The Difference between Great Britain, the United Kingdom, and England

[McClef]

Phil - indeed they were British (whilst remaining as Irish as the Scots were and are Scottish and the Welsh were and are Welsh) at one time.

Between 1801 and 1927 to be precise.

And geographically speaking, the island of Ireland is part of "The British Isles".

I liked this school explanation - http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch...s/britain.html

[Phil]

Phil - indeed they were British (whilst remaining as Irish as the Scots were and are Scottish and the Welsh were and are Welsh) at one time.

Between 1801 and 1927 to be precise.

And geographically speaking, the island of Ireland is part of "The British Isles".

I liked this school explanation - http://www.woodlands-junior.kent.sch...s/britain.html

I agree, part of the British Isles, Britain or Great Britain, however, incorporates Scotland Wales and England only. But I suppose we could argue all day about all the nice distinctions.

[Mike_Oettle]

Those youngsters have put up a most helpful website, and should be congratulated on a job well done.
But it seems that etymology is not their strong point.
The Romans called their colony Britannia because it was inhabited by a people who referred to themselves as pretani. I did read somewhere what that word meant, but it escapes me for the moment. (Perhaps Trefor can help.)
And of course there were times when Roman influence extended further north than the present-day Scottish border. In addition to Hadrian’s Wall there is also the Roman-built Antonine Wall.
And the Angles were so called because (I have been told) they lived in the angle of the Elbe River. (An interesting early intrusion of Latin into the Germanic tongue. Another such early borrowing was church – even though the Anglo-Saxons remained pagans for quite some time.) Since the city of Hamburg did not exist at the time they left the German shores, they could well have lived in that area.
Regards,
Mike

[McClef]

As every schoolboy knows Mike it is from the old Celtic and means "tatooed."

(ok so I cheated and Googled but that's just between you and me!)

[weepeskythistle]

I used to be a European. It's not all it's cracked up to be.

Now this is the kind of EB remark that fits you! I thought we lost you! (;

[weepeskythistle]

Heck, I used to be human. Now I sometimes wonder!

Hahaha, heck I want to be a human but humans won't let me!

[Father Bill]

Hahaha, heck I want to be a human but humans won't let me!

That's why you're the wee bonnie sprite in your avatar!

[Mike_Oettle]

When I was about five years old I was told for the first time that I can recall that I was a “Yewra-peen”. I had no idea what it meant until I asked my parents.
In those days we had population classification, and by law I was “European”.
The definition has never suited me, and I was relieved when in later years the word “white” was substituted for “European”, even though I disliked being classified like that anyway.
Until 1994 being “white” was a ticket to (a certain amount of) privilege. Since then it has largely been the reverse.
What riles me, though, is that while the laws under which the population was classified as “European” and “non-European” (later “white” and “non-white”) have been repealed, the present government is every bit as insistent as the apartheid government in identifying applicants for all sorts of things with the same or similar labels.
Back in the 1950s all bars had to have signs up indicating the race for which the premises were licensed – “Europeans only” or “Non-Europeans only”.
A US naval vessel tied up in Cape Town harbour, and when the doughboys came into town they were nonplussed by the term, and wanted to know: “Where can us Americans get a drink?”
If I were to go and live permanently in Europe (Britain or the Continent), I would certainly not want to be identified as a European.
I am fond of the old national and subnational categories.
My (most recent) German ancestors were Württembergese. In fact my great-grandfather was an officer in the Württemberg Army in 1870/71, not the Prussian, Saxon, Baden or Bavarian army.
Those who came from the British Isles were either English or Scottish – none of them referred to themselves as being British.
No EU identification for me, thank you.
Regards,
Mike