Proud to be UKish?' blog discussion

"British" works, as the Isles are British, though of course, it's still a bit of a mess, as the Republic of Ireland and the Channel Islands are part of the geographical entity the British Isles (in much the same way we can refer to a Portuguese or Spaniard as an Iberian), but neither is part of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. (I think this allowed Bono to be included in the BBC's poll of Great Britons - in the eyes of the Beeb, he is a Briton because he was born in the British Isles, not because he holds a UK passport.)

Personally,I would go for British, my friend is from Northern Ireland and considers himself British, others prefer to consider themselves Irish. Historically, it's a bit complicated as Britain refers to the lands occupied by the "Britons" which excluded both parts of Scotland and Ireland (Pict and Gaelic). Britain was originally the territories now known as Wales and England, following the Anglo-Saxon invasions, those lands were limited to the western parts of the landmass known (after the act of Union) as "Great Britain" the Breton area of France and a part of Northern Spain. Strictly speaking you could argue that some English people aren't British as they are not descendants of the original Brytons, therefore, referring to the English as British is also incorrect.

There was a range of Ukish flags and car stickers availible as a spin off from Bill Drummonds 'How to be an artist' book about 7 years ago. Fantastic book that.

My worry is we're becoming way too like the US. We even write English like the Americans now. It's recognised not recognized Martin! (Though feel free to blame MS Word spellchecker!)

biscuit wrote: »

(I think this allowed Bono to be included in the BBC's poll of Great Britons - in the eyes of the Beeb, he is a Briton because he was born in the British Isles, not because he holds a UK passport.)

Bono is NOT a Briton (cos in it's modern meaning it is really just another way of saying British person), he is Irish, and Irish people find it very insulting when we are included in these things. Took us long enough to get out in the first place, stop trying to drag us back in! As a related aside, see this poster from the recent No vote in Ireland .
http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/thereporters/markmardell/lisbonposter_203pa.jpg

almillar wrote: »

m00head, 'Great British' would exclude us here in Northern Ireland. I think that 'British' works best. As said above, it is a bit ambiguous, but I like to think of it as England, Scotland, NI, Wales, and islands apart from Isle of Man. We're an awkward lot in NI though and some of us consider ourselves British, and some Irish. But then the people who call themselves Irish don't want to be identified as British, or UK-ish, so that's OK.
Alan

Exactly... and UKish is horrible! Seems way too close to "yuck-ish". British has a defined meaning that includes NI etc, why re-invent the wheel?