Is Britain the same as England?

  • Published
  • By Billy the cat
  • 48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England --  The fur can fly if you make a mistake and call someone 'English' when they proudly hail from Scotland, Wales or Ireland. Territorial pride is not just a feline trait. People can be very touchy if you mix up their tribal origins.

I call myself 'British Billy' to be on the safe side because, truth be told, I've no idea where my birthplace is. I'm pretty sure I didn't swim any seas to get here, so I'm unlikely to be French, Spanish or anything so exotic. Mind you, they tell me cats all come from Egypt originally and were worshipped as gods. Seems logical to me.

To be British, you have to be a citizen of one of the countries that form Great Britain - that is, England, Scotland or Wales. Now what about Ireland? Well, then we come to the term U.K., short for United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. However, the terms are sometimes interchangeable - for example, in the Olympics the U.K. is represented by the 'Great Britain Olympic Team'. You couldn't make this stuff up, could you? This is the simple version, but there is a lot more to it if you have the time and inclination to study all the ins and outs of our history and government.

I suppose England gets confused with Britain because England occupies most of the southern two-thirds of Great Britain and most of the U.K. population lives there. We talk about speaking 'English' too, rather than British. But you had better beware because you are likely to cause great offence to a Scotsman, Welshman or Irishman if you call them English. Even 'British' will be objectionable to some, such is their fierce loyalty to their home country and pride in their separate identities.

The British Isles might be just a little group of islands nestled in the Atlantic Ocean in comparison to the great land mass that is the United States of America, but we can be a feisty bunch when roused. We have a lively history, which has resulted in some of our idiosyncrasies. Enjoy - and get it right!