Do you correct people if they call you British?

Fremen

The M&S thread got me thinking. It probably doesn't happen to people who live in Ireland much, but if you live abroad you'll probably get people calling you British from time to time, or referring to Ireland as part of Britain. I usually correct them, but they often see it as pedantry or picking nits.

I'm not a mad shinner or anything, but to me it's a fairly important distinction - a bit like referring to someone from Croatia as Yugoslavian. Would you bother to correct someone who made the mistake?

Dravokivich

Do you correct people if they call you British?

yes, they get 100%.

Sykk

Never happened to me, nor anyone else in most cases, which leads me to the following:

What is this I don't even...

we'llallhavetea_old

yes i would correct them..

jimmycrackcorm

Is a punch in the mouth classed as a correction?

u140acro3xs7dm

Its happened once or twice and i corrected them, why wouldn't I. If someone called you french you would correct them. Its the same thing

seanbmc

Yes I correct them, because I'm Irish not British.

Why wouldn't you?

KeithAFC

Nope. I am British.

Notorious97

Well this is going to end well as usual

Yes i correct them, why wouldnt i? if they called me spanish id correct them (although i doubt id pass for one haha)

Sisko

Of course.

And for fuck sake. I really hate how the fear of being labels a RA head has made it so you now have to say 'I'm not a shinner or anything' for just being correct about who you are, Irish.

You can't even talk about anything factual about Ireland anymore if it has anything to do with Irish history , being Irish you have to fight off being seen as anti brit or pro ira.

Its disgusting.

Fremen

Sykk wrote: »

Never happened to me, nor anyone else in most cases, which leads me to the following:

What is this I don't even...

Try leaving your hovel in Tallaght once in a while and it just might happen.

String

Yeah I would but it has never happened. My mother sounds english and is always considered english by people she doesnt know but has stopped bothering correcting people

Sisko

KeithAFC wrote: »

Nope. I am British.

If someone called you Irish would you correct them?

mikemac

Never happened to me

But I did work with a lad called Miguel in a past job and he'd almost punch you if you called him Spanish.
No, he was from the Basque region and proud to be Basque

A proud people those Basques

Thinspired

I've always corrected people in the past but I'm not so sure if I'd be so quick to do it now (isn't that awful?). Admitting you're Irish at the moment is just inviting ridicule and I don't even know how I'd start to defend the country if someone started asking about the mess we're in.

Having said that I's still want to say I'm not British. Maybe I'll moonlight as a Finnish person for a while.

KeithAFC

Sisko wrote: »

If someone called you Irish would you correct them?

Yep.

admiralofthefleet

yes, absolutely.

red menace

I voted yes on your po.. never mind
Yes I do, i'm in Canada I get asked a lot if I'm from England
I just like to keep things accurate.
That said a lot of people guess I am Irish because I have a big Irish head on me

AgileMyth

KeithAFC wrote: »

Nope. I am British.

Are you from Northern Ireland? If so you aint British..

Agent Smith

i do

Mint Sauce

English by birth with an English accent and I still correct them.

starbelgrade

AgileMyth wrote: »

Are you from Northern Ireland? If so you aint British..

*Pop goes the can of worms*

Cracked82

AgileMyth wrote: »

Are you from Northern Ireland? If so you aint British..

They like to think they are!!!

Sisko

KeithAFC wrote: »

Yep.

Thank you. Had a discussion with 2 lads a while back who looked at me as if I had 7 heads on me when I mentioned that there were people in Northern Ireland who don't consider themselves Irish, I shall smuggly rub this in their faces.


Also your Northern Irish and you can't escape that so nah nah ne naaaaah naaaaaaah. :P

Mint Sauce

starbelgrade wrote: »

*Pop goes the can of worms*

Sweet or Salty Popcorn for you SBG

jimthemental

A shovel and a bucket of lime is all the correction they need.;)

mikemac

Andy Murray is British when he wins and Scottish when he loses according to some newspapers

If any of you achieve success and fame a British newspaper will probably claim you
Happened Colin Farrell I believe. And Limerick's favorite son Richard Harris

De Hipster

Doesn't bother me, born in N.I. entitled to refer to myself as British/Irish...or both.

Snakeblood

Fremen wrote: »

The M&S thread got me thinking. It probably doesn't happen to people who live in Ireland much, but if you live abroad you'll probably get people calling you British from time to time, or referring to Ireland as part of Britain. I usually correct them, but they often see it as pedantry or picking nits.

I'm not a mad shinner or anything, but to me it's a fairly important distinction - a bit like referring to someone from Croatia as Yugoslavian. Would you bother to correct someone who made the mistake?

Yeah, I'd correct them. I'm a stickler for accuracy. It wouldn't bother me though.

KeithAFC

Sisko wrote: »

Thank you. Had a discussion with 2 lads a while back who looked at me as if I had 7 heads on me when I mentioned that there were people in Northern Ireland who don't consider themselves Irish, I shall smuggly rub this in their faces.


