# United Kingdom?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-kingdom/601290>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [October 30, 2011, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-kingdom/601290 "2011-10-30T17:29:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 3

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**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-kingdom/601290/41 "2011-11-20T03:15:45Z")

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> [@Derleth](#):
>
> ‘British’ refers to the Britons, who were the Brythonic Celtic peoples who inhabited the isles from the Iron Age through the Early Middle Ages.
> 
> ‘English’, contrariwise, refers to the Angles, a Germanic tribe who settled the isles along with the Saxons in the Fifth Century after the collapse of the Western Roman polity during the Migration Period. They eventually established the Heptarchy and gradually displaced the British culture, especially the language. Some groups of Britons resettled on the Continent, specifically in Armorica (Brittany) in France and Britonia in Spanish Galicia, the homes of pre-existing Celtic communities.
> 
> Modern confusion on this point is near universal, however.

“British”, in modern English usage, refers to a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. By definition, that includes everyone who is English.

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**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-kingdom/601290/42 "2011-11-20T03:24:38Z")

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> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Modern confusion on this point is near universal, however.

The confusion appears to be yours: those definitions may be historically correct, but they are no longer relevant, certainly not in this context.

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**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-kingdom/601290/43 "2011-11-20T03:25:41Z")

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> [@PaulParkhead](#):
>
> “British”, in modern English usage, refers to a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. By definition, that includes everyone who is English.

Ah, but etymology defines modern meaning. All the best pedants know that!

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**Author:** ![PaulParkhead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/7ea924/32.png) [@PaulParkhead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PaulParkhead)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 4:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-kingdom/601290/44 "2011-11-20T04:13:41Z")

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> [@Derleth](#):
>
> Ah, but etymology defines modern meaning. All the best pedants know that!

As I’ve said before on these forums, I’m never sure when someone’s just yanking my chain. In GQ, I tend to take posts at face value.

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**Author:** ![Darth\_Panda](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ee7513/32.png) [@Darth\_Panda](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Darth_Panda)\
**Post date:** [November 20, 2011, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/united-kingdom/601290/45 "2011-11-20T05:14:56Z")

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> [@notquitekarpov](#):
>
> Wrong.
> 
> There was a Kingdom of Ireland - united with that of Great Britain. When the republic of Ireland became independent then it was reduced to the rump of Northern Ireland (or rather then Kingdom of Ireland only comprised the counties of Northern Ireland).

So, to keep things accurate and up-to-date, we should go with:

The United Queendom of Darn Good Britain and the Rump of Ireland

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