# UK Dopers - Part of Europe? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 13, 2003, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-part-of-europe/218836 "2003-12-13T22:27:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Colophon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f05b48/32.png) [@Colophon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colophon)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 11:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-part-of-europe/218836/21 "2003-12-15T11:25:38Z")
> [@](#): > > I would much rather Britain becomes the 51st of the USA than become part of a federal europe. Yuck! Well, you Scots are quite welcome to rename your country “East Virginia” and kowtow to Bush, but this Englishman considers himself very much European. I’m not saying certain aspects of the EU don’t concern me, but on the whole I am glad to be part of Europe. Those who see the EU and the euro as a threat to national identity should take a trip to France or Spain or Finland… these people haven’t stopped being French or Spanish or Finnish just because they’re using different money than they where two years ago. The British press doesn’t help matters by regularly making up scare stories out of whole cloth about how “Eurocrats” are pushing through regulations banning Great British Traditions like milk chocolate, pints of beer, curved bananas etc etc… Yes, we still say “Europe” to mean continental Europe most of the time, but that does not necessarily reflect on our political views. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-part-of-europe/218836/22 "2003-12-15T11:26:56Z")
Seems that some people here are in considerable denial - not about politics, but the little matter of geography. ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-part-of-europe/218836/23 "2003-12-15T11:40:37Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by BIH Boy \* > I’m Scottish and consider myself Scottish first then British. > I am NOT European. I consider Europeans to be people from the continent, not us. Somebody from Egypt is African. Somebody from China is Asian. You my friend **are** European. A question, do you think I or anybody else from Ireland are any less Irish because my country has entered the euro zone and for the most part accepted without much problems the EU. ---
**Author:** ![Floater](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/dc4da7/32.png) [@Floater](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Floater)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-part-of-europe/218836/24 "2003-12-15T13:38:29Z")
I hope you are aware that when Swedes talk about those funny Continental peoples we include Brits. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![curly\_chick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7ba0ec/32.png) [@curly\_chick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/curly_chick)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-part-of-europe/218836/25 "2003-12-15T14:07:25Z")
**Floater** , when I read that first, I was gobsmacked, as in my mind, continentals were all from continental European countries which were all stuck together\*. But now as you say it, I suppose a Cypriot, Malteser or Gozoan would be a continental to me and they are all island dwellers too. Most peculilar stuff, this language, you know - thanks for piqueing my interest on that one. As for me - British person, living in Ireland - geographically, of course I’m a European, but it is not a term that I would ever apply to myself unless I was talking to a person from a different continent and the subject of continents came up. Funnily enough, that particular subject doesn’t come up too often. If I meet any foreigner and they tell me what country they are from, that is enough geographical information for me to decipher what continent they are talking about. I generally don’t have to say “Jamaica? Oh, that’s in the Caribbean, isn’t it, on the Continent of America?” Would anyone ever really say that? It ain’t like you need the continent on the address line on an envelope, is it? \*Of course I realise that a continental to an American or an Australian or anyone from a different continent to me has a different meaning. No need to point that out to me, no sirree, thankyouverymuchinadvanceforyourkindassistance. ---
**Author:** ![Futile\_Gesture](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/f05b48/32.png) [@Futile\_Gesture](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Futile_Gesture)\ **Post date:** [December 15, 2003, 2:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-part-of-europe/218836/26 "2003-12-15T14:45:42Z")
I’m European. Geographically I’m in Europe. Culturally and ethnically I’m from European stock that must stretch back at least 500 years. I’m a citizen of a country that is a member of the European Community. I don’t know if you can get any more European than that. It’s a position shared by most in the UK, so anyone who denied it is making a political point rather than stating facts. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/uk-dopers-part-of-europe/218836.md?page=1)