# Damn British! **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [March 8, 2000, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450 "2000-03-08T23:51:00Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [March 11, 2000, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/41 "2000-03-11T19:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I mean English, not “British” English, but not British? But how? ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/42 "2000-03-13T00:22:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by TomH: > \*\* English, but not British? But how?\*\* I mean specifically English, the kind that other non-English Brits hate. The kind that were getting their asses kicked in _Braveheart_ DHR ---
**Author:** ![system](https://global.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/original/2X/e/e489c3b7d8fce19c4b355dd4fc3f88cc39c34b87.png) [@system](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/system)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 3:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/43 "2000-03-13T03:36:00Z")
**Ophanim** posted: > [@](#): > > ::long fuckin rant snipped:: > Kisses! > }\>\<(((^\>\<^)))\>\<{ > Ophy WOW! An honor graduate of the Sqrl Cub school of incongruous sigs! * * * Sue from El Paso Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. ---
**Author:** ![Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/97f17d/32.png) [@Nu\_Vo\_Da\_Da](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nu_Vo_Da_Da)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/44 "2000-03-13T03:37:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Ladies and Gentlemen, watch closely. We are witnessing a very good attempt at the “World Record of Getting Ones Fat Ass Banned As Quickly As Possible”. > > [ColdfireBets.com](http://ColdfireBets.com) is open for business. Ten bucks says it happens within 48 hours from now. I’ll take you up on that… ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 9:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/45 "2000-03-13T09:43:00Z")
A phone rings in a deserted office. After 4 rings, the automated answering service picks up. _“Hello, you have reached **[ColdfireBets.com](http://ColdfireBets.com)**. We are out of business. Are you a creditor? Please contact Melin, esq., curator of the [ColfireBets.com](http://ColfireBets.com) estate.”_ . . . . And I **still** say that was a good bet. * * * **Coldfire** _Voted **Poster Most Likely To Post Drunk** _ * * * _ **"You know how complex women are"** _ - Neil Peart, **Rush** (1993) ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 11:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/46 "2000-03-13T11:20:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I mean specifically English OK, full marks for knowing that English and British are not the same thing, a point which seems to have eluded a number of posters on this board. The set English people is, however, completely contained within the set of British people. You didn’t mean “English, not “British””, you meant “English”. It’s like saying, “Texan, not American”. > [@](#): > > the kind that other non-English Brits hate. The kind that were getting their asses kicked in _Braveheart_ You mean the fictional, American kind? I’m confused now. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 11:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/47 "2000-03-13T11:52:00Z")
> [@](#): > > You mean the fictional, American kind? I’m confused now. No, the partly-fictitious Irish kind, as seen in Braveheart. Frankly, as a Scot, I am deeply insulted at being considered British. If someone asks me what nationality I am, I am Scottish, fuck Britain and all it stands for and fuck anyone who doesn’t know the difference between England, Scotland and so-called Britain. ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 12:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/48 "2000-03-13T12:23:00Z")
I think whoever originally said “English, not British” must be referring to the set of English people who are continually making sure you know that they are of the subset “English.” In other words, they don’t want to be lumped into the rest of the British riff-raff, like the Welsh or the Scottish. Of course, the Welsh are even worse than the militant English. God forbid you even call a person from Wales British. “I’m from Wales!” they wail. I can’t say I don’t like the British–I am very grateful to them for providing the foundation on which the United States was built. I am also very grateful to them for giving us The Who. And Mark Knopfler. I am listening to “On Every Street” as I write. But what is up with that food? Shepherd’s pie? Yecccccch! And those freaky accents…A banana I could eat, but a baanaanaa? And those clothes! Yeah, a tweed knee-length skirt is reeeeal sexy. And the royalty? Inbred. Damn British! ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 12:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/49 "2000-03-13T12:42:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I think whoever originally said “English, not British” must be referring to the set of English people who are continually making sure you know that they are of the subset “English.” In other words, they don’t want to be lumped into the rest of the British riff-raff, like the Welsh or the Scottish. And a very special “Fuck you” goes out to Green Bean. The “rest of the British riff-raff”? Whoever said “English, not British” did so to distinguish that the particular brand of arrogance he/she was talking about was a peculiarly English phenomenon and that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are all formally part of Britain should not be considered in any way the same as, or similar to, the English. ---