Also your Northern Irish and you can't escape that so nah nah ne naaaaah naaaaaaah. :P

lol. Good luck with that. I doubt they will ever understand. Seems to be an ignorance about it.

admiralofthefleet

De Hipster wrote: »

Doesn't bother me, born in N.I. entitled to refer to myself as British/Irish...or both.

call yourself BI

Mint Sauce

feelingstressed wrote: »

Andy Murray is English when he wins and Scottish when he loses according to some newspapers

If any of you achieve success and fame a British newspaper will probably claim you

Andy Murray has never been reffered to as English, only ever British or Scotish.

56lcd

You can only be called british if you are citizen of Scotland,Wales and England (the 3 countries that constitute britain)
People from Northern Ireland are not british, they are unfortunately residents of the united kingdom of britain and Northern Ireland..

It is the greatest insult one can bestow on an Irishman to refer to him as british, it really get's on my nerves if some a*^hole refers to Ireland as being part of the british isles ..... there is nothing british about us.

AgileMyth

starbelgrade wrote: »

*Pop goes the can of worms*

Theres no can of worms, theres not even a debate to be had.

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.

pickarooney

Yes, not that they listen, or care. I don't mind in general, it's just when they assume that I actually know everyday stuff about the UK it gets a bit tiresome pointing out that they've probably been there more often than I have.

De Hipster

56lcd wrote: »

You can only be called british if you are citizen of Scotland,Wales and England (the 3 countries that constitute britain)
People from Northern Ireland are not british, they are unfortunately residents of the united kingdom of britain and Northern Ireland..

It is the greatest insult one can bestow on an Irishman to refer to him as british, it really get's on my nerves if some a*^hole refers to Ireland as being part of the british isles ..... there is nothing british about us.

Eh...the passport issued to you if you apply in N.I. is BRITISH.

ScumLord

No, I'll tell them that I'm the most British cunt they'll ever meet then smack them right in the jaw and set what ever building I'm in on fire while screaming "we're all like this you know!"
Then I'll sit sipping Guinness in the next available Irish pub happy that I've ruined the reputation of the English just a little bit more.

Jim

KeithAFC wrote: »

lol. Good luck with that. I doubt they will ever understand. Seems to be an ignorance about it.

I was one of the lads. I was under the impression that pretty much everyone in the north would consider themselves Irish, but that a lot of people would consider themselves British first and Irish second. In your case this would be what I would have thought. Seems I was ignorant. I'm all for understanding though.

admiralofthefleet

when i was in cyprus a cypriot called me british so i called him turkish, he got the point

De Hipster

admiralofthefleet wrote: »

call yourself BI

...if you like!

Sisko

KeithAFC wrote: »

lol. Good luck with that. I doubt they will ever understand. Seems to be an ignorance about it.

Nothing to do with them being ignorant, that's for sure.

Maybe just a little naive about how some Northern Irish people are.

KeithAFC

Jim wrote: »

I was one of the lads. I was under the impression that pretty much everyone in the north would consider themselves Irish, but that a lot of people would consider themselves British first and Irish second. In your case this would be what I would have thought. Seems I was ignorant. I'm all for understanding though.

You thought everyone in Northern Ireland thought of themselves as Irish? You only have to travel to Northern Ireland and you would see that isn't the case.

R P McMurphy

Used to get it in France quite a bit and then see a dramatic change in their attitude towards you once corrected

Badgermonkey

Look, we're all 'West Brits' as we're far happier flinging millions of euro at the Irish language rather than having to actually speak it to one another.

Luxie

I live amongst foreigners who just hear an English speaking accent. I correct them but not in a defensive manner.

A Belgian would do the same if asked if they're French. An Austrian would do the same if they were asked if they're German.

pow wow

I sound sortof English but I do correct people if it's worth correcting. Especially in America, they love that kind of thing :cool:

stephendevlin

De Hipster wrote: »

Eh...the passport issued to you if you apply in N.I. is BRITISH.

Thought you can still get an Irish passport even when living in the north?

Irish nationality law is the law of Ireland governing citizenship.[1] A person may be an Irish citizen through birth, descent, marriage to an Irish citizen or through naturalisation. Irish nationality law is currently contained in the provisions of the Irish Nationality and Citizenship Acts 1956 to 2004 and in the relevant provisions of the Irish Constitution. The law extends extra-territorially to people born in Northern Ireland.[2]

Jim

KeithAFC wrote: »

You thought everyone in Northern Ireland thought of themselves as Irish? You only have to travel to Northern Ireland and you would see that isn't the case.

As I said, British first and Irish second. I don't mean Irish in terms of tri colour etc. But rather that "I'm from Ireland, this is my home" Irish. Irish would mean something very different to those people. But always British first.

56lcd

De Hipster wrote: »

Eh...the passport issued to you if you apply in N.I. is BRITISH.

maybe you missed out on geography classes at school.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Britain

nothern Ireland is part of the united kingdom of britain and Ireland but northern Ireland is not part of britain.

your passport does not say british

starbelgrade

irish-stew wrote: »

Sweet or Salty Popcorn for you SBG

Salty please.. with some hot melted butter if there's any going.

daveyboy_1ie

Nope, just call them whatever neighbour of theirs which will piss them off (Americans are Canadians, Canadians are 'Diet Americans', Australians are Kiwi's etc., you get the picture).

It makes my point quicker than explaining a history lesson every time I used to travel all those years ago.