British or English

[Dellspoem]

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?

If his parents are English then he is English, that's how it works.

Irish, Northern Irish, don’t associate any Britishness in the slightest.

It's awkward really as I present as English and have an English accent but don't have a drop of English blood. I feel like I'm lying no matter what I say.

I say British as i was not born in this country but came here young and I am a citizen.

I think the people who have ancestry here and we're born in England are English.

If people say British I assume they are foreign, or have ancestry in Wales or Scotland.

I used to say English but would now say British. This is partly because as Ive got older I appreciate my heritage more (my Dad and his side of the family are Scottish) and also because of certain political decisions which frankly made me embarrassed of England, particularly with the appropriation of the flag

That’s ridiculous. The guy must have been an idiot. For starters, that would mean that Geordies weren’t English as we’ve pretty much all got Scottish blood in us somewhere!

English because that’s where I was born, and my parents were both English.

He understands it. He sees “English” as an ethnicity. Which he sees himself as part of. To him it’s simple: two English parents means an English child. Similar to how he believes two Chinese / Indian parents mean a Chinese / Indian child.

So he views himself as English by ethnicity and British by nationality. But born and raised in France.

Like the meme I keep seeing on Facebook:

‘America: You drive for four hours. You are still in the same part of the country. UK: You drive for two hours. The local accent has changed twice. Bread rolls have a new name.‘ 🤣

Not sure I have, mum’s side was Irish 2 generations back, dad’s was English through and through. It’s a funny thing, possibly much like other areas, but I’d consider myself Geordie first then English.

I think of myself as English, but am absolutely not a Brexit-voting little Englander. I'm not really sure why I feel English more than British though. British feels more like the team name, like Team GB - the official name for everyone. I feel European as well (and will always be furious those rights were taken away from me).

My family are all from England until you get to my great-grandparents, where there's some French and Scottish.

I think it is sad that some English people feel unable to be proud of their ethnicity, just because a minority of nasty people once used their flag.

I see myself as British but my ethnicity is different, it doesn't upset me or make me feel less able to integrate that english people have a unique ethnicity too. I think it is one of the major strengths of this country that so many people from different places rub along together (well, until the last few years sudden influx they did)

My friend was born in Japan, she has said she is laughed by locals at if she calls herself Japanese, because her ethnicity clearly isn't. The UK is far less racist than many other countries.

Tbh so would I but then Geordies have always been considered a bit separate, the whole ‘the English don’t want them and the Scots can’t have them’ thing!

@Dellspoem - that's sad. I apologise for these ignorant folk

I consider myself British. Born in England with Irish and Scottish grandparents.

There are layers to this. I was born in one country but raised in another, so, for the sake of brevity I use British rather than explain I'm half this and half that and have to deal with the follow up comments. "Yes, I know I sound like I'm 100% from here", "No, I haven't been to the other in over 30 years", "Because when my parents split my mum took us back to her home country" etc.

However, if I was talking about myself to people from outside of the UK, I would not use British because most of the time people think British = English, but neither of my countries are England. I would use the country I live in because that's where my accent is from.

I was born and raised in England but have Scottish grandparents on my Dad's side. I describe myself as British. I think I'd probably say British even if didn't have the Scottish ancestry to be honest.

It really isn’t.

Well he’s working with his own definition of words that mean something different to most other people.

English first, British second. I think both are my cultural identity, but English people have different outlooks on geopolitics to the Scots, Irish and Welsh. (History tells us my lot do not drown themselves in glory).

Tig
Game’s a bogey
Roll

Is it different though?

Loads of people see being English, Indian, Chinese etc. as ethnicities. It’s really not unusual.

For example I am sure if you did a poll the vast majority of people would consider Rudyard Kipling English not Indian. I think you would be in a minority to consider him Indian.

It is. Ethnicity isn't about your birth place really. A child born to two English people abroad will still be ethnically English.
Like child born in England to two Lebanese Greeks will still be ethnically Lebanese Greek, or child born to two Chinese Filipinos in England will still be ethnically Chinese Filipino.

Then you of course have mixes, that can get well interesting! And then you also have the thing about how much they adopt into local culture etc. It can be fascinating

I’m British, of Irish and Scottish descent though born in England.

He was British at a guess (though I have no idea what nationality he was really). The rules around nationality change over time. For example before about 1983 if you were born in the UK you were British. That’s no longer the case unless you have British parents.