Poll: English/ British?
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There is no 'British' accent; for such a small island we cane a massive array of different accents..
You can refuse to use the term all you wan't, and I understand why, but that's what they're called.bobknowsall said:
Well, I did specifically say "in the Dail". That's not a linguistic tic, btw. It's our National Assembly.scumofsociety said:
And, you see, that's where we run into a little problem. You could call them "England and Ireland", you could call them "these islands", which is what they're called in official documentation, or you could call them the "Anglo-Celtic Islands" if you were feeling fancy.
Or, even more intelligently, they could be called the "British-Irish Isles", which would eliminate the problem entirely. Hmm?
English, but even then there are loads of accents in the UK. For example, being from Devon I sometimes speak a bit like a country bumpkin farmer, whereas Londoners have distinct cockney city accents.
Why would I do that? They've been the British Isles since the Romans were around.bobknowsall said:
No matter how much I may or may not want to be part of the EU, England and the rest of the British Isles are part of Europe. When I am refering to Europe as a whole I say "Europe", not "England and Europe".
is there such thing as a british accent?
isn't that just when americans can't depict that a "british" accent is either a english,irish,welsh or scottish accent?
isn't that just when americans can't depict that a "british" accent is either a english,irish,welsh or scottish accent?
It's not really a question of one or the other as they refer to different things.
Refering to a 'British' accent is like refering to a 'North American' accent, it's rather vague and, if anything, unhelpful.
An 'English' accent can be used as a catch-all term although our neighbours, Scotland, (N.)Ireland & Wales, will rightfully remind you that their own linguistic idiosyncrasies do not constitute an 'English' accent.
Even when applied to English nationals the term 'English' accent is still far from ideal for, as with virtually every other nation, regional accents can make the idea of a single 'English' accent an untenable concept.
Refering to a 'British' accent is like refering to a 'North American' accent, it's rather vague and, if anything, unhelpful.
An 'English' accent can be used as a catch-all term although our neighbours, Scotland, (N.)Ireland & Wales, will rightfully remind you that their own linguistic idiosyncrasies do not constitute an 'English' accent.
Even when applied to English nationals the term 'English' accent is still far from ideal for, as with virtually every other nation, regional accents can make the idea of a single 'English' accent an untenable concept.
No such thing as either. Britian consists of Northern Ireland, Scotland, Wales and England. Four countries that have completely different accents. And within these countries there are many more accents. There isn't a "British" accent and there isn't an "English" accent.mirror said:
Have a look a this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dABo_DCIdpM
That guy is pretty talented and goes through very few of the accents in the UK, but enough to give you an idea. Please have a listen.
Nope. If I said "Great Britain" consists of that, you'd have a point. But I said "Britain". Britain is a very commonly used synonym for the UK.Lukeje said:
From wiki:
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland[note 7] (commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK, or Britain)
It's common speech. Don't nitpick
I'm from England (Liverpool) and I'll take English or Scouse (the term for the Liverpool accent)
Like most people have said before me, people prefair to be called by there local dialect.
As long as you don't call someone welsh you'l be fine.
Like most people have said before me, people prefair to be called by there local dialect.
As long as you don't call someone welsh you'l be fine.
Every region has a different accent. There are multiple accents within individual cities.
What you think of as an "English" accent is likely the stereotypical London accent.
What you think of as an "English" accent is likely the stereotypical London accent.
I'm welsh and it's time to raaaaageeeeee!!Dags90 said:
but meh, British is technically the correct term to cover everyone from the British isles as it's all apart of Britain *ok technically only the north of Ireland so they're Irish*
On a slightly unrelated note, I hate you empire:total war for stating Wales doesn't exist there's only more England!
Ah, you see, that's a logical assertion that doesn't follow.scumofsociety said:
Europe has been around for ages, and England has quite happily been a part of Europe since it formed. And the last time I checked, the English proved very fond of Europe. Great deal of attempted (and some successful) conquests.
The "European Union" is a political construct. The continent's name inspired the organisation, not the other way around. But the whole "Europe-EU" thing is irrelevant, because it's got little to do with the actual problem.
The salient question is this: Are there any countries called Europe? Was there a "European Empire"? Is there any reason why being part of a continent is offensive? Because that's something I'd really like to see you elaborate on.
There aren't any countries called Britain either. The British Empire came out of the British Isles, not the other way round.bobknowsall said:
Well, the "country" and "empire" bits were meant to be kept separate, but I didn't state that. Were this a formal debate, you would have won. Good on ye.scumofsociety said:
You can understand why I would prefer a different name for the Isles though, right? Because if you understand where I'm coming from, that's enough.