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In general, the Scots would not appreciate being called British, or lumped in with the British. So if you find yourself making use of this retained information
by WaxProlix 4y ago
In general, the Scots would not appreciate being called British, or lumped in with the British. So if you find yourself making use of this retained information in mixed company (ie, with a Scotsman) be sure to remember that Scottish != British.
- wombatpm 4y agoThis reads like a No True Scotsman argument
- kazinator 4y agoScotland is part of Great Britain. The "British" adjective basically denotes anything under Britain. The Scottish language isn't in the Brittonic family. It is Anglic. However, English is also Anglic and not Brittonic, yet the English don't mind calling themselves British. Go figure.
- flir 4y agoSo which people(s) do you think are British, then?
- dboreham 4y agoNot sure how true a scotsman you are but I never heard that. It's fine to be called British, because (at least for now) that's accurate. What annoys scots is to be called English. Perhaps you're thinking of the issue with sports reporting? (Where a Scottish athlete who wins is called British by the English press but when they lose they're Scottish?)
- jahewson 4y agoWho exactly do you think “the British” are?
- NiagaraThistle 4y agoThis (Scots != British) is not true, and it also is not universally true that all Scots would dislike being called British. True Scottish folk are Scottish first, British second, English never :) But many Scottish people are proud British citizens. I have a Scottish father who can confirm this.
- WaxProlix 4y agoMaybe sample bias then, most scots I've met resent the association, and are keen to dissolve it if possible. I think there's even a referendum upcoming to test the notion? Not sure on that bit.
- defrost 4y agoIt's the Venn diagram from hell, you know, and perhaps something went amiss in translation. There's been a referendum (and may yet be another, not to mention numerous wars of years gone by) on the matter of being joined with the English as part of the United Kingdom - but that's not the same as digging a channel and casting adrift from the island of Great Britain, shared with other British folk such as the Welsh, the Cornish, and even (hack, spit) the English.
- davepdotorg 4y agoAre you, perhaps, conflating Britain and the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland? There’s a potential upcoming referendum about the latter, not the former.
- smcl 4y agoI think it's still a thing some people wouldn't like. Like if you had a super-hardline Unionist in Northern Ireland, and you insisted they were Irish (because they are from the island of Ireland) they might get a little upset. I made a comment elsewhere saying that people shouldn't get upset about getting called "British" if they consider themselves Scottish above all. But likewise I don't think it's smart or considerate to be all "well actually..." about something deeply personal and strongly felt like someone's national identity or gender or anything like that. That's sort of asking for conflict.
- globalise83 4y agoMany Scots I know, including some serving in the British Army, disagree. Many Scots do wish to remain British and it isn't wise to make "in general" statements on a divisive issue.
- WaxProlix 4y agoA fair enough point.
- nly 4y agoTo be fair it's not like they can serve in the Scottish Army is it.
- smcl 4y agoI don’t think that’s what was meant. Squaddies tend be way more pro-Britain and pro-Royalty than the rest of the public. I have some ideas on why that might be, but it’s probably true throughout the rest of the world (ie there aren’t likely many pro-Basque or Catalan separatists in the Spanish army, or Quebec nationalists in the Canadian army)
- leoedin 4y agoI'm Scottish and British. Without getting too far into the politics of it, Scotland is literally on the island of Great Britain. From a purely geographical standpoint, Scottish people are British. What other term would you use to describe people from the constituent nations of Great Britain?
- midasuni 4y ago63% of residents of Scotland describe themselves as Scottish only - not British. 18% Scottish and British, 8% British only. https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/tableView/tableView.xhtml https://www.scotlandscensus.gov.uk/webapi/jsf/tableView/tabl... Results were similar in 2011 too.
- Jorengarenar 4y agoCanadians aren't Americans in a sense of "citizens of USA", but in geographical sense they are. The same applies here.
- mathieuh 4y agoUsing a specific definition of a word to tell people they’re wrong about their own identity usually doesn’t go over very well. “British” almost always means “identifies with the UK”.
- leoedin 4y agoYour link is broken. Are you able to provide another one?
- leoedin 4y agoWhat do they put on a form when asked their nationality? Last time I checked my passport says "British".
- donbrae 4y agoI always put Scottish. British would also be acceptable.
- danstewart_ 4y agoA few people telling you that you’re wrong when you’re correct, a lot of Scots (myself included) do not like to identify as British. Yes, Scotland is within the island of Britain but many of us (though not all) identify as Scottish, not British. This seems to come up a lot online and I wonder what percentage of people making the corrections are actually Scottish…
- midasuni 4y agoFairly meaningless. Some do, some don’t. Personal annecdotes are useless as there’s plenty of Scots that identify as British and plenty of Scots that identify as Not British. Hell there’s plenty of people living in Scotland that don’t identify as Scottish. The census puts is about 2 in 3 as Scottish Only though, not British, which is usable data. I get the impression the OP is an American. Plenty of people in America believe they are Scottish despite their entire experience of Scotland being a day trip to Edinburgh and some tourist shop selling them a kilt because their great-granddad was born in Aberdeen.
- smcl 4y agoI know you mean well - there are people who do believe that and they would take offence to being called “British”. They need to learn to handle it though. As a Scot who would describe themselves as “Scottish” when asked my nationality and who probably has similar feelings about Scottish independence as those people - I feel like this kind of nitpicking is unhelpful and allows opposition to dismiss us as naive, petty and tribal. People getting all puffed up needlessly is embarrassing and you’d think by now they’d be used to whatever triggers this response, roll their eyes instead and generally take the high road. Yes I’m Scottish, my passport says “British” and I share a lot of things culturally with our friends south of the border to the point that I would weigh in on any topic about “British” issues as one of them. Whether I like it or not, I’m as British as any English or Welsh person.
- ndsipa_pomu 4y agoThat's like Canadians/Mexicans objecting to be called American when they do live in North America. I've not heard of Scots objecting to the use of Britain/British, but they (and the Welsh) would most definitely complain (and rightly so) if anyone referred to them as English.
- creativenolo 4y agoYawn.