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Now that I’m living in Scotland, I’ve become acutely aware of my English perspective with regard the nature of the British Isles. It’s most notable when I accidentally say something like “good to see England doing well”, when I’m really referring to Britain. It’s something the Scottish are all too familiar with, but it’s not something I was too aware of doing until it was pointed out (by Scots, of course!)…

I thought it would be interesting to write up the experience, and see how others perceive themselves. It’s not supposed to be a sop to the Scottish who vastly outnumber me in my locality! Honest! It’s certainly an interesting linguistic and perspective slip that occurs all too often in the media, and in general conversation.

England, as a name for the country, obviously excludes Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and the Channel Islands. The correct name for it is, of course, Britain or the UK (UK stands for “United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland”). I like to think I’m improving, but I still find myself on the receiving end of various glares, stares or verbal comments (usually as some sort of English put down, but a brief mention of football or rugby prowess usually puts pay to that, and we can call it a draw! ).

A good example is the media. I was unaware of it before, but notice that when a particular English sports person is doing well (say, Tim Henman) he’ll be referred to as some sort of “English revival” or somesuch. But when a Scottish player is doing well (for example Andrew Murray at Queen’s this week), it becomes “Britain’s Andrew Murray”. If the performance is not so good, it gets reversed: “Britain let down by Henman”, or “Scotland’s Tennis hope falls at the first hurdle”.

Not all the time, certainly. It probably depends on the nationality of the author or presenter, or the editor! More than likely that the national pride reverses the situation somewhat, particularly in the national press up here in Scotland.

Whilst it’s perhaps understandable that most of our public personalities, by sheer demographics, are English, and for the same reason that many of the news events that occur here will occur in England, it’s still no excuse. It’s not helped of course when travelling abroad. Many foreigners are simply unaware or muddled in the distinctions between the constituent countries of the United Kingdom. It’s not helped by the division on national boundaries of some sports (Football and Rugby), but not others (Athletics primarily).

I’ve met plenty of Americans who thought Scotland and England were entirely separate countries, or that England included the country as a whole (Ewan McGregor has never been forgiven, at least by Frances, for his line in A Life Less Ordinary where he refers to England when he means Britain: It’d be lost on Americans, so was “easier” that way, presumably)

But within our own country, there really is no excuse. So, if you’re English, when you next talk about England, do you really mean England, or the UK? I’m still surprised by how much I did, and continue, to make this mistake, and I like to think of myself as somebody who would be concerned about such a thing. It wasn’t until it was pointed out to me that I realised I did it. I bet most British readers are no different…