Do you correct people if they call you British?

pickarooney

the_syco wrote: »

Aye. When asking a French person if they speak english, asking if they speak "english" will get a "no", and there'll be no rooms in the hotel. Asking if they speak "irelanda", you'll get a yes, and find that they/their mother/father/brother/sister/uncle/grandfather/cousin is/has holidayed/studied/worked in Ireland. Heck, we once asked someone to ring a taxi for us, and when he found out that we were Irish, he gave us a lift to our destination.

Yeah, that's right, French hotels deliberately pretend not to have available rooms when English people try to book there. This astute business moves sees them fill their inns many times over with the millions of Irish queuing up to get a reservation as opposed to the one or two visitors from perfidious alboin who dare to cross La Manche and expect to able to rent accommodation for the night.

wolfpawnat

I am Irish. I often get asked where in Eastern Europe I am from and I correct them, if someone assumed I was British I would correct them too.

And many in Britain see themselves as English/Scottish/Welsh and if I called a person from these countries British and they corrected me I would respect that too!

kiddums

Yea I'd correct them. And I'd insult them in the process.

An eye for an eye and all that.

Malice

cardwizzard wrote: »

no malice.

Aw

On-topic, I was in Kraków with a mate of mine a few years ago (he's Polish) and we met up with a bunch of his college friends. Not having anything beyond rudimentary Polish language skills it was a bit difficult for me to keep up with the conversations but one girl in particular took an immediate dislike to me. When I asked her what her problem was I got told that she hated English people. After I explained I was in fact Irish I got told that we all sound the same. I told her she sounded Russian and the conversation deteriorated from there.

deathrider

Happens me quite a lot when I play games online. American people can't seem to place the accent, so they always think I'm Brittish. I, of course, tell them I'm Irish, which usually results in one of two replies. A: The classic "I'm my grandfather was Irish" or B: "It's all the same". When it's the latter, I usually call them Mexican.

tricky D

I correct them:

Only part British*, also part Zambian (or should that be part Northern Rhodesian), part English, part Northern Irish, but not part Welsh or Scottish and if they want to go back further part Scandanavian, part Norman, part Celt and a few others.

...but call me Irish please.

nationality ain't so black and white.

* can refer to anyone from many former and present colonies (see post 77)


edit: will seriously consider changing my Irish passport for a British one if Bertie Ahern becomes President

Gunsfortoys

KeithAFC wrote: »

I think you will find that is a pretty big majority. But don't let that get in the way of your disinformation.
.

Me and my family are catholic born.

I grew up in a 70% Protestant 30% catholic area, nothing in relation to bigotry or sectarianism except between the adults and even that was minimal. I also lived in North Belfast for 2 years and never had any crap like the crap you are preaching about on a daily basis.

KeithAFC

Gunsfortoys wrote: »

I find your posts hilarious. I grew up in a 70% Protestant 30% catholic area, nothing in relation to bigotry or sectarianism except between the adults and even that was minimal. I also lived in North Belfast for 2 years and never had any crap like the crap you are preaching on a daily basis.

Saying that the majority of Unionists consider themselves British is NOT talking crap. Of course there is proud Irish Protestants who are Unionists. No one is denying that. But they are a minority.

Gunsfortoys

KeithAFC wrote: »

Saying that the majority of Unionists consider themselves British is NOT talking crap. Of course there is proud Irish Protestants who are Unionists. No one is denying that. But they are a minority.

The majority of UNIONISTS yes, not the majority of N.I.

DoesNotCompute

56lcd wrote: »

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.

My wife is South American, and we live in the UK, so on occasino, I meet people from around the world. On occasion, I have met people who have assumed I was either American or English (I've even been assumed to have been Brazilian on one occasion, despite my pasty white complexion, freckles and red hair ). In fairness, it's not down to the person in question being an "a*^hole", but it's just down to plain ignorance.

Not to make a vast generalisation, but the average South American wouldn't know the difference between England, Scotland, Northern Ireland, or the Irish Republic. To them, they are all "over there, in Europe".

Lia_lia

Never happened to me either. But then again I don't know what I'd say! Was born in England. Genetically I'm mostly English. But I hold an Irish passport! But shhh.

gigino

Thinspired wrote: »

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.

be like Bertie, just ask for a digout. lol

Having foreigners think IMF / bailout when they think of Ireland / meet an Irish person is at least better than IRA or EC grants/ subsidies.

FreudianSlippers

Yes I do. A poll would have been easier, but I will accept this opportunity to postwhore.

DoesNotCompute

De Hipster wrote: »

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

Not necessarily.

Say you were a resident of N.I., who was born in the US, to parents of Irish birth, you could (potentially) apply for both US and Irish citizenship, but you would have no entitlement to British citizenship until you lived in N.I. for a minimum number of years required for British naturalisation.

