What's your defintion of being English?

Question

What constitues being english or british?

I have heard numerous people saying that if your english if your parents are white and you are white and live in England

Other people have said to be english, All of your ancestors must have orginated from england ( that means the queen is not english)

And some people say aslong as You were born in England, you're English

Whats your defintion of being english???????

For quite a while i believed myself to be British as i'm black and my parents come from Ghana and Jamacia, but many people most of them white english, have told me i'm english as i was born and bred In England.

Where do you stand ???????????????

Answer 1

I think what you are is a state of mind. For example, you could consider yourself black, or british, or english, or jamaican, or ghanese (or ghanaian, ghanish... whatever). No one can tell you what you are.
Also, you can be english culturally speaking and literally speaking, while identifying with other cultures and countries of origin, too.
However, if I were you I would define myself based on where I was from, not where my parents were from, and not based on whether I was white or black. Who cares what color you are? You were born in england, you live in england, and I'll bet you have an english accent... so you're english!

Answer 2

I think the question is one of a legal point of view versus an ethnic point of view, with the confusion that Great Britain contains England, Scotland, Wales, etc. A person born in Scotland, for example, would be British, but not English (of England), whatever his ethnicity. Regarding the law, however, I am Canadian and am not sure of British law... Canadian law states that a person born in Canada is automatically a Canadian citizen, and therefore Canadian. Ethnicity does not matter from a legal point of view. For a different legal point of view, I also lived in Japan for a number of years, and a baby born there hold the citizenship of its parents. Therefore if one of the parents is not Japanese, the baby cannot be Japanese. Japanese tie ethnicity and citizenship together, while Canadians do not. I suspect some people in Britain you have spoken to lean towards one point of view (ethnicity is key - what colour you are, what language you speak, what culture you practice), while others lean the other way (you are from where you were born and/or where you hold legal status)
If you were to ask me (as a Canadian, remember), I would say an English person is one who speaks English (as a first language), and a person from England is certainly one who was born there, and possibly also one who just lives there. A British person is one who hold a British passport or is eligible for one. Anybody claiming English ethnicity would have to have ancestors from England. I would say you are not ethnically English, but you are definitely British if you are a British citizen, and if you choose to claim status as "English" because of your place of birth, that is your choice to make.

Answer 3

Born in the country make you a citizen as for British/English-- just semantics.... depends on whether stating come from Great Britian or England,,,,, welllcome to think of it maybe only those born in ENgland can be English & Britian, but others from Wales, Scotland can call themselves British (and some of the Irish who care to be known as British can also, but not this Irish)

Answer 4

On the basis that England is a constitute country of Great Britain, being born in England makes you both English and British, the same as myself and my husband, and everyone who is born in England. If you are born in Wales or Scotland you would be either Welsh or Scottish as well as being British...

Answer 5

Ummm, this is a tough question. Dictionary.com defines being English as the following:

1. of, pertaining to, or characteristic of England or its inhabitants, institutions, etc.
2. belonging or pertaining to, or spoken or written in, the English language.
–noun 3. the people of England collectively, esp. as distinguished from the Scots, Welsh, and Irish.
4. the Germanic language of the British Isles, widespread and standard also in the U.S. and most of the British Commonwealth, historically termed Old English (c450–c1150), Middle English (c1150–c1475), and Modern English (after c1475). Abbreviation: E
5. English language, composition, and literature as offered as a course of study in school.
6. a specific variety of this language, as that of a particular time, place, or person: American English; Shakespearean English.
7. simple, straightforward language: What does all that jargon mean in English?
8. Sports. (sometimes lowercase) a. a spinning motion imparted to a ball, esp. in billiards.
b. body English.

9. Printing. a 14-point type of a size between pica and Columbian.
10. a grade of calendered paper having a smooth matte finish.
–verb (used with object) 11. to translate into English: to English Euripides.
12. to adopt (a foreign word) into English; Anglicize.
13. (sometimes lowercase) Sports. to impart English to (a ball).


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[Origin: bef. 900; ME; OE Englisc, equiv. to Engle (pl.) the English (cf. L Anglī; see Angle) + -isc -ish1]

But, I respect that fact that u are from mixed cultures. I believe that the term English means different things for different people. Hope this helps!

Answer 6

i think ur english if u were born in england and have english ancestry

Answer 7

You are definitely english