What Is British?

This is a question which i think is ultimately flawed. Because even in old times a scot would consider him or herself quite different to an englishman, and vise versa. So how can you even have the idea of british?

Even if we seperate the groups and say, what is english? Can anyone truly answer this question without sitting in the past? Cultures have always changed, adapted and grown or failed. Now i'm all up for being allowed to fly the flag without someone saying it's offending them. However i have yet to understand what is British and i have lived here my entire life.

What is very worrying is that some people only think white people are British and yet this is wholy untrue and absolutely stupid. Endless flag waving, the idea of a British identity is stupid. Remember that throughout time, bad governments have always used nationalism for their own, usually devious ends.

So what does everyone here think, what is British?

Im not British

Im only English at an absolute push

I consider my myself Yorkshire and proudly call myself a Yorkshireman. Might sound a bit daft but its an honest reply to your question. When the chips are down i would rather have 10 yorkshiremen stood behind me then 20 men from anywhere else. First we would have a cup of tea, then we would sort the world out

i would happily see us declare independance from the rest of the UK.
Again, sounds daft to most folk but im honestly answering your question

fe fi fo fum I smell the blood of an english mun ( said the giant)

I would think its the way a person feels in themselves. And the way they seem to others.

Look I don't know about anyone else.
But if I go to England I wanna go for a ride on Yorkshire Airlines.
And go in Allan Bennett class.
www.youtube.com...

There is no such thing as 'british'. Its a label designed to make people not want to be Irish / Welsh / Scots / English or Yorkshire folk, thought up by little hitlers in london to make us ashamed of coming from our great nations.

Then you have those pirate types down in Cornwall who want their own independence from the parasite that is London.

Originally posted by Dan Tanna
There is no such thing as 'british'. Its a label designed to make people not want to be Irish / Welsh / Scots / English or Yorkshire folk, thought up by little hitlers in london to make us ashamed of coming from our great nations.

Do people from the UK still consider Ireland to be a part of it? Or even British??
Or are you talking about Northern Ireland?

Im originally from scotland but i live in england now but i dont think any of us wether we be from england,N ireland,wales or scotland are british its just a label given to us it doesnt mean anything in my opinion we are not different from the rest of the world we are all equals and we are all living together on earth as one.

The British are the decendants of people who migrated to these wonderful islands around 12,000 years ago and have lived here ever since. Over the years we've had some influx of other peoples and have, bizarrely, split ourselves into illogical tribal groupings. But we share the same ancestry and heritage and no-one can take that away.

Though, of course, Britain is just a contraction of the Roman name for what was previously called Albu or Albion.

So really we're all Albionians

Originally posted by Dan Tanna
There is no such thing as 'british'. Its a label designed to make people not want to be Irish / Welsh / Scots / English or Yorkshire folk, thought up by little hitlers in london to make us ashamed of coming from our great nations.

Then you have those pirate types down in Cornwall who want their own independence from the parasite that is London.

well said..
i followed a thread quite recently and a really pointless one at that..

follow the story here.. . most of the posts are *$***$$$$. but during the course of the thread i posted what i call some relevent information which was mentioned by one other person on the thread and was also ignored by all posters.. and they continued with their we're better than you crap. so i am not enthuestacic about starting again but all i posted is at this link. i don't want to be short with ya but i have posted a few good links which no-one even bothered to debunk. and i'm not well enough to start repeating myself again.. sorry..

daz__

My apologies, I mean not to offend anyone for mine is both a comment and an observation.
To answer the question, I would have to say poor oral hygiene is a big contributing facter.

Originally posted by Alxandro
My apologies, I mean not to offend anyone for mine is both a comment and an observation.
To answer the question, I would have to say poor oral hygiene is a big contributing facter.

Yea but that is just a stereotype you lot have in the US. Kind of like the one that is on this side of the atlantic about people from the US being complete stupid pharma addicts.

I have only ever met three British people with bad dental hygiene & 17 US people with serious mental problems

I think "British" was an attempt by the conquerors of other nations to give a singular identity to both the invaders and the conquered people in hopes that that singular identity would, over time, cause the conquered people to extend their loyalty to the conquerors.

It hasnt worked, by and large.

What is British hmm

I agree with all the other great people of the United Kingdom its just a label i mean come on we are not realy a United Kingdom and they are trying to force us into europe lol and wonder why it isnt working

England Scotland Wales and N Ireland have only just started to tollerate each other and they want to change it all up again madness i say

Being British is about labes and stereotypes and that i hope the vast majority of the wonderful people that have experienced these great members of the union know what a crock of utter poo those stereotypes are

ive lived in most parts of UK only place i havent is Cornwal only ever been on holiday there but hell they might as well be independant you need a passport to get in there just kidding its a beautiful place with some lovley people

to be honest the only time anyone feels british is in their complete disregard or respect for Britains politcians thats something the United Kingdom ALL AGREE ON
just a note on the state of the British oral hygeine just because we havent al been brain washed to have a "Hollywood Smile" doesnt mean we dont look after our teeth

people who live in glass houses shouldnt throw stones

[edit on 26-8-2008 by Amitsumikaboshi]
oh one more thig about being British being the most stubborn collection of people stuck on one Island your ever find we have to be have you ever experienced the 2 days of summer Britain gets and thats normaly overcast

[edit on 26-8-2008 by Amitsumikaboshi]

Queen, Country and Jerusalem.

All else is filler.

Originally posted by Dan Tanna
There is no such thing as 'british'. Its a label designed to make people not want to be Irish / Welsh / Scots / English or Yorkshire folk, thought up by little hitlers in london to make us ashamed of coming from our great nations.

That's what i said at the start, there is no such thing as british, one of the most british thing sin tthe politicians eyes is going down for a chinese meal on the weekend!