**Author:** ![Koxinga](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/4af34b/32.png) [@Koxinga](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Koxinga)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/50 "2000-03-13T13:26:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by TomH: > \*\*It’s like saying, “Texan, not American”. > \*\* What’s the problem with that? Texans refer to themselves as such quite regularly. As for the “English, not British” thing, wow, I didn’t mean to resurrect the War of the Roses, boys. I guess I better keep my mouth shut if I ever visit Northern Ireland: “Now, did you guys say that you were Catholic or Protestant?” DHR ---
**Author:** ![RussellM](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed8c4c/32.png) [@RussellM](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RussellM)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/51 "2000-03-13T13:49:00Z")
ENCYCLOPÆDIA BRITANNICA > [@](#): > > Roses, Wars of the > > (1455-85), in English history, the series of dynastic civil wars whose violence and civil strife preceded the strong government of the Tudors. Fought between the Houses of Lancaster and York for the English throne, the wars were named many years afterward from the supposed badges of the contending parties: the white rose of York and the red of Lancaster. The war of the roses was an English civil war. The Act of Union, selling Scotland down the river, did not happen until 1715. Russell ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/52 "2000-03-13T13:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by TheMadHun: > \*\* And a very special “Fuck you” goes out to Green Bean. The “rest of the British riff-raff”? Whoever said “English, not British” did so to distinguish that the particular brand of arrogance he/she was talking about was a peculiarly English phenomenon and that Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who are all formally part of Britain should not be considered in any way the same as, or similar to, the English. \*\* Oh yeah…I forgot to mention that the British are really uptight. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![TomH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/90db22/32.png) [@TomH](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TomH)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 2:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/53 "2000-03-13T14:05:00Z")
Doghouse, The Wars of the Roses were (roughly speaking) between Yorkshire and Lancashire, two adjacent counties in the North of England, so they were an internal English matter. Otherwise, fair point. I was being satirical about the fact that Americans tend to be hazy on the difference between English and British. TheMadHun, > [@](#): > > Frankly, as a Scot, I am deeply insulted at being considered British I’m not sure I follow you here. If you would rather be identified primarily as Scottish rather than British, that’s fine. But it is a simple matter of fact that you _are_ British, just as it is a simple matter of fact that I am, whether I like it or not. Likewise, we’re both Europeans. Lots of people prefer not to think of themselves as such, but it’s an undeniable fact of geography. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 2:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/54 "2000-03-13T14:34:00Z")
> [@](#): > > I’m not sure I follow you here. If you would rather be identified primarily as Scottish rather than British, that’s fine. But it is a simple matter of fact that you are British, just as it is a simple matter of fact that I am, whether I like it or not. Likewise, we’re both Europeans. Lots of people prefer not to think of themselves as such, but it’s an undeniable fact of geography. My primary objection to being termed “British” is that I don’t think there is, or was, any such thing as “Great Britain”. Britain is the invention of the English alone and is an abstract concept. Any common perception of British-ness will usually involve stereotypically ENGLISH characteristics (as demonstrated on this board). The Act of Union served the English and no-one but. It put an end to the conflict between Scotland and England (greatly aided by Culloden it must be said), it provided the English armies with plenty of cannon fodder to wage war on foreign shores, and with the Highlanders gone it provided them with rich fertile land. The English invented genocide with the mass extermination and forced immigration of the Highland Scots and who would want to be associated with a country of such appalling morality? I am Scottish, of that there is no doubt, but I’m damned if I’ll ever concede to being called a Briton, and to hell with the geography of it. ---
**Author:** ![Coldfire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/a587f6/32.png) [@Coldfire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Coldfire)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 2:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/55 "2000-03-13T14:36:00Z")
Jocks are Europeans?? Next thing you’ll be telling me they’ll be competing in Euro 2000! _ducks_ * * * **Coldfire** _Voted **Poster Most Likely To Post Drunk** _ * * * _ **"You know how complex women are"** _ - Neil Peart, **Rush** (1993) ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 2:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/56 "2000-03-13T14:38:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Oh yeah…I forgot to mention that the British are really uptight. I believe you are mistaking “uptight” for “passionate”. ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 2:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/57 "2000-03-13T14:41:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Jocks are Europeans?? Next thing you’ll be telling me they’ll be competing in Euro 2000! > _ducks_ You’re wise to duck Coldfire 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/58 "2000-03-13T14:58:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by TheMadHun: > \*\* I believe you are mistaking “uptight” for “passionate”.\*\* Naaah, you’re mistaking your uptightness for passion. You Briton, you! 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Green\_Bean](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/green_bean/32/1760_2.png) [@Green\_Bean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Green_Bean)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 3:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/59 "2000-03-13T15:13:00Z")
> [@](#): > > Originally posted by TheMadHun: > \*\* …I’m damned if I’ll ever concede to being called a Briton, and to hell with the geography of it.\*\* Briton Briton Briton… MadHun is a Briton. Loves the Queen, Hates Green Bean, MadHun is a Briton! ---
**Author:** ![TheMadHun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/53a042/32.png) [@TheMadHun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheMadHun)\ **Post date:** [March 13, 2000, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450/60 "2000-03-13T15:15:00Z")
_rising above it_🙂 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450.md?page=2) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/damn-british/5450.md?page=4)