drew a diagram to explain.

This happens on the UK news too, in a slightly different way. Croydon or Swindon are places in their own right and we're all assumed to know where they are, but it's 'Perth in Scotland' or just 'Scotland', likewise for Wales and NI.

I get annoyed when London is used to represent anything 'Southern'; it's like nothing exists below the M25... waves Come and visit us! It's warm, we are very friendly and we have lovely beaches and cream teas!

If British people don't understand the geography and polictial map of the British Isles and the island of Ireland's borders, then they are ignorant.
I am English and British, though thinking very hard about exercising my right to Irish citizenship.

It's like on Gilmore Girls when Lorelai and Rory visited Europe, and they said they took a train from England to Ireland

Like wtf?! How did NOBODY (scriptwriters, producers, directors, the fucking actors themselves!) realise their mistake?!

toomuchtoold I lived in Scotland for just over 15 years now and everytime I get back to Germany, family, friends, neighbours would ask "so, how are things with you over there in England?" and everytime I say "I don't know how things are with me in England because I don't live there, I live in Scotland" and for 15 years this has made no difference at all.
I also keep getting people on a German parenting forum asking me questions about English school systems or the NHS and I keep saying that I don't know because I'm in Scotland and education and health is devolved, which often baffles them.

Glad to see I'm not the only one it annoys. In fairness it's more often from foreigners (I live abroad) who refer to me as English which is annoying but more understandable. But I really hate it when a British person says it.
Also, got more baffled than normal when watching a documentary about the edl or some such. They were chanting "keep Britain English" ok wales, Scotland and Ireland will all just swim off somewhere then

It bugs the hell out of me.

I don't mind being asked questions but its the assumptions.

UK = England

Wales = In England (presumably as a city...)

Scotland = somehow attached to England but not part of it

NI = isn't that the same as Ireland

These are the recurring conversations I'm having with our new North American teams. My Welsh accent completely baffles them and they can't grasp that the UK is called the UK because it represents 4 United Kingdoms

Between that and the 'z' in everything and the hatred of 'u' in certain words my brain is slowly being pickled.

Isn't this the same thing that British and other Westerners do about Africa. They go on holiday to The Gambia for instance. When they go back home they say they went to Africa instead of specifying the country they went to. Or when they assume anyone African would understand any other African language because you know 'they' are all from Africa.