Alternative words for British
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- This article is about terms applied to people. For a discussion of the overlapping terms for states/countries/nations in the British Isles see British Isles (terminology).
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There are many alternative ways to describe the people of the United Kingdom, though the official designated nationality is British. The most commonly used noun by Americans is Briton (see also demonym), although most of the rest of the world distinguishes between English, Scottish, Welsh, Northern Irish, or address the United Kingdom as a whole. Historically "British" implied a connection with the British Isles rather than with the United Kingdom and its predecessor states. The latter is sometimes abbreviated to Brit although this is to be avoided in formal contexts as it is sometimes used pejoratively. Some other terms are humorous or derogatory slang, and used mainly by people from other countries, although they can be used in a self-deprecating way by British people themselves. Other terms are serious or tongue-in-cheek attempts to coin words as alternatives to the potentially ambiguous standard terms.
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Slang
Limey
Limey is an old American and Canadian slang nickname for the British, originally referring to British sailors. The term is believed to derive from lime-juicer, referring to the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy practice of supplying lime juice (an antiscorbutic) to British sailors to prevent scurvy in the 19th century. The term is believed to have originated in the Caribbean in the 1880s. A false etymology is that it is a derivative of "Gor-blimey" ("god blind me!").
Pommy
The term Pommy for a British person is commonly used in Australian English and New Zealand English, and is often shortened to Pom. The origin of this term is not confirmed.
One etymology of the term is thought to be that, as the majority of early immigrants to Australia were British, it is rhyming slang for "immigrant" from a contraction of the word "pomegranate", or possibly more directly related to the appearance of the fruit, as it bears a more than passing resemblance to the typical pale complexioned Briton's skin after his or her first few days living under the hot Australian sun.
Another etymology, is such that POM is a shortened acronym of Prisoner of His/Her Majesty (POHM). This refers to the fact that most of Australian's first settlers were convicts, sentenced to transportation. Upon arrival in the country they would sport a "uniform", with the four initials emblazoned on the back. Convicts with an extended stay on Australian soil would no longer have to wear the shirt, and would often refer to newer entrants into the country as "Pohmmys". The modern term excludes the H. Such actions could have presumed the Australian trait of self-joking. But though this may be commonly believed, it is believed to be false, as the term was coined long before acronyms were believed to be used in common parlance.
Other suggestions are mostly along the lines that POM is a different acronym, such as "Prisoner of Mother England" or "Port of Melbourne", referring to the fact that the earliest Australian settlers were convicts.
Some etymologies can be considered false etymologies, however there is a little to no evidence of a truthful conclusion to the word.
The use of the word 'Pom' is contentious. British people living in Australasia generally find the term offensive and demeaning as it is used to cause offence. Attitudes to the use of the word have varied over the years, from the 1960s when slogans such as 'bash a pom a day' were heard on New Zealand radio, to today, when the word has become so entrenched that few Australians and New Zealanders see any reason to be politically correct about the use of this word that remains insulting to British people living in those countries.
Rosbif
In French the term rosbif refers to the idea that the British staple meat is (or was) roast beef [1].
Rooinek
In South Africa the term 'Pom' may also be used, while Afrikaans speakers use the term rooinek (literally 'red neck', on account of the sunburnt skin).
Britisher
In India, the term 'Britisher' may still be encountered, but is largely obsolete elsewhere.
John Bull
John Bull was originally a character created by John Arbuthnot in 1712 to satirise the Whig war party. Later in the 18th century, British satirical artists James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson and George Cruikshank contrasted the stout and healthy British cartoon character with scrawny French revolutionary sans-culottes Jacobins. In the 19th century the U.S. cartoonist Thomas Nast also drew the character. This has not been widely accepted in Scotland, creator Arbuthnot provided John Bull with a sister named Peg to represent Scotland.
Tommy
The name Tommy for a soldier in the British Army is particularly associated with World War I. German soldiers would call out to Tommy across no-man's land if they wished to speak to a British soldier. The French, and Commonwealth forces also used the name. Tommy is derived from Tommy Atkins which had been used as a generic name for a soldier for many years (and had been used as an example name on army registration forms). The precise origin is the subject of some debate, but it is known to have been used as early as 1743. Rudyard Kipling published the poem Tommy (part of the Barrack Room Ballads) in 1892 and in 1893 the music hall song Private Tommy Atkins was published with words by Henry Hamilton and music by S. Potter. In 1898 William McGonagall wrote Lines In Praise of Tommy Atkins.
Brit
The term Brit seems to have become popular in more recent times, particularly in US usage. The term is not usually offered offensively and is generally not perceived as such, however there are circumstances in which it is used pejoratively, for example by supporters of Scottish independence when referring to their Unionist opponents and by Irish nationalists when referring to Irish unionists or British Soldiers.
Redcoat
The term Redcoat is basically a slang term for a British soldier. This term was especially used from the mid-17th century to around 1898 when the British Army wore Scarlet red-coloured coats in their typical military dress.
Proposed alternatives
Use of alternative terms has been practiced and advocated by some people to distinguish UK nationals from people living specifically in Great Britain or the British Isles. In practice, this is not usually necessary in British English because British without any modifier (like British cooking) is usually understood to refer to the UK, and the term British Isles has become increasingly unacceptable to people in the Republic of Ireland.
Other languages
In much the same way as the word 'England' is used (incorrectly) to refer to 'Britain', the term 'English' is used interchangeably with 'British' in many languages, hence in French, a British man may be called un Anglais, while a British woman may be une Anglaise, even though they may be from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland. However, when it is specifically known that the person is from Scotland, French people always call that person un(e) Écossais(e), and they wouldn't call that person un(e) Anglais(e). If the person comes from Wales or Northern Ireland, the distinction is more blurred for French people, and those people will often be called Anglais, although strictly speaking they should be called un(e) Gallois(e) for a Welshman, and perhaps un(e) Irlandais(e) for someone from Northern Ireland, although choosing the correct term here opens up another kettle of fish. People from the Republic of Ireland are always called Irlandais of course, and never Anglais.
The literal translation of 'British', britannique, is used more in official contexts, for governments rather than for individuals: this is reflected in the description of the monarch as His/Her Britannic Majesty. Less formally the French also call the British les rosbifs (roast beef), due to the fondness of the British for this particular dish. The common British slang term for the French, Frogs, has a similar culinary root.
In Spain, the use of the words British and English was commonly interchangeable. However, Spanish growing nationalist and celtic cultural movements tend to regard Scotland and Wales as different nations, as a reflection of complex Spanish territorial stresses. Nevertheless, Ireland has always been considered as a different entity, even when it belonged to the UK; this may be due to the historical ties that joined these catholic nations on the fight against British Protestants.
Sometimes the concepts of "British" and "English" even get turned the other way around, and this also occurs among some English speakers, who think that the use of the terms "English" and "England" are to be avoided, when it is, in fact, their misuse that causes offence. There have been cases (such as in the Finnish press) where the writer has divided "England" into "Britain" and "Scotland", for example as in: "Of the English, the Brits are often more stuck-up than the Scots."; however, this is quite a rare phenomenon.
Many world languages such as Chinese and Japanese, use terms for Britain which are obviously based on "England/English". This may cause offence among Scottish, Welsh and Irish people.