Glossary of names for the British

This article is about terms applied to people some of which are controversial. For a discussion of the overlapping terms for states/countries/nations in the United Kingdom and Ireland, see British Isles (terminology).

The official designated nationality of the people of the United Kingdom is British. The standard noun is Briton (see also demonym), but in colloquial usage this is often abbreviated informally to Brit. In practice, Britons are often referred to, according to their constituent nation, as English, Scottish, Welsh, or Northern Irish. Some terms are humorous or derogatory slang, and used mainly by people from other countries, although British people themselves may use them in a self-deprecating way. Other terms are serious or tongue-in-cheek attempts to coin words as alternatives to the potentially ambiguous standard terms. British (English, Northern Irish, Scottish and Welsh combined) people may consider some if not all irreverent terms to be offensive, or in some cases even racist.

Slang

Sassenach / Sais / Sows / Sasanach / English

These are words used to describe the English, not the British as a whole, but nevertheless, many people use these terms inaccurately and interchangeably. "Sassenach" (The Scots variant is probably the best known) and its equivalents are the longest-standing terms for the English, as employed by their immediate neighbours, the Scots, the Welsh , the Irish and the Cornish. The term is derived from the original name of the Germanic settlers, the Saxons. Into the 17th century, some Cornish were known to use the expression 'Meea navidna cowza sawzneck!' to feign ignorance of the English language.

Limey

Limey is an old American and Canadian slang nickname for the British, originally referring to British sailors. The term is believed to derive from lime-juicer, referring to the Royal Navy and Merchant Navy practice of supplying lime juice to British sailors to prevent scurvy. The benefits of citrus juice were well known at the time thanks to the acute observations of surgeon James Lind who noticed that the cabbage-eating Dutch had fewer problems with scurvy. Limes were used over lemons because limes were more readily available from Britain's own Caribbean colonies. The term is thought to have originated in the Caribbean in the 1880s. A false etymology is that it is a derivative of "Cor blimey" ("God blind me!").

Pommy

It was used as a derogatory term, but has since become a generalised term for British people. The term pommy or pom is commonly used by speakers of Australian English and sometimes speakers of New Zealand English, South African English and Afrikaans.

Some Australians have been known to call (to their ears 'well spoken' or British sounding) people from New Zealand - South Sea Poms, or even to call fellow citizens that lack a perceptibly broad or general Australian English accent (typically cultivated Australian English) - Poms.

It is often shortened to pom. The origin of this term is not confirmed and there are several persistent false etymologies. The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) strongly supports the theory that pommy originated as a contraction of "pomegranate". The OED also suggests that the reason for this is that pomegranate is extinct Australian rhyming slang for immigrant; it cites an article from 14 November 1912, in a once-prominent Australian weekly magazine The Bulletin: "The other day a Pummy Grant (assisted immigrant) was handed a bridle and told to catch a horse." A popular alternative explanation for the theory that pommy is a contraction of "pomegranate", relates to the purported frequency of sunburn among British people in Australia, turning their fair skin the colour of pomegranates. However, there is no hard evidence for the theory regarding sunburn.

A false etymology (or "backronym") common in both Australia and New Zealand is that 'Pom' originated as an acronym for "prisoner of (his/her) majesty" or "prisoner of mother England". Although many of the first British settlers in Australia were convicts sentenced to transportation to Australia, there is no evidence for this. Some proponents of this theory claim that upon arrival in the country they would be given a uniform with "POHM" or "POME" emblazoned on the back, which apparently stood for Prisoners Of Her Majesty but there are no images or examples of these uniforms. In another variant, ithe term is an acronym for 'Product of Mother England'.

