# What do you call someone from the UK? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 28, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517 "2006-02-28T20:59:35Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/1 "2006-02-28T20:59:35Z")
Yes, i’m aware i’m being pretty thick, here, being from England and all, but what do you call someone from the UK? England - English Scotland - Scottish Ireland (either) - Irish Wales - Welsh Britain - British What’s the term for a UKer? Is there one? ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/2 "2006-02-28T21:09:29Z")
Officially, it’s “British”. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/3 "2006-02-28T21:21:40Z")
Really? Wouldn’t that be a bit annoying to people from Northern Ireland? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/4 "2006-02-28T21:22:41Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > Ireland (either) - Irish …or British. And indicative of the problems in Northern Ireland. Unionists do _not_ automatically say “British”, but most of them do. Furthermore, I hope by “either” you weren’t referring to the people from the Republic as being “from the UK” - they’re most decidedly not, and fought a war not to be so. Anyway, as our esteemed colleague says, “British” is the correct official nomenclature for the nationality, even though it is geographically incorrect WRT Northern Ireland. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/5 "2006-02-28T21:27:36Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > Really? Wouldn’t that be a bit annoying to people from Northern Ireland? But they _like_ having things to be annoyed about. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/6 "2006-02-28T21:34:59Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > Really? Wouldn’t that be a bit annoying to people from Northern Ireland? Another thing I should mention - if you’re from Northern Ireland, your passport-by-government is a British one. Since a lot of Northern Irish nationalists don’t consider the British government to be the legitimate government of Northern Ireland, they baulk at getting one. And because until 1998 the Republic didn’t recognise the border (the now amended Article 2 of the Irish constitution), it would - and still does - issue Irish passports to anyone born anywhere on the island of Ireland who wants one. ---
**Author:** ![blueslipper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/b5a626/32.png) [@blueslipper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blueslipper)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/7 "2006-02-28T21:47:39Z")
They called a Briton or a Pom. But actually the Britons were defeated by the Angles and the Saxons. So calling them Britons always sounds odd to me. ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/8 "2006-02-28T21:53:08Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > Furthermore, I hope by “either” you weren’t referring to the people from the Republic as being “from the UK” - they’re most decidedly not, and fought a war not to be so. No, I wasn’t, I just meant that whatever part of Ireland you’re from, you are Irish. ---
**Author:** ![Kyla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/eada6e/32.png) [@Kyla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kyla)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/9 "2006-02-28T21:56:08Z")
British. “Briton” sounds weird to me, although the alternative, “British person”, is sort of awkward. Hm, I wonder why “American” or “Canadian” can be either an adjective or noun, but “British” can only be an adjective. Now that I think on it, only nationalities or regionalities ending in “n” (ie, Italian, Scandanavian) function that way. Otherwise, we’re left with “British person” or “French person”. English is a funny language. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/10 "2006-02-28T22:02:38Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > No, I wasn’t, I just meant that whatever part of Ireland you’re from, you are Irish. OK I getcha - unless of course they’re a Unionist. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![August\_West](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/august_west/32/18069_2.png) [@August\_West](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/August_West)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/11 "2006-02-28T22:12:20Z")
Limey 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 10:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/12 "2006-02-28T22:15:31Z")
> [@](#): > > Anyway, as our esteemed colleague says, “British” is the correct official nomenclature for the nationality, even though it is geographically incorrect WRT Northern Ireland. Why would it be geographically incorrect? Ireland (including the Republic of) is part of the British Isles. ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/13 "2006-02-28T22:22:05Z")
Would it be wrong to call them European? ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/14 "2006-02-28T22:23:28Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > Why would it be geographically incorrect? Ireland (including the Republic of) is part of the British Isles. Indeed, but that definition isn’t ever used. Plus, I dare you to tell _them_ that. ---
**Author:** ![GorillaMan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/50afbb/32.png) [@GorillaMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GorillaMan)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 11:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/15 "2006-02-28T23:10:41Z")
> [@jjimm](#): > > And because until 1998 the Republic didn’t recognise the border (the now amended Article 2 of the Irish constitution), it would - and still does - issue Irish passports to anyone born anywhere on the island of Ireland who wants one. Surely the decision to issue passports is a decision for a nation to make, on whatever grounds they choose? i.e. the decision by Ireland to issue passports to anyone born in Northern Ireland who wanted one wasn’t a direct result of the constitutional claim on the territory. ---
**Author:** ![taspel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3e96dc/32.png) [@taspel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/taspel)\ **Post date:** [February 28, 2006, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/16 "2006-02-28T23:23:49Z")
> [@Revenant Threshold](#): > > No, I wasn’t, I just meant that whatever part of Ireland you’re from, you are Irish. I agree with that sentiment and said as much to a guy in a pub in N. Ireland last year. He did not consider himself Irish, but rather an Ulster Scot. ---
**Author:** ![Kat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/b19c9b/32.png) [@Kat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kat)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 1:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/17 "2006-03-01T01:09:03Z")
UKainian? ---
**Author:** ![Bryan\_Ekers](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bryan_ekers/32/183_2.png) [@Bryan\_Ekers](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bryan_Ekers)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/18 "2006-03-01T01:32:29Z")
Malcolm McDowell: Hello. I’m a British person. In context, this has always cracked me up. ---
**Author:** ![pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b9e5f3/32.png) [@pretend\_my\_name\_is\_witty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pretend_my_name_is_witty)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/19 "2006-03-01T01:41:19Z")
On the subject, what’s the history behind Aussies calling us ‘poms’. I was told the other day that we originally called them poms, standing for **P** risoner **O** f her majesties’ **S** ervice, and they for some reason now call us it. It doesn’t sound too true to me, but I kind of like it anyway. So…what’s the real reason? We like our apples, but that’s hardly something we’re known for. ---
**Author:** ![Sage\_Rat](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sage_rat/32/399_2.png) [@Sage\_Rat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sage_Rat)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2006, 1:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517/20 "2006-03-01T01:41:37Z")
Ookies? No? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-do-you-call-someone-from-the-uk/346517.md?page=2)