Andy Murray and the Scottish/British thing

[Iain]

Saw an article today that suggested that the reason that a few American commentators (including MacEnroe) have referred to Andy Murray as being English is because Americans have trouble with the notion of being English/Scottish and being British. Tend to suspect it's just a Freudian slip acknowledging English superiority myself, but what say you?

Here's hoping that Murray can get into this match and win the first Grand Slam title that a British male has won since 1936. If he's ever going to do it, the US Open is his best shot.

[Perd Hapley]

Occasionally, I can tell from the accent if an "Englishman" is Scottish or Irish.  Occasionally.  Forget Cornish, Welsh, etc. 

Is that a big deal to you guys?  For good or ill, most Americans don't see much of a difference.  I sometimes forget that there even is an independent Ireland.

[Zardozimo Oprah Bannedalas]

English=British to most folks. And our commentators typically just read from teleprompters - things that somebody else wrote for 'em to say.

Part of it is that the language is called 'English', I guess. If y'all would change your name from United Kingdom to Britain/Great Britain, we might catch on in the next hundred years. 

[Headless Thompson Gunner]

Yeah, the differences between "English" and "British" are unimportant subtelties to most Americans. 

If someone is from Scotland and his "Scottishness" matters in the current context, then we call him Scottish.  If his "Scottishness" doesn't matter to the context, then either "British" or "English" are equally good enough for us.

[Iain]

I don't care, but Andy Murray and Scottish-Americans might. Tallpine - can't remember if you're Irish or Scots.

[Bigjake]

My side has the best of both  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scots-Irish_American

[Tallpine]

I don't care, but Andy Murray and Scottish-Americans might. Tallpine - can't remember if you're Irish or Scots.

Some of both I think, or Scots that sojourned a while in Ireland.  I've got Gaelic names on both sides.  My maternal great-great...grandfather was born in Northern Ireland in 1750 and got here in time to serve in the the revolutionary army.  On my dad's side, my folks were in South Carolina by the late 1700s but I'm stuck there

English (language) == Beurla

English (people) == Sassanaich   

[Iain]

Hey, I'm only half English. My surname is as Cornish as it gets and that's where I was born. Celtic fringe unite, and err grumble about the English a bit.

6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to Federer. Murray can go back to being a Scot until his next run to a Grand Slam final.

[Regolith]

Hey, I'm only half English. My surname is as Cornish as it gets and that's where I was born. Celtic fringe unite, and err grumble about the English a bit.

6-2, 7-5, 6-2 to Federer. Murray can go back to being a Scot until his next run to a Grand Slam final.

I don't think anyone understood that last part but you and Agricola.   

I'm about 50% or so Welsh, with some Irish, Scottish, German, and a couple of other nationalities thrown in for good measure.  My last name is Irish, with my first Irish-American ancestor arriving in the US in the late 1840s.  My Welsh-American ancestors are a bit more recent, arriving sometime in the late 1800s/early 1900's.

[Perd Hapley]

English (language) == Beurla

English (people) == Sassanaich     

Why can't you people tell the difference between an Angle and a Saxon?   

[Tallpine]

Both are Germans

[Stand_watie]

Saw an article today that suggested that the reason that a few American commentators (including MacEnroe) have referred to Andy Murray as being English is because Americans have trouble with the notion of being English/Scottish and being British. Tend to suspect it's just a Freudian slip acknowledging English superiority myself, but what say you?..

To most Americans, the difference between English and Scottish is like the difference to the English between Americans from the south and Americans from the North.

I am about 50/50 myself. 40% English+10% Scots+ 50% Ulster Irish (couple of other ethnicities thrown in just for variation).

The Scots and Irish are crazy murderous rednecks. The English are terribly sophisticated, but inbred and hyper-civilized.

Edit...oops, I forgot the laughing smilies ^^^^   

[MillCreek]

Welsh-Scots-Irish with some German thrown in.  The first family members landed in Virginia in the 1740's. 

[Iapetus]

English=British to most folks. And our commentators typically just read from teleprompters - things that somebody else wrote for 'em to say.

Part of it is that the language is called 'English', I guess. If y'all would change your name from United Kingdom to Britain/Great Britain, we might catch on in the next hundred years. 

Strictly speaking, its "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland".

[HankB]

People still view that little cluster of hills rising out of the sea off the coast of France as the British Isles . . . seems kind of silly to subdivide the people of such a small group of islands into smaller groups . . . after all, we don't view the Japanese as Hokkaidoans or Honshuans, or Hawaiians as Mauians or Konans, or Filipinos as Mindinaoans and Luzonans.


 

[Tallpine]

The Scots and Irish are crazy murderous rednecks.

And proud of it, too