about the terms "british isles", "UK", "GB" etc.

[ibex]

Hello everybody,

I read a bit about the different terms "British Isles", "United Kingdom", "Great Britain" etc.
Now I want to make sure that I understood everything right.



British Isles: The term for the states Ireland and United Kingdom and for the islands around. It's mostly used in Geography.

United Kingdom: The name of the Union of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Great Britain: The Island on which are England, Wales and Scotland. Do some small islands also belong to Great Britain? Britain is also used in daily language as a synonym to the United Kingdom. Is this OK?

England: Well, England. I understand that a person from Northern Ireland was offended if I'd call him an English. But is it alright to call him British? And is a person from Northern Ireland rather a British or an Irish? So how could I call all inhabitants of the United Kingdom in one word?

Thank you!

Ibex

[Keswick (Contributor)]

Hello everybody,

I read a bit about the different terms "British Isles", "United Kingdom", "Great Britain" etc.
Now I want to make sure that I understood everything right.



British Isles: The term for the states Ireland and United Kingdom and for the islands around. It's mostly used in Geography.

United Kingdom: The name of the Union of England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Correct!

Great Britain: The island on which are England, Wales and Scotland. Do some small islands also belong to Great Britain? Britain is also used in daily language as a synonym to the United Kingdom. Is this OK? It really depends where the smaller islands belong to. Shetland for example belong to Scotland, therefore they're part of Great Britain. Britain is NOT a synonym for the United Kingdom.

England: Well, England. I understand that a person from Northern Ireland was offended if I'd call him an English. But is it alright to call him British? And is a person from Northern Ireland rather a British or an Irish? So how could I call all inhabitants of the United Kingdom in one word? There is no word to describe the inhabitants of the United Kingdom as such. They all have different nationalities and are very proud of it. Calling a Welsh English is like me calling a German Austrian. I would never call a person from Northern Ireland Irish, Northern Irish, yes but not Irish. You mustn't call them British either because Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain as such. Call them Northern Irish and no one gets harmed .

Thank you!

Ibex

This is definitely a difficult task you're trying to find a solution for. The people in the United Kingdom are very proud of who they are and of where they come from. That covers both the national and the regional identity.

[Duckduck (Contributor)]

I understand that a person from Northern Ireland would be offended if I called him an Englishman. But is it alright to call him British? And is a person from Northern Ireland rather a British or an Irish?

Ibex

Das hier ist ein if-clause Typ 2: im Nebensatz Konjunktiv (= Präteritum), im Hauptsatz Conditional 1.

Grüße
Duckduck

[ibex]

Thanks for your answers.

They are a bit complicated, aren't they?
Well, I would also be angry if somebody would call me "eine Deutsche", just because I speak German.
I'm an Austrian after all, and I'm proud of it!

So,...
I suppose we are not different of these British or however...

Cheers,
Ibex

[Keswick (Contributor)]

Thanks for your answers.

They are a bit complicated, aren't they? Well they're not more complicated than others, I'd say. They're just very proud and I do appreciate this pride as long as it stays in its limits.

Well, I would also be angry if somebody would call me "eine Deutsche", just because I speak German.
I'm an Austrian after all, and I'm proud of it! See, that's not so different from the British.

So,...
I suppose we are not different from the British or whoever else...

Cheers,
Ibex
You're quite alright!

[ibex]

Ok, then...
I can also call them inhabitants of the UK, can't I?
"UK's" is probably very wrong (why is there no superlative for wrong?), isn't it?
And "UK" is nice short to say in English, but this "Vereinigtes Königreich" is getting on my nerves...
So I'm always tempted to say "Großbritannien".

Well, OK, I know. Then I will practise myself in patience and bear this 2 seconds more in speaking...

Ibex

[tiorthan]

I can also call them inhabitants of the UK, can't I?
"UK's" is probably very wrong (why is there no superlative for wrong?), isn't it?

You could also call them "UK citizens". There is a superlative of "wrong" it's "wrongest" but you cannot use a superlative in that sentence anyways.

[Keswick (Contributor)]

Yes, simply call them UK citizens. You can't go wrong with this.

[ibex]

Well, then I'll call them "UK citzens".

You can't go wrong with this.

I'm relieved.

Thanks for all!


Cheers,
ibex