Why do Welsh people hate the English so much??

Question

Why????? I just dont understand??

I love going to Wales on holiday, but I always get funny looks from the Welsh people when they hear my English accent.

One year when I went to Wales, I decided to buy a souvenir pen, the lady at the till tried to con me out of my money by trying to over charge me for the pen, twice! When it was clearly labelled with the correct price.

On another occasion I went into a takeaway shop with my family, I sat down to eat my meal and was just chatting with my family when I noticed that a woman sat on the table across from us was constantly staring at us with a disgusted look!! I dont know what her problem was we were just sat minding our own business having something to eat for lunch, before leaving to go and have a look around the town.

What is the problem that the Welsh people have with us English people??

Answer 1

Why are many English people so paranoid? It seems that they are intent on analysing their relationship with every other nation and always come to the conclusion that they are hated.

Let's get this straight, according to them - they are hated by the Welsh, Scots, Irish, French, Germans ... the list goes on. For goodness' sake! I'm Welsh and also a Welsh speaker (yes, there are still many of us left) and know many lovely English people. I have an even greater respect for English people who have come to live in Wales and have thrown themselves into learning the Welsh language and doing their utmost to integrate themselves into the communities in which they live (which is more than a lot of Welsh people do).

But I have also met a lot of ignorant English people who have absolutely no understanding of other cultures and cannot accept that other nations and languages exist. Why on earth would a woman in a shop waste her time looking disgustedly at an English person when, unfortunately, most people in Wales speak only English.

Can I just say, I've also heard many versions of the myth that Welsh people speak English to each other until an English person walks into a room/shop/cafe etc. and they only turn to Welsh because they want to make the English feel uncomfortable. What complete nonsense!

Welsh is my first language, the language I speak to most of my family and friends and the language I feel most comfortable speaking. This is true of many Welsh people. These people in shops are just having a chat as anyone else would do, not insulting and making fun of tourists!

My message to anyone else who shares the view of the person who originally asked this ridiculous question is to stop being so paranoid or you really will give other nations a reason to hate you.

Answer 2

The answer depends on where in wales you are, for example if you're in Pembroke shire, I doubt that anyone would even have an ounce of hate; however go to Caernarfon or somewhere then it's a different story.
The core of it is Welsh Nationalism and can divide into either Cultural Nationalism or Linguistic Nationalism. If you look at Welsh history then you'll see that up to the 13th century it's had a varied time with England, from good times under Hywel Dda, to bad times when the Prince Llywelyn was assassinated. Most of the Welsh blame any mishaps of the nation on this and it's seen as a point when Wales was wrongfully cheated. Since then it's been under official and enforced English influence and the Welsh were/are pissed off about it. A big part of this is the gradual decline of the Welsh language. There is a strong sentiment in the North that it's the English who are helping contribute to this by moving in and not learning it. This would be the reason for such expressions in Welsh like "twll tin bob Sais" (&%$" the English). There are also key moments in Welsh history such as the flooding of Tryweryn by the English, which was seen as a disregard for towards the Welsh.
However culturally it's seen as a lot of banter now, mainly because people are still welsh but don't speak it and so arn't as passionate. I think hate is quite strong, especially if you put it in a rugby context, where all this 'hate' is is banter.

Answer 3

It's not universal, I'm glad to say - I actually have a few Welsh friends! But it could be the residue of an ancient form of envy since at one time the Welsh were quite poor compared with their neighbours, the English. Also, the long history of conflict between the two nations doesn't help, either - think of Offa's Dyke and why it was built. For centuries the Welsh did not like the dominance of the British parliament over their affairs, or the fact that their language was subservient to English. However, they now have the Welsh Assembly, the Welsh language is thriving and so many Welsh people are in England earning their living that it's hard to see why this childish animosity should persist. Maybe they just like having a go at some one and the English are the traditional target. And the fact that their Rugby team no longer consistently beats England annoys them, too. (Bring back JPR, eh?!). But seriously, for those irrational Welsh people who hate the English, there can only be one message... "Please grow up and enter the 21st Century - without Englsih tourism some parts of Wales would be heavily disadvantaged so why drive away your closest neighbours?"

Answer 4

History? They way the English talk about the welsh calling them certain names? I'm sure you are a exception to the rule and have no problem with welsh people but alot of English people do. You cant blame them for being that way after the treatment they received from the English either in the past or present.
Trust me for the first person that answered your question they certainly are not jealous or want to be English in any shape or form. LOL that's funny.

Answer 5

They wanna be them.