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How do you refer to the United Kingdom (if you live there, where you do say that you live)?

Jordan...

By Jordan...,
in 2023

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How do you refer to the United Kingdom?  

53 members have voted

  1. 1. How do you refer to the country as a whole?

    • United Kingdom
      42
    • Great Britain
      3
    • Britain
      4
    • England
      2
    • Scotland
      0
    • Wales
      0
    • Northern Ireland
      0
    • I'm from the 19th century, and you'll find it's the British Empire
      2

  2. 2. [If you live there] Where do you tell people you are from (choose all the apply)

    • United Kingdom to people from the UK
      5
    • United Kingdom to people from outside the UK
      7
    • Great Britain to people from the UK
      2
    • Great Britain to people outside the UK
      3
    • England to people from the UK
      7
    • England to people outside the UK
      3
    • Scotland to people from the UK
      1
    • Scotland to people outside the UK
      1
    • Wales to people from the UK
      1
    • Wales to people outside the UK
      1
    • Northern Ireland to people from the UK
      0
    • Northern Ireland to people outside the UK
      0
    • I don't live there
      39

This poll is closed to new votes


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Jordan...

Jordan...

Posted
Posted

Title says it all really. Very curious on this, as I have lived on these fair islands all my life. But I find that the only nationality that fits me in "British" and when referring to the country I'll only say United Kingdom, and correct anybody who says differently.

 

e.g. 

Person: "Hey, you live in England, what's the best place to do X"

Me: "Hi, yes, I do live in the United Kingdom. I'd recommend Y"

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Anomaly Q3Xr

Anomaly Q3Xr

Posted
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For me, I am British and tell people from other nations that I am from the United Kingdom.

 

If it is someone from the United Kingdom I tell them I am from Hertfordshire and disregard the country entirely.

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Ceebs

Ceebs

Posted
Posted

'The UK' 

 

I'm Canadian so the second part of the question is irrelevant. If I'm talking about where most of my dad's family is from, mostly I'll mention the counties and one particular town. My partner is British, so if I'm talking about him I'll say he's from the UK. If I want to get more specific I might say England, if someone actually knows enough about the country I might mention the county where he was born (probably not the exact place, it's small and likely means nothing even to a lot of Brits) or the region or city where he lives now.

 

Curious where he'll tell other Canadians he's from once he moves here. Probably nothing too specific unless they happen to know the UK fairly well.

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J. van Deijck

J. van Deijck

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Can't vote since there's no option like "I don't live there" in the 2nd question.

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Jordan...

Jordan...

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1 hour ago, Baasje said:

Can't vote since there's no option like "I don't live there" in the 2nd question.

Completely forgot that you couldn't submit polls with unanswered questions >_< Added that in :)

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J. van Deijck

J. van Deijck

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35 minutes ago, Jordan... said:

Completely forgot that you couldn't submit polls with unanswered questions >_< Added that in :)

Thanks! Now I can answer :D

 

Belgian here, I refer to the UK as the UK. :P

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Luftschlosseule

Luftschlosseule

Posted
Posted

German person here, I use UK, too. Usually in chats I don't even type it out.

The last option of the first question made me smile so thank you. We need more options for the time travellers in our lives.

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ThatBadCat

ThatBadCat

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I call the United Kingdom the UK. It would be kind of odd to call it any of the other options because they all refer to different parts of the UK, not the UK as a whole.

I tell people I'm from England though, and my nationality is British.

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Ceebs

Ceebs

Posted
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1 hour ago, ThatBadCat said:

It would be kind of odd to call it any of the other options because they all refer to different parts of the UK, not the UK as a whole.

Yeah if anyone does that, I would like an explanation...

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daveb

daveb

Posted
Posted

I think the explanation would be a lack of knowledge. Or some sort of contrariness. :P 

 

I usually say "the UK" if I'm talking about the whole country. Might write it out to "United Kingdom" in some circumstances.

 

It would also be perfectly correct to refer to the individual units in some circumstances, too, of course.

 

Being from the US myself, if I talk about where I'm from I'll usually say "the US" if I'm abroad and not talking to other Americans. If I'm in the US I'll usually say which state I'm from. I'd guess many people would respond similarly according to their country and where they are at the time and who they are talking to. It makes sense to be more general in some cases and more specific in others. :) 

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Ceebs

Ceebs

Posted
Posted

@daveb Question for you, since you're American. (Why have I never asked any other Americans this?! I was married to one...)

 

5 minutes ago, daveb said:

Being from the US myself, if I talk about where I'm from I'll usually say "the US" if I'm abroad and not talking to other Americans.

Do you guys ever call the US 'the States'? Like, leaving out the 'United' bit? Is that just something us Canadians say? 

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daveb

daveb

Posted
Posted
Just now, Ceebs said:

@daveb Question for you, since you're American. (Why have I never asked any other Americans this?! I was married to one...)

 

Do you guys ever call the US 'the States'? Like, leaving out the 'United' bit? Is that just something us Canadians say? 

Hmm, good question. I don't think I ever have. I don't know if other Americans do, but I don't recall any I know doing it. Now that you mention it, I do think I recall various Canadian friends and co-workers referring to it as "the States". I wonder if people elsewhere do that as well (Brits, Aussies, etc.).

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Ceebs

Ceebs

Posted
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1 minute ago, daveb said:

I wonder if people elsewhere do that as well (Brits, Aussies, etc.).

Don't think Tele ever says 'the States', but not 100% on that. Dunno about other Brits or people elsewhere. Perhaps it's just a term your northern neighbours have come up with...

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daveb

daveb

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3 minutes ago, Ceebs said:

Perhaps it's just a term your northern neighbours have come up with...

