What defines an English person...

[AVFC_Hitz]

why don't Germans like soggy chips ?

I refuse to believe you've never watched Dad's Army.

[villaajax]

I don't think of you as particularly human.

I drink so much Chocomel I'm more Chocolate than man!

[tonyh29]

why don't Germans like soggy chips ?

I refuse to believe you've never watched Dad's Army.

I have observed the odd episode but not really watched it in any detail

did I miss some obvious reference :oops:

[The_Rev]

Yellowing classics, cannons at dawn, coffee wallahs, pith helmets and an English song.

[AVFC_Hitz]

why don't Germans like soggy chips ?

I refuse to believe you've never watched Dad's Army.

I have observed the odd episode but not really watched it in any detail

did I miss some obvious reference :oops:

I wouldn't say it was an obvious reference....but a very popular one.

[Zhan_Zhuang]

Good to see nobody has really taken this to heart.

I personally thought it a little shocking due to the connotation of the word...however I agree that the concept of national identity is a relatively new one and hence I often refer to myself as a Global Citizen.

[dAVe80]

Being English means drinking on the train, no matter how short the journey.

[Rodders]

a national identity is ludicrous, only claimed by those seeking some form of power by appropriating some half truth cultural heritage. there are just a series of micro-histories and identities for communities that occasionally have the odd trait that might bind a few of them together like "lets live in peace" and thats about it.

any individuals conception on "what it is" to be british is entirely subjective. Nothing wrong with choosing to identify with certain heritage points obviously, just impossible and a bit daft not to mention arrogant to claim that that figure of memory is considered as important by everyone else.

[The_Rev]

I do wonder how this thread would go across in the USA. It's one of the most diverse places on Earth, it is more a continent than a country in both size and population. It is a country of immigrants where most people can still trace back the name of the person who took the boat there, yet they make their kids worship a flag every morning at school. I do wonder what effect that has on people.

[coda]

Queuing, moaning, weather-obsessives who drink shit lager.

[snowychap]

Being English means drinking on the train, no matter how short the journey.

He he.

[chrisp65]

Fairly funny in that I do like a bit of a shock, but a bit sad if someone actually had a hint of meaning it.

Reggae, curry, ska, pasties, techno, lager, chilli, stout, fried rice noodles and beansprouts, icecream, free speach, free movement, bhangra, cheese rolling, chips, gravy, football, the occassional riot, the vote, opportunity, paignton zoo, independent music shops, cheeky kids, the ability to talk back at the police, the nhs, good access to Wales.

That's pretty difficult to beat.

[leviramsey]

I do wonder how this thread would go across in the USA. It's one of the most diverse places on Earth, it is more a continent than a country in both size and population. It is a country of immigrants where most people can still trace back the name of the person who took the boat there, yet they make their kids worship a flag every morning at school. I do wonder what effect that has on people.

For the record, this is the first google result for "what defines an American" (or at least it is for me... Google will often return different results to different people, after all).

And I think Google nailed it, more or less. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit" and all that. A dream is probably the only conception of nationality that works in a culture where just about everybody is hyphenated (Anglo-Scottish-Irish-Welsh-Dutch-American here...) but where a certain belief in exceptionalism bordering on chauvinism is de rigeur.

[snowychap]

I do wonder how this thread would go across in the USA. It's one of the most diverse places on Earth, it is more a continent than a country in both size and population. It is a country of immigrants where most people can still trace back the name of the person who took the boat there, yet they make their kids worship a flag every morning at school. I do wonder what effect that has on people.

For the record, this is the first google result for "what defines an American" (or at least it is for me... Google will often return different results to different people, after all).

And I think Google nailed it, more or less. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit" and all that. A dream is probably the only conception of nationality that works in a culture where just about everybody is hyphenated (Anglo-Scottish-Irish-Welsh-Dutch-American here...) but where a certain belief in exceptionalism bordering on chauvinism is de rigeur.

Hmm. Isn't that all a bit gash?

We may as well (as Englishmen - for a British tar is that) wander around claiming to be soaring souls as free as mountain birds, no?

[MrDuck]

And I think Google nailed it, more or less. "Life, liberty, and the pursuit" and all that. A dream is probably the only conception of nationality that works in a culture where just about everybody is hyphenated (Anglo-Scottish-Irish-Welsh-Dutch-American here...) but where a certain belief in exceptionalism bordering on chauvinism is de rigeur.

Hmm. Isn't that all a bit gash?

We may as well (as Englishmen - for a British tar is that) wander around claiming to be soaring souls as free as mountain birds, no?

It's a LOT gash.

[Amsterdam_Neil_D]

You will never realise how lucky you are to be English until you leave strangely enough.

Once you live and work in another country (in my case 25 % + of my life) you will understand.

I am proud to be English and even after all this time away, people can tell I am English before they even speak to me (First try with a stranger is always English with me but Dutch with my Mrs). Not sure why this is as it's a bit odd.

[Jon]

[Awol]

Definitions of Englishness: Keep calm and carry on; a healthy disrepect for and suspicion of authority in any form; non-conformism and the celebration of eccentricity; bloody minded stubborness in the face of adversity; belief in fair play and support for the under dog; the sense of humour..I could go on.

The idea that all people and cultures are broadly the same with national identity having no impact on values, beliefs and character development is, imo, nonsense. As Neil says above, anyone who has actually grown up in England (or Britain) and then lived abroad for a period of time can't fail to notice the difference in outlook that is defined by national identity. We are, after all, products of our environment.

[The_Rev]

True, but then somebody who grew up in inner city London, Birmingham or Manchester is going to be very different to somebody who grew up in a market town in one of the shires. Which of those places is the most "English" if we had to decide? Our great cities or the green and pleasant land which surrounds them? Is it thatched roofs and the sound of willow on leather on the village green or bloody good rock music made by the people who work in the factories? Englishness means too many different things to too many different people to be able to define.

Also, I think I am one of the people who considers myself British first and English second, though I think I am in a minority there. I do wonder if our unique position in the sports we play (especially football and rugby union) where one nation is allowed to field four teams simply because we invented the sports has an effect on our sense of identity and if the country would be more united if football had been invented in say, Italy and we only had team GB to support. I think we would.

[MrDuck]

Also, I think I am one of the people who considers myself British first and English second, though I think I am in a minority there.

See I always thought of myself as English (with a bit of Irish for good measure). But mainly English. Since leaving England and living overseas for more than a decade, I've notice that I'm always referred to as a Brit (or a pom), and of course the passport is British rather than English. I think maybe only those born in Britain identify themselves as English, to most of the world you're British.

That said... Scots, Welsh and Irish will all make a point of the fact that they are Scots, Welsh or Irish - I never hear them talking about being British, mainly cos they want to disassociate themselves with the English.