Other etymologies which are unsupported by evidence include:

• "prisoner of Millbank", after the area of London where prisoners were held prior to transportation;
• it is rhyming slang for tommy, international slang for a British soldier;
• an acronym for "Port of Melbourne". However, the term "pommy" was coined long before POM was used as acronym for the port.
• comes from "pomme", French for apple. The joke was that the 'fresh off the boat' newly arrived, or 'new apples.' Under the Australian sun the white British turned bright red in the Australian sun, like an apple thus the name "pommy" from "pomme."
• that according to British Naval records the term "Pommie" came about from the red "pom-pon" on the top of the hats of British sailors who were involved in the transfer of prisoners to the Colonies.

In 2006, an Auckland, New Zealand, Planet FM's English community radio program 'The Anglofiles' received feedback that many English people living in New Zealand considered the word Pom to be highly offensive. Rather than anything offensive in the word itself they were offended by its use as a term of abuse, especially in a racist manner. They felt it to be akin to racist terms such as 'wog', 'wop' and 'spic'. The New Zealand Human Rights Commission describes racial abuse as language or actions which, in the recipient's view, induce negative feelings towards his or her race. The inference is, therefore, that racial abuse cannot be adequately defined by the originator, or anyone else who is not negatively affected by it. It was on this basis that, in 2006, 'The Anglofiles' achieved a written undertaking from the major New Zealand television companies to avoid usage of the term Pom or Pommy in all their local content. This was subsequently overruled by the high court of New Zealand as the judgement was made that the term could not be construed as a reference to a distinct racial group, but rather to a country.

Rosbif/Rosbeef

One explanation of this French term is that rosbif originally referred to English style of cooking roast beef, and especially to the song The Roast Beef of Old England. Another explanation is linked to the appearance of white-skinned British tourists after a few hours in the French sun, especially in the South (this refers to Britons becoming sun burned with a colour close to a rare cooked roast beef).

During the Hundred Years War the French took to calling the English les goddams because of their frequent use of expletives.

In Portugal, the term bife (literally meaning steak, but sounding like beef) is used as a slang term to refer to the British. There is a feminine form, bifa, mainly used to refer to British female tourists.

Rooinek, Khaki, Soutie

In South Africa the term 'Pom' may also be used, while Afrikaans speakers use the term rooinek (literally 'red neck', another reference to sunburn).

During the Second Boer War, they became known as Khakis, in reference to the colour of their uniforms - which, by then, was no longer the red coats so unsuitable to the South African climate.

Another common term in South Africa used mostly by the Afrikaans is Soutie or Sout Piel. This is from the concept that the Brits have one leg in Britain and one leg in South Africa. Sout Piel means Salt Penis.

Britisher, Angrez, Angrej, Anggrit, Firang, Sayip

The term Britisher is still used in India, and to a lesser extent in the United States, but is largely obsolete elsewhere.

Angrez is of Arabic or Persian origin and is sometimes used to refer to British people. It derives from the French Anglais. Among South Asians, Angrez has the same meaning, although its more specific meaning is Englishman, with Angrezan for an English woman. This is mostly seen as an ethnic, rather than a territorial, term and applied specifically for people of Anglo-Saxon origin. So people of subcontinent origin living in England do not usually refer to themselves as Angrez or Angrezan. Replacing the z with j is common practice especially amongst people from the Punjab region, hence it would be Angrej (masculine) and Angrejan (female). Urdu speakers always retain the z.

The word Firangi is used in the same sense as Angrez. Firangi or Firang is derived from the word 'Frank' and arose during the Crusades, when all invading Christians of the Latin Church came to be seen as Franks. It tends to refer to West Europeans and the European diaspora. The word Ferengi, derived from Firang, is used in Star Trek to describe a race of rapacious alien traders. It could in this context be considered a somewhat obscure racial slur.

Punjabis use the term Englandi for any other citizen of England, including Asian British people, regardless of that person's ancestral ethnicity.

The word "Gora" (or Gorah) is also commonly used amongst South Asians and South Asian British to refer to white Britons. Although the term literally translated only means fair-skinned one, and thus could apply to individuals of any ethnicity with a fair complexion, the term has come to be used to describe white people, hence its potential as a racial slur. The feminine of the term is "Gori".