Could be. :) 

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iff

iff

Posted
Posted

As someone that doesn't  live there, I'd call it the UK or United Kingdom.

 

If I wanted to just refer to Britain and not include Northern Ireland, I do use Britain but I know that can be confusing because some people don't differentiate between uk and Britain/great Britain 

 

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Picklethewickle

Picklethewickle

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Posted

The United Kingdom to refer to the whole, but I also use the names of specific countries and regions when it's about somewhere in particular. However, Great Britian is always Great, never plain Britian. I loved the last option; I actually do use the term British Empire in historical contexts.

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ElloryJaye

ElloryJaye

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I try to avoid referring to the UK as a whole at all, since no matter which term I use, my Scottish-born father will use it as an excuse to take mock-offense. 🙄

 

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verily-forsooth-egads

verily-forsooth-egads

Posted
Posted

I say whichever one I mean. The different terms exist for a reason.

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a little annihilation

a little annihilation

Posted
Posted

I've never really referred to it but if I did I'd just say the UK

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MarRister

MarRister

Posted
Posted
12 hours ago, Ceebs said:

Don't think Tele ever says 'the States', but not 100% on that. Dunno about other Brits or people elsewhere. Perhaps it's just a term your northern neighbours have come up with...

I get the sense this is more of a Canadian thing. From my time spent in Australia, they would always say America. But I think as Canadians it probably comes from, well we are also part of America, just not the United States of America lol, like somehow saying America ignores that Canada and Mexico also exist here. I tend to say 'the States' more than anything else or just 'the US'. 

 

Anywho, I call the UK the UK. 

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Ceebs

Ceebs

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12 minutes ago, MarRister said:

But I think as Canadians it probably comes from, well we are also part of America, just not the United States of America lol, like somehow saying America ignores that Canada and Mexico also exist here.

Technically all of South America, too.

 

And yeah, that's probably true. I think my assumption was that it was shorter and thus faster to say than 'the United States' or 'the United States of America'. Like it's somehow being distilled down to the most essential word, with 'United' and 'of America' simply being descriptors. Despite knowing that 'America' means all of North and South America, I definitely don't actually think of Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Cubans, Peruvians, Jamaicans, Chileans... blah blah blah... as 'American' in any way, or Canada as being part of America. My brain only thinks of the United States when I hear that word. So at least when I'm saying 'the States', I'm pretty much doing it out of laziness cos I don't wanna say the whole thing. 😂

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J. van Deijck

J. van Deijck

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Well, if I wanted to be more specific, I'd refer to the UK as Verenigde Koninkrijk, but it literally translates as United Kingdom, so no difference :P

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MarRister

MarRister

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3 minutes ago, Ceebs said:

I definitely don't actually think of Canadians, Mexicans, Brazilians, Cubans, Peruvians, Jamaicans, Chileans... blah blah blah... as 'American' in any way, or Canada as being part of America.

I think there has been some failed movements to try and adopt the word Statesiens instead of Americans haha. 

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Ceebs

Ceebs

Posted
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Actually when you think about it, some countries have very bland names lol. Like 'United States of America' and 'United Kingdom' are made up of fairly boring words, they're not names with unique meanings all their own. Actually 'America' is unique, but 'United States of' is not. It just means a bunch of jurisdictions that are united. 'United Kingdom' is the same... just a kingdom that's made up of united places.

 

Lame, guys. :P 

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daveb

daveb

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Off track, but Mexico is also the united states - Estados Unidos Mexicanos. :) 

 

Yeah, generic names are generic bland. :P 

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Jordan...

Jordan...

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22 hours ago, Ceebs said:

Actually when you think about it, some countries have very bland names lol. Like 'United States of America' and 'United Kingdom' are made up of fairly boring words, they're not names with unique meanings all their own. Actually 'America' is unique, but 'United States of' is not. It just means a bunch of jurisdictions that are united. 'United Kingdom' is the same... just a kingdom that's made up of united places.

 

Lame, guys. :P 

To be fair, when you look at official names for a lot of countries, they'd mostly all be boring.

 

For example, "Republic of X"/"X Republic" is the most common name:

Austria - Republic of Austria

France - French Republic

Sudan - Republic of Sudan

China - People's Republic of China

Iraq - Republic of Iraq

Greece - Hellenic Republic (at least this one is a little different)

Argentina - Argentine Republic...

 

Then the second most popular is "Kingdom of X", for example:

UK - United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland

Eswatini - Kingdom of Eswatini

Bahrain - Kingdom of Bahrain

Denmark - Kingdom of Denmark

Thailand - Kingdom of Thailand

 

You get the idea. I'd say the most unique official name would be the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg or the Principality of Lichtenstein... But those are pretty much just the same as the Kingdoms, just that their monarchy's highest title is duke/duchess and prince, respectively.

 

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Ceebs

Ceebs

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6 minutes ago, Jordan... said:

To be fair, when you look at official names for a lot of countries, they'd mostly all be boring.

Oh yeah definitely true. I guess at least things like 'Sudan' and 'France' and whatnot are original words. That said, when I made that last post, I was thinking about how some (not all, but definitely some) are only 'original' words to English speakers, and in their native language they might mean something like 'kingdom' or 'state'.

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Philip027

Philip027

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The Uk.

 

Not like, "you-kay", but more like "fuck" without the F sound at the start.

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Ceebs

Ceebs

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9 minutes ago, Philip027 said:

The Uk.

 

Not like, "you-kay", but more like "fuck" without the F sound at the start.

Lmao you say 'the Uck'? That's the best thing I've heard lately. 😂

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