where is the difference?

between English and British.
I am about/trying to write a piece to with regard to the differences and similarities.
I also need to compare it conjunction with American and Canadian to juxtapose the ideas

would appreciate your involvment in this great subject.

 

since this is a class assignment it would seem to me that you need to do it on your own... besides which, there is a site rule against members helping with school assignments...

it will be easy enough if you just do some googling, instead of asking others here to do the work for you...

 

this is not a class assignment and I am not a pupil/student.
I have not worded it right.
I am trying to gather different views on this subject because it is directly linked to people.

 

English is the adjective for someone/something from England (including the language).

British is the adjective for someone/something from Britain (England, Wales, Scotland or Northern Ireland). It is not a language but there is "British" English as distinguished from "American" English.

It's completely different to American and Canadian, as British can include English.

 

Ok.

I am British because I live and married an English person and so go granted a British passport that way.
I am not English.
which would you say you are?

 

I'm both.

I was born in North West England. I describe myself as British.

 

you see this is where I have a problem.
how can you be both?
if you are born in England then you are English.
I understand British as me because I am not English.
if you sau you are British then that makes you the same as me which we are not.
do you see what I am trying to say?

 

British/English can be nationalities. English can also be a label to any English-speaking country's language. English came from the United Kingdom nations and sailed across the Atlantic to America. Thus the British, Americans and Canadians all speak English.

The only differences would be sometimes difference words for the same thing (vacuum vs. hoover), different jargon and different influxes in accents.

Oh, and aluminum has four syllables, not five. Just sayin'. -snerks-

 

how is aluminium got five?

 

It doesn't. -smirks even larger-

---

Ah, I suppose that flew over some people's heads, sorry. To explain: I was taking a small jab at British-English. In America, we pronounce it as "ah-lu-mi-num." In Britain, it's pronounced, "ah-lu-mi-nEE-um." They give it an extra, non-present "i". =P

 

From my humble experience and observation:

- Many of those outside of England don't call themselves British, but tend to say they are Scottish/Welsh/N Irish.
- In England, many more call themselves 'British' rather than English, although it can depend on region, age group, political factors etc.
- Many of those of non-English/British ethnicity would say they are 'British' (because that seems more inclusionary), but would not say they are 'English', even if born in England.

I'm part English, and that's what I tend to say. Cue for questions about my complicated background...

 

should we cue/queue because it is very British or shall we just wait to be told which is the English way??

 

It has four syllables. Just sayin'

Edit: I see what you are saying.

 

I first thought we were talking about the differences in language.
There are many dialects of "English". I bet inside each country there are different dialects also.
If talking of English speaking countries, Australia should be included.

Also to make it even more difficult, there are many different slang words: generational(age) slang, geograpical slang, ethnic slang,

The people I talked to in Toronto didn't speak much different then south of the border(US), but people in Quebec that spoke English were hard to understand.
I've heard people in the British military speaking and had trouble understanding them.

If we're talking what to call a citizen, we're even more confusing in the States. We call ourselves Americans, but Americans are:
Canadian, US, Mexico, Brazil, Argentina, Chile etc.
Anyone in North, south or central America are Americans, but not citizens of the United States.

 

I don't know, if you're feeling brave you can try pushing in.

Not much for queueing personally. I often let others go first (i.e. onto the bus or train). Not very English or British of me, I guess.

 

Not so simple. Northern Ireland is not in Britain, but, because there is no adjective from "United Kingdom", "British" is often taken to cover Northern Ireland anyway.

 

those are not the only differences... there are also differences in spelling and punctuation...

and 'queue' for standing in line, is the same in both brands of english... 'cue' means something else entirely... several other somethings, actually...

 

Still not that straightforward. I've lived with two Northern Irishmen over the past few years. They never met. It's probably fortunate. One was Republican, and to him Ulster was part of Ireland. The other was Loyalist - if you told him Northern Ireland wasn't part of Britain he would respond strongly. He felt himself to be British and Northern Irish.

Technically, it's the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, but whether Northern Ireland itself is British depends on your viewpoint more than the technical name of the country.

 

Depends on what you're refering to. Northern Ireland is not part of Great Britain, but it is part of the British Isles. And since there is no demonym from UK, British is used as a general reference to UK citizens.