It's rediculous. Even the labels of english, scottish and welsh are stupid because in the end this will lead to nationalism and manipulation. Be a person, not a country.

Over time & as devolution beds down in Scotland, Wales & N. Ireland, being British will ultimately end up as little more than being Scandinavian, four countries with a historic bonds, dependant on each other in some ways yet independent in others.

Certainly in Scotland the whole notion of being British is almost alien, especially amongst the younger generation. Britishness, that little which remains, is being replaced by a more confident sense of Scottish identity.

There was little interest north of the border when it came to the Olympic Games, for example. Team GB was not widely supported. Most folks I know didn't watch much of their sporting achievements at all, most couldn't care less tbh. Would've been wildly different with a Scottish team competing.

Many folks are being turned off too by the media's newly found fascination with all things British ... there's no end of tv programming along the lines of "Britain's Best This or That", almost forcing on us the whole notion of Britishness. I don't think that's accidental, either.

To most folks north of the border, British=English & always will do. The rest of us scarcely get a look in.

Originally posted by 44soulslayer
Queen, Country and Jerusalem.

All else is filler.

Why is loving the queen British? I've lived here all my life and i hate the monarchy! Surely the most British thing would be freedom to think what you want? Which country are you referring to? Because britain isn't really one country.

Jerusalem i will completley skip over as an atheist. If you mean the song then again i can completely skip over that.

Originally posted by Niall197
To most folks north of the border, British=English & always will do. The rest of us scarcely get a look in.

I'm afraid youre falling into the trap of nationalism, if scotland want to be seperate than england should cut off our funding to them and then see how they get on. British does NOT equal english. I'm english but i don't consider myself british. the constant bashong of the english by the scottish amazes me, they're holding views from thigns that happened hundreds of years ago. It's ignorance of the highest order.

[edit on 26-8-2008 by ImaginaryReality1984]

ill think your find that most of the people outside westminster and downing street are the ones that dont get a look in lol

its not just north of the boarder that being neglected huge parts of England Wales N Ireland and the North East of england are practically derelict slums and the mahjority of the south east has turned into what it was before WW2 bad housing huge crime massive unemployment again slums

the old manufacturing and industrial heart lands of these once great nations in union has been destroyed leaving the majority of the populations with the choice between a supermarket and call centre or the forces

everyones in the same boat to be honest its a disgrace



as you can see from the differing opnions of people from differnt parts of Britain we do loe a good bitch at each other but as i said at the end of the day most of us are in the same boat but upset one of this little collection of islands and then up upset them all like squabaling siblings right up until someone else has a go then there all on ya
When we all work together we are an amazing collection of individuals who can achieve fantastic things its just the establishment tries it damn hardest to make sure that doesnt happen


[edit on 26-8-2008 by Amitsumikaboshi]

British, hmmm, now then.......... Britain is split into many different cultures as you travel forth from south to north.

The stereo-type you tend to see on American TV, i see that as the Southern upper class toffee nosed types, with their lardy dar accent that has a r where r's should be, there is no r in bath (barth) or laugh (larf), "ur 'avin a larf intcha".

I hope this isn't off topic, i'm just trying to give readers an idea of what different types of British is.

I come from the very north west of England, near the Scottish borders, a place called Cumbria. Apparently this area, its people and its dialect stems from the vikings. They say the northen dialect is as true English as your going to get ( the queens English is not true English, besides, shes German, lol).

Examples of our dialect:

Home = yam
Don't = Divvent
Child = bairn
i'm = aas
Going = gaan
food = scran
gate = yat
jump = lowp
testicles = cleppets
table = tyable
cake = cyak
cought = knakked
over = ower
in the distance = yonder
look=deek
news = crack

and so much more, so what would i be saying if i said "ass just knakked me cleppets lowpin ower yat ower yonder, nows aas gaan yam for sum yam myad cyak fresh on't tyable", lmao, peole actually talk like that round here.

If you want to more about our dialect then check out the Cumbrian dictionary at www.gonmad.co.uk... you'll laugh for hours.

To finish my little story, back on subject, I am British, but more so I am Cumbrian, however, no matter where you go in Britain, we are all the same, our humour, our lifestyles, it stands out in this world, watch a British comedy like Blackadder or Red Dwarf, Watch a soap like Eastenders or Coronation Street, watch Drama like the Bill, whatever it may be, If its British, it stands out from the crowd. (Mind you, we could never make a cartoon series quite like Family guy).

Peace my friends from the little industrial town of Workington in Cumbria, Great Britain.

EDIT: I had to throw this last bit in, I don't believe we are the United Kingdom any more, Wales and Scotland have de-evolved, Ireland stepped slowly away, really we are 4 seperate country's making up 1 and a bit islands of the coast of France, lol, still Great Britain, just not very united, more untied.



[edit on 26/8/08 by woogleuk]

We're not in the same boat though, there's very little folks in the north of England can do about their lot. The Scots, on the other hand, are being promised a referendum in only two years time which will determine whether UK plc will cease to exist altogether. Quite a big story, I reckon, but not one which gets much attention from British (English) mainstream media.

I don't think it's English bashing, tbh, to want to live in a country which governs itself. Is that such a bad thing ? As to the funding question I couldn't care less ... within 20 years any benefits the Barnett Formula gives Scotland will have been whittled away to nada ... by which point we'll be independent anyway. It's not a case of if, it's more like when independence will happen.

Britain & Britishness simply won't be around in a generations time. There's very few identifiably British things north of the border now anyway, I can't remember the last time I saw the Union flag flying from a public building (Queen Mother's death ?), I haven't attended a public function in over 30 years where "God Save The Queen" was sung. Apart from the coinage & postage stamps you wouldn't even know we were part of Britain, really.

Times they are a changing. And gathering pace too.