Why do people say England when they mean the UK?

Question

Have they forgotten that Scotland Wales and Northern Ireland are attached?

Answer 1

there are only one group of people on this island that say england is the english themselves because to them Scotland Ireland & Wales do not exist to them as they are self centred,they think the rest of us are heathens & should not be associated with england,oh yeh & when there is any trouble abroad ie:football matches we are all classed as british when "English fans run amoke,but when any of the parts of UK get tabloid comments its there part of the country that gets named typical English press guy fawkes had the right idea just a pity it did`nt work hahahaha.
Do hope that answers your question, oh and by the way am 100% SCOTTISH...........

Answer 2

Thats because there are four parts that make up the United Kingdom or Great Britain.

England, Ireland, Scotland and Wales. This is the UK

Answer 3

Perhaps because they are referring to England, and only England? (And not Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland?)

I always put England as my country of birth. It would be invalid to say I was born in the UK as I was only born in England. England does exist as a country in its own right, in the same way that Scotland, Wales & NI do. It depends on what the person is referring to.

Answer 4

Its probably lack of knowledge on the part of United Kingdom's history and set up. To enlighten the same, I am herewith providing further details which may help:

Union of United Kingdom:

Both Wales and Scotland were independent kingdoms that resisted English rule. The English conquest of Wales succeeded in 1282 under Edward I, and the Statute of Rhuddlan established English rule 2 years later. To appease the Welsh, Edward's son (later Edward II), who had been born in Wales, was made Prince of Wales in 1301. The tradition of bestowing this title on the eldest son of the British Monarch continues today. An act of 1536 completed the political and administrative union of England and Wales.

While maintaining separate parliaments, England and Scotland were ruled under one crown beginning in 1603, when James VI of Scotland succeeded his cousin Elizabeth I as James I of England. In the ensuing 100 years, strong religious and political differences divided the kingdoms. Finally, in 1707, England and Scotland were unified as Great Britain, sharing a single Parliament at Westminster.

Ireland's invasion by the Anglo-Normans in 1170 led to centuries of strife. Successive English kings sought to conquer Ireland. In the early 17th century, large-scale settlement of the north from Scotland and England began. After its defeat, Ireland was subjected, with varying degrees of success, to control and regulation by Britain.

The legislative union of Great Britain and Ireland was completed on January 1, 1801, under the name of the United Kingdom. However, armed struggle for independence continued sporadically into the 20th century. The Anglo-Irish Treaty of 1921 established the Irish Free State, which subsequently left the Commonwealth and became a republic after World War II. Six northern, predominantly Protestant, Irish counties have remained part of the United Kingdom.

Answer 5

You must mean the Americans! They nearly always refer to UK as 'England'. Don't ask me why. Maybe it's a traditional thing which goes back so far everyone's forgotten why.

There is one clue to all of this. Have you ever heard of an American who openly says he/she is "English?" Probably not. Yet many millions of Americans claim to be, Irish, Scottish, Polish and just about any other European race you can think of. How strange is that?
Yes millions of Americans are actually "English" by race. Maybe it's this "English" crowd who keep on saying "England" instead of UK.

Strange too that we often hear of the so called "Irish Vote" but we never hear of the "English Vote". Weird.

Answer 6

UK means United Kingdom, which means the WHOLE of Britain & Ireland, so we haven't forgotten about the other countries at all.

Answer 7

It depends in what context they are saying it. But in general it's probably because England was the colonising country and all of the UK recognise the English queen as their head of state, so in some people's eyes they see it as all the same.

It's worse when you're Irish and people call you English -not even part of the UK!

Answer 8

I always use England when I mean England, if I mean the whole lot I say Great Britain.

Answer 9

What about the Pitcairn islands? No one ever mentions them. It's always Scotland this and Wales that...the Pitcairns are as much a part of the UK as Scotland is.

Answer 10

No - but to us in the U.S. all of it is England and England Swings. We always cut things down to make it easier and are not ever so proper. Like United States of America becomes United States and someimes just America which confuses those overseas. Mostly we just say US . Everything gets shorter here like you all becomes ya'll and are not becomes ain't. Works very well to prevent snobby arrogant proper peoples from getting too much of a hold here.