4 ms·

I'm not particularly "defensive" about units. I would however point out that I am not British, I'm Scottish.

toyg 4y ago
Being Scottish technically makes you British, at least until independence comes. I'd argue that, even then, it will remain the case - as long as we accept that Scotland will continue to be part of the British Isles, and in particular of the island of Britain.
- jprete 4y ago
  Scotland and Britain are separate countries in the UK with separate histories. No-one means the island when they talk about being British, they mean the descendants of the Britons.
  - yarg 4y ago
    > The term "Great Britain" can also refer to the political territory of England, Scotland and Wales, which includes their offshore islands.[12] This territory and Northern Ireland constitute the United Kingdom.[13] The single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the 1707 Acts of Union between the kingdoms of England (which at the time incorporated Wales) and Scotland.
  - hwntw 4y ago
    Would be a nice thought, but literally nobody means the descendants of the Britons where talking about being British. If they did, depending upon what that encompasses, then either large swathes of Scotland would be included (Glasgow is a Brythonic name!), or you'd be excluding England from the discussion. Largely without fail, someone talking about Britain is talking of the island itself, or the current inhabitants.
  - Dalewyn 4y ago
    You're incorrect, so have the obligatory CGP Grey video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10
    - jprete 4y ago
      Thanks for the reference. Unfortunately I can’t edit the comment anymore.
  - toyg 4y ago
    The irony of a comment trying to riff on the usual "Britain isn't England" trope while getting it completely and utterly wrong, is... remarkable. You are GPT and I claim my devalued £1.
- sd9 4y ago
  I recognise Gordonjcp's autonomy to choose their own preferred identity. Nationality is a social construct that can be perceived differently in various contexts. If someone prefers to identify as Scottish rather than British, at least in informal settings, I believe it's important to respect their perspective instead of insisting on a particular label. Of course, they might _technically_ be British from a legal standpoint, which I'm sure Gordonjcp is aware of. It's entirely possible to be both British and not-British simultaneously in different contexts. This sort of thing isn't black and white.
  - toyg 4y ago
    > I believe it's important to respect their perspective instead of insisting on a particular label. Absolutely, but it would be nice if people expressed their wishes in logical terms. "I prefer to describe that dog as a terrier" is logically sound, "that is a terrier, not a dog" is not. The latter tries to arbitrarily redefine what a dog is.
    - sd9 4y ago
      "I am not British, I'm Scottish." is just shorthand for that. It's a bit like "Charlie's not a dog, he's my best friend"
      - toyg 4y ago
        Charlie's not just a dog, but he's indeed a dog. Shorthands are fine, but this is not it. This is some weird agenda to deny the logical truth.
      - lamontcg 4y ago
        > "Charlie's not a dog, he's my best friend" I'd argue that one can be damaging and we should call people out on it. Dogs are dogs and they need to be treated like dogs. The infantilization of dogs is how you get unleashed dogs getting into dog fights when it turns out that Charlie really just is another dog and should have been leashed.
  - Gordonjcp 4y ago
- mst 4y ago
  I think I'd liken it to the fact that -I- consider myself to be European as well as British, but there are plenty of people who clearly don't, even if arguably European is technically correct as a descriptor of all of us.

toyg 4y ago

Being Scottish technically makes you British, at least until independence comes. I'd argue that, even then, it will remain the case - as long as we accept that Scotland will continue to be part of the British Isles, and in particular of the island of Britain.

jprete 4y ago
Scotland and Britain are separate countries in the UK with separate histories. No-one means the island when they talk about being British, they mean the descendants of the Britons.
- yarg 4y ago
  > The term "Great Britain" can also refer to the political territory of England, Scotland and Wales, which includes their offshore islands.[12] This territory and Northern Ireland constitute the United Kingdom.[13] The single Kingdom of Great Britain resulted from the 1707 Acts of Union between the kingdoms of England (which at the time incorporated Wales) and Scotland.
- hwntw 4y ago
  Would be a nice thought, but literally nobody means the descendants of the Britons where talking about being British. If they did, depending upon what that encompasses, then either large swathes of Scotland would be included (Glasgow is a Brythonic name!), or you'd be excluding England from the discussion. Largely without fail, someone talking about Britain is talking of the island itself, or the current inhabitants.
- Dalewyn 4y ago
  You're incorrect, so have the obligatory CGP Grey video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10
  - jprete 4y ago
    Thanks for the reference. Unfortunately I can’t edit the comment anymore.
- toyg 4y ago
  The irony of a comment trying to riff on the usual "Britain isn't England" trope while getting it completely and utterly wrong, is... remarkable. You are GPT and I claim my devalued £1.
sd9 4y ago
I recognise Gordonjcp's autonomy to choose their own preferred identity. Nationality is a social construct that can be perceived differently in various contexts. If someone prefers to identify as Scottish rather than British, at least in informal settings, I believe it's important to respect their perspective instead of insisting on a particular label. Of course, they might _technically_ be British from a legal standpoint, which I'm sure Gordonjcp is aware of. It's entirely possible to be both British and not-British simultaneously in different contexts. This sort of thing isn't black and white.
- toyg 4y ago
  > I believe it's important to respect their perspective instead of insisting on a particular label. Absolutely, but it would be nice if people expressed their wishes in logical terms. "I prefer to describe that dog as a terrier" is logically sound, "that is a terrier, not a dog" is not. The latter tries to arbitrarily redefine what a dog is.
  - sd9 4y ago
    "I am not British, I'm Scottish." is just shorthand for that. It's a bit like "Charlie's not a dog, he's my best friend"
    - toyg 4y ago
      Charlie's not just a dog, but he's indeed a dog. Shorthands are fine, but this is not it. This is some weird agenda to deny the logical truth.
    - lamontcg 4y ago
      > "Charlie's not a dog, he's my best friend" I'd argue that one can be damaging and we should call people out on it. Dogs are dogs and they need to be treated like dogs. The infantilization of dogs is how you get unleashed dogs getting into dog fights when it turns out that Charlie really just is another dog and should have been leashed.
- Gordonjcp 4y ago
mst 4y ago
I think I'd liken it to the fact that -I- consider myself to be European as well as British, but there are plenty of people who clearly don't, even if arguably European is technically correct as a descriptor of all of us.