roximonoxide
Lab Technician
I asked & someone who is Scottish said "I'm not offended by being called British or anything, its not derogatory." so I don't think that's true. Ireland is a separate island - they are not part of Great Britian therefore they aren't British... I think people say that they are Welsh, English, or Scottish - but they don't claim that they aren't British.I'm aware of their location and the political and geographical structure of Great Britain. Have you ever called an Irish person or a Scottish person a Brit? I don't recommend it. They don't care much for it. Since they've fought some wars over it they tend to take great offense.The Scots are British, as are the Welsh, since they're part of Great Britain which is the entire island.
My mother's grandmother was Scottish, by the way.
Good for your grandmother. So is one of mine. A lot of people have Scottish decent. That wasn't at ALL the point of anything I've said here. Also, kudos to you for finding a Scottish person who doesn't mind being called a British. Too bad, I guess, to all those who's families have bloodied histories of violence with the British because they've spend centuries trying to retain their own culture.
It's sad that we have to find reasons to be lazy in regard to knowing anything about other ethnic backgrounds.
ETA: It's not derogatory. It's ignorant and lazy. However that line between being offensive or not gets seriously blurred when the person using the wrong distinctive term is well aware that it's incorrect.