But that's another story altogether

Tar.Aldarion

Never been called anything but Irish but ofc I'd correct it no matter what country they said in err.

sensibleken

KeithAFC wrote: »

Whats wrong with that?

Nothing much. Its just if i passed a house that had 3 flags flying from it id presume it was either a state building or the person inside was crazy.

KeithAFC

sensibleken wrote: »

Nothing much. Its just if i passed a house that had 3 flags flying from it id presume it was either a state building or the person inside was crazy.

Not really. Americans are famous for it.

Wolfe Tone

Im Irish so yes I do correct them. Why wouldnt I?

ollie1

Never been asked if I am British but have been asked if I am Polish a good few times

barnaclebill

I've been mistaken for a Brit on a few occasions but never really bothered me. I just say actually I'm the rich neighbour of the British, well that was during the Celtic tiger

jugger0

Hell yeah id correct them, you'd be suprised how nicer people treat you when they find out your Irish, Unless they're unionists of course....

sensibleken

KeithAFC wrote: »

Not really. Americans are famous for it.

Americans do one flag. flags are like eyepatches.

1 flag- cool

3 flags- crazy

Latchy

Unless it becomes the topic of conversation itself which occasionally has , I point out the error of their ways , which is usually understood . Living in England it has happened a few times but it's usually being a harmless error on the persons part , never needed to make a big deal of it .

Abroad I have had conversations with some foreigners with some surprised , some not so about the difference .


Also as a side note most national survey / NHS / government documents which have a ' tick your nationality box ' will always have Irish /southern Irish as an option .

DoesNotCompute

Jonah42 wrote: »

I've been asked several times in southern Leinster and Munster if we use the euro in Donegal. Shocking.

My aunt used to live in Donegal during the 90's, and when I holidayed there, the local shops accepted both the punt and the (english) pound, so I can see why you might have been asked if you use the euro there (as opposed to gbp).

Noffles

And on the other side of this coin.

I've been in Ireland for 12 years now and when returning to Great Britain they tell me that I sound Irish... a prompt **** Off puts them right...

Mal-Adjusted

the_syco wrote: »

People have mistaken me for German/english/culchie/Nordic/etc. I usually correct them, and move on.

You're from Leixlip

LETHAL LADY

I was on holidays in Rome with my hubby and they wouldnt leave us into a niteclub because they thought we were brits said we would get hassle. We told them we were Irish so they left us in anyhow had a great time till we left and this raging lunatic started shouting at us f**k off english and then made a lunge at me. Thankfully he didnt connect and we scarpered as quick as we could. Moral of the story didnt have time to correct the chap thinking I was british.

DoesNotCompute

De Hipster wrote: »

The reality is that NI citizens have (by birth) the automatic right to dual nationality

It's not quite that simple. Since 1st Jan 2005, being born in N.I. does not automatically mean you have the entitlement to Irish citizenship. A child born in N.I. post 2004 is entitled to Irish citizenship if at least one of his or her parents is:

• an Irish citizen (or someone entitled to be an Irish citizen)
• a British citizen
• a resident of the island of Ireland who is entitled to reside in either the Republic or in Northern Ireland without any time limit on that residence
• or
• a legal resident of the island of Ireland for three out of the 4 years preceding the child's birth (although time spent as a student or as an asylum seeker does not count for this purpose)

bigwormbundoran

I mostly get it from retards from Dublin who are fully convinced that Donegal is in Northern Ireland, and they always get a wee lecture off me.

Once at work I had a Dub fella in who was about 25 he said "youre only charging me that cause im a republican" I said "how could I possibly know your political leanings" he said "no, cause im from the Republic" after a short facepalm I informed him of how we were in fact also part of the so called republic, the fool

PeterIanStaker

Never happened to me.

But I suppose if I was overheard speaking Irish on a bus in Dublin I'd be called a "f***ing foreigner" by goys called, loike, Fiachra or Fionn.

Fratton Fred

The Irish must be sooo unlucky. I've been abroad plenty of times and know plenty of English people who travel regularly. I don't know anybody who has been abused for being English.

Maybe the Irish are taking all the flack on our behalf.

sensibleken

Nearly every country you go to someone will think your british. Why? Because we are a tiny, sparsely poppulated rock on the edge of europe. Its not reasonable to presume everyone can pick out our accent as easy as they would and english, french, american etc.

Every need to correct them, but no need to get annoyed.

FreudianSlippers

sensibleken wrote: »

Americans do one flag. flags are like eyepatches.

1 flag- cool

3 flags- crazy

4 flags = crazy cool?

De Hipster

DoesNotCompute wrote: »

It's not quite that simple. Since 1st Jan 2005, being born in N.I. does not automatically mean you have the entitlement to Irish citizenship. A child born in N.I. post 2004 is entitled to Irish citizenship if at least one of his or her parents is:

• an Irish citizen (or someone entitled to be an Irish citizen)
• a British citizen
• a resident of the island of Ireland who is entitled to reside in either the Republic or in Northern Ireland without any time limit on that residence
• or
• a legal resident of the island of Ireland for three out of the 4 years preceding the child's birth (although time spent as a student or as an asylum seeker does not count for this purpose)

Standing corrected.