Malayalis of Kerala use the term "Sayyip" to refer to a male westerner. Sayyip is probably derived from the word 'Sahib' (meaning sir), the colloquial way of addressing the British rulers. The feminine equivalent is "Madamma" which evolved from Madam.

In Thai, the word anggrit (อังกฤษ) is used to described both the English in particular, and the British in general. The terms Scotland and Scot are also used to described the people and country of Scotland.

John Bull

John Bull was originally a character created by John Arbuthnot in 1712 to satirise the Whig war party. Later in the 18th century, British satirical artists James Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson and George Cruikshank contrasted the stout and healthy British cartoon character with scrawny French revolutionary sans-culottes Jacobins. In the 19th century the U.S. cartoonist Thomas Nast also drew the character. The character has tended to be more popular in, and to be more associated with, England than Scotland and Wales. In light of this, creator Arbuthnot provided John Bull with a sister, Peg, to represent the Scots.

Tommy

The name Tommy for a soldier in the British Army is particularly associated with World War I. 'Joe' has been used similarly to refer to American soldiers. The French, and Commonwealth forces also used the name. Tommy is derived from Tommy Atkins which had been used as a generic name for a soldier for many years (and had been used as an example name on army registration forms). The precise origin is the subject of some debate, but it is known to have been used as early as 1743. Rudyard Kipling published the poem Tommy (part of the Barrack Room Ballads) in 1892 and in 1893 the music hall song Private Tommy Atkins was published with words by Henry Hamilton and music by S. Potter. In 1898 William McGonagall wrote Lines In Praise of Tommy Atkins. The rock-opera Tommy by The Who references the word in the title; the main character's father was a British airman who went missing in action during World War II.

Brit

Use of the term Brit seems to have become widespread in more recent times. Being referred to as a Brit is regarded by some Britons as racist, derogatory and offensive in the same way that Paki is a racist word to describe a Pakistani. Both are identical shortened contractions of the original word. The correct form is actually Briton, yet is rare in colloquial usage. The term 'Brit' was commonly used by nationalist Irish in Northern Ireland, during which time it acquired highly pejorative connotations.

Redcoat

The term Redcoat is a defunct slang term for a British soldier. This term applied from the mid-17th century to around 1902 when the British Army wore distinctive scarlet tunics in their typical military dress. The term is often used in a modern sense in a playful manner, althrough it is increasingly associated with Canadians because of the traditional red uniforms of the Mounties.

Other languages

In one of the Vindolanda tablets the Latin pejorative of Brittunculi (wretched little Britons) [1] is used (presumably by a Roman official) in a commentary of their particular military tactics.

In many languages, the equivalent terms for 'English' and 'England' are often used interchangeably with 'British' and 'Britain', and this is also relatively common in many non-British varieties of English. For example in Turkish 'İngiltere' is wrongly used for both Britain and England, despite there being a separate word for Britain, 'Britanya'. Welsh people in particular are very often referred to in French as 'Anglais' rather than 'Gallois', in Russian as 'англичанин' Angličanin, and so on. The same occurs rather less frequently in the case of individuals from Scotland and Northern Ireland. Scotland and Ireland remained separate entities until the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries respectively, when the Kingdom of Great Britain and United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland were formed. However, even these countries may still sometimes be considered to form part of Angleterre or the equivalent. In some languages, as in French, forms like Britannique ('British') are restricted to more official contexts, and tend to be used for governments rather than for individuals. In Assam (became part of British India in 1828), one of the last states to join British India, British are called as Boga Bongal (literally meaning White Foreigners or White Intruders). Bongal was a derragatory word for foreigners and invaders in Assam under Ahom rule and it still is used.

In Spain, in spite of growing domestic nationalist and Celtic cultural movements and the resulting complex Spanish territorial stresses, the distinction between the English, Scots, Welsh and their mother countries are, