Buzz
In the United States, it’s common to use the terms English and British interchangeably to refer to things related to the land that brought us classics like Pride and Prejudice, Paddington Bear, and Benedict Cumberbatch.
However, English and British are not the same, since England and Britain are distinct from one another.
To simplify a long history, England is one of the three nations on the island of Great Britain, alongside Wales and Scotland. The full name of the United Kingdom is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, which clearly identifies the countries under the UK: England, Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. The remainder of the island is the independent nation of the Republic of Ireland.
Since England is part of Great Britain, everything English is technically also British, but not everything British is English. For example, the Loch Ness Monster should not be called an English cryptid. It (allegedly) resides in Scotland, so it’s appropriate to refer to it as Scottish or British. To clarify, only things from England are considered English; anything from England, Scotland, or Wales is British.
Ireland adds a layer of complexity. If someone comes from the Republic of Ireland, they are simply Irish. People from Northern Ireland can hold both British and Irish citizenship, and may identify as both British and Irish. Since the United Kingdom lacks its own unique adjective, British can also be understood to refer to “anything of the United Kingdom”—which includes Northern Ireland, though that term is not always embraced in Northern Ireland.
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