I was making assumptions in the context of the discussion as it was going...i.e. not incorporating the Asylum seeker/recent immigrants etc.

TeddyTedson

Always correct them. Doesn't bother me though, I've nothing against THE BR!TS :pac:
Sometime I've been away and get talking to the locals and then they ask, if I'm English, and when I tell them, "No I'm Irish" they get all excited and say something like sorry to offend you

mike65

Fremen wrote: »

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?

Eh?

thebigbiffo

the 'IRA Forever' alongside the tricolour tattoo on my forehead normally puts them right

Debthree

Of course I correct them, why wouldn't I? I also correct people who call me fat. They all have dodgy atlases and eyes.

Judgement Day

AgileMyth wrote: »

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

Great contribution. :rolleyes: Thanks though you saved me wasting precious seconds reading the rest of this thread.

Duckjob

feelingstressed wrote: »

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

Back in the eighties, when Barry McGuigan was flying high and winning titles in his boxing career , he was frequently displayed on BBC sport boards as Barry McGuigan - GB. When he lost a couple of fights, on the same sport boards he became "Barry McGuigan NI". Didn't seem to matter to anyone at the Beeb that he was actually from Clones in Co. Monaghan

OT, don't see the problem with anyone correcting someone about where they're from. It's not disrespectful to point out you're not british to someone who thinks you are.

seanybiker

Course I would.

kiddums

OisinT wrote: »

4 flags = crazy fool?

FYP;)

:cool:

pickarooney

6 flags is da bomb, yo!

De Hipster

Duckjob wrote: »

Back in the eighties, when Barry McGuigan was flying high and winning titles in his boxing career , he was frequently displayed on BBC sport boards as Barry McGuigan - GB. When he lost a couple of fights, on the same sport boards he became "Barry McGuigan NI". Didn't seem to matter to anyone at the Beeb that he was actually from Clones in Co. Monaghan

OT, don't see the problem with anyone correcting someone about where they're from. It's not disrespectful to point out you're not british to someone who thinks you are.

Mc Guigan 'The Clones cyclone' took out British citizenship so that he could compete for British domestic titles...I remember him fighting under Barney Eastwood as British.

More here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barry_McGuigan

Jaxxy

Of course I would, I'm not British, I'm Irish.

baltimore sun

I live on the continent in one of them former communist mad places and anytime someone calls me British I correct them to which they usually say...yes but it's all the same really....to which I say ah yes just like you Germans are all the same or if they've been rude then insert Russians instead of Germans.

RepublicanEagle

I may have Republican in my name but that does not mean I am,anyway Keith, I have a lot of friends from the North,protestant/unionists etc, I am living and studying with them in France,

Anytime someone asks them their nationality they don't go around saying rubbish like "British by Birth,Ulster by the Grace of God" bla bla bla,they identify themselves as Irish,not Northern Irish or British,Irish, yes of course they identify themselves as British if you get into specifics,I asked them about the Ulster Scots thing and they just started laughing;they said all that was stupid.

And you say you do not identify yourself as Irish,yet you fly Ulster Flag?

There are four Irish provinces in case you did not know Munster,Connacht,Leinster and Ulster,you were born in Ireland,the North yes,fair enough you idenity yourself as British,but still you were born in Ireland,and to pretend you have no Irish idendity whatsoever is ridculous.

End of.

KeithAFC

RepublicanEagle wrote: »

I may have Republican in my name but that does not mean I am,anyway Keith, I have a lot of friends from the North,protestant/unionists etc, I am living and studying with them in France,

Anytime someone asks them their nationality they don't go around saying rubbish like "British by Birth,Ulster by the Grace of God" bla bla bla,they identify themselves as Irish,not Northern Irish or British,Irish, yes of course they identify themselves as British if you get into specifics,I asked them about the Ulster Scots thing and they just started laughing;they said all that was stupid.

And you say you do not identify yourself as Irish,yet you fly Ulster Flag?

There are four Irish provinces in case you did not know Munster,Connacht,Leinster and Ulster,you were born in Ireland,the North yes,fair enough you idenity yourself as British,but still you were born in Ireland,and to pretend you have no Irish idendity whatsoever is ridculous.

End of.

Sorry if i struggle to believe a word of that. What i posted is reality of the situation. The Ulster banner is not an Irish flag. You are thinking of the wrong flag.

sensibleken

KeithAFC wrote: »

Sorry if i struggle to believe a word of that. What i posted is reality of the situation. The Ulster banner is not an Irish flag. You are thinking of the wrong flag.

Do you ever get confused over which flag goes in which order. how big is your flag pole?

Noffles

haha... as always here come the disagreements.... you lot make me LOL!