"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?

The way Andy Murray gets trotted out by the English as one of theirs.

Thanks I always got the impression that the tennis establishment in England and the 'come on Tim' brigade who hoover up the centre court tickets were at best indifferent to outright hostile to Murray as he wasn't 'one of us.' (Not Southern English, not upper middle-class and not prepared to toe the line).

Where I live, people will often refer to England when they really mean the UK. I don't bother correcting them as it makes me look prissy. They don't care, and they could easily point out that the UK is 90% England by population and England dominates it, culturally speaking.

People in the world outside simply have better things to worry about.

I fully agree my husband is English and I'm Welsh and every time you go abroad America seems to be far worse they assume your English they don't understand there are different parts of Britain seems to be rather naive or poor eduction system teaching

Oh I wouldn't know about the tennis establishment I meant the people like my ex who are suddenly very interested in Tennis when they have something in it. even though they clearly don't .

"Oh yes, we're watching watching tennis tonight are we, dh? that nice Scottish fellow?"

Dreams I wouldn't assume it was poor education If you say you're Scottish or Welsh people will understand where you're from.

I think because British accents are so very obvious to British people they don't realise that they're often indistinguishable to people outside of the UK. You might be able to spot one as different from another but not say where it's from at all. Ask an American who has never lived in the UK the difference between Scottish and Newcastle, there isn't one.

Amusingly British people often think they're brilliant at knowing American accents and always guess I'm from Canada. It doesn't offend me and I wouldnt assume that's it's a lack of education. There's a surprising amount of our rubbish spouted about America on MN.

I do think it's interesting the British mentality that if someone doesn't know much about a country with 3 million people they're uneducated. How much do you know about Rhode Island?

The worst place for this is MN. So many posters assuming everyone else lives in the south of England. I've lost count of the 'well what do you expect, it's sooo hot' threads over the last week or so. Erm, not everywhere it's not, it's been a very pleasant 19-20c here in Scotland the last few days.

I agree British people should know it, my father is Scottish so I'm well aware I'm British and then English and half Scottish, lol. Although not necessarily foreigners, I think they get confused with it being 4 countries to make a country, I mean it is confusing. We are UK, Great Britain and 4 countries. I lived in the states for a lot of years and was constantly asked it I was from London, which I'm not, not even close.

Or Lizzie for short

Whoops in sanswer to
""Her Majesty, by the Grace of God; Elizabeth the Second, of England, Wales and Northern Ireland and of Her other Realms, Elizabeth the First of Scotland; Elizabeth, Territories Queen, Head of the Commonwealth and Defender of the Faith"

Cocklodger "IloveBanff Indeed, I meant Northern Ireland"

But the same applies! Northern Ireland isn't in Britain either.

The only people I know who confuse England with Britain or the UK are American.

You must be joking, Groupie. It happens a lot on Mumsnet and other websites, and on the radio as well as in real life.

In fact, most Americans know their ancestry fairly well, and many of us have ancestors who came from what is now the UK, but not necessarily from England. I can assure you that Scottish-Americans in particular know the difference.

Oh God - my parents! Intelligent, well educated, nice people who do not get the difference between English and British.

I am English, Dh is Welsh. We live in England. As a family we very strongly define ourselves - and particularly the children - as "British" and will continue to do that until they are old enough to understand and make a decision for themselves about whether they want to be English, Welsh or British.

On holiday last year:-

Mum:- We're some of very few Emglish people here
Me:- Yes - particularly as one of us isn't English and 3 others don't define ourselves as English.
Mum:- ???
Me:- British - mum - remember? We may have mentioned it once or twice.
Mum:- I meant British when I said English
Me:- It's just it is important to us that the kids don't get confused
Mum:- Oh yes - of course.

And then she forgets again 20 mins later!

And yet, and yet, from where I'm sitting it's improved since the '60s when I began pegging round. That is, fewer people abroad and in England saying England when they mean Scotland, Wales or NI, being surprised that Scottish schools and law courts are different from in England. On the BBC, fairly often the point is made that the next report refers to E& W hospitals, schools, legal system. Obviously still a way to go but it is improving. I had a person from 'overseas', okay Australia,, saying to me recently, on hearing I live near Perth in Scotland, 'Oh, is that the Perth that's near Caithness?'. Um, no, it's actually half a country away, though I concede if you are from a massive land mass like Oz then Scotland is going to look very dinky by comparison. But the bbc weather map is still annoying!

ThanksMsMay , thank you.
Stevenson was Scottish, too, ludog.

Sorry Clandestino, I see the point you were making now

In defence of Germans (I'm German ), they find it so confusing precisely because the UK isn't a federal state. The whole idea of "home nations" which aren't countries in their own right, but also aren't federal entities within the United Kingdom is mind-boggling to someone who grew up in a federal system. Scotland, Wales and NI have their own regional executives and parliaments/assemblies, but England doesn't have one. There is a second chamber in the Westminster parliament (Lords), but that's an unelected chamber and it doesn't fulfil the purpose the second chamber has in federal systems. There is no written constitution in the modern sense (correct me if I'm wrong?). Add to that the "home nation" sports teams (football etc), except for the olympics (Team GB" (does that include Northern Ireland or not?)), and it's not difficult to see how someone might be a bit confused.

I think some people say England to mean the UK (or perhaps the UK minus NI) because of its dominance, and because the language is called "english". Germans are in general very fond of the UK (lots of people I know have visited Scotland, Wales and NI as well as the RoI), so it is not meant in a derogatory way but is perhaps born out of confusion and ignorance of the exact political make-up of the UK.

This should clear up any confusion! www.irishexaminer.com/video/viral/confused-about-brexit-let-foil-arms-and-hog-clear-it-up-407777.html

Most people outside the south east of England but still in the UK seem to think London is the south east. Oh and that the ills of the UK are down to us pesky south-easterners.

Bit of a double whammy really being English and from the south east.

For clarification, that London = the south east. No counties exist here.

An awful lot of countries have complicated divisions that the average Scot, English, Welsh or Irish person knows nothing about. Yet amongst many in the UK, it's the heart of bad manners or ignorance for people round the world not to know about these details of the UK.

Give over. It's tiring, and it looks self-important. The UK as a whole isn't that special, and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland really aren't a big deal internationally.

Neither is England, to be fair.

In my experience a lot of people in Europe do know a lot about British history, more than the average british person knows about continental European history not in great detail maybe. I bet a lot of people worldwide will have heard of William Wallace but barely anyone here will know about Florian Geyer who was a leader of the peasant revolt where I come from but then there isn't a Hollywood movie about him with Mel Gibson playing him. There is just so much more about British history in literature and popular culture than about any other country bar the US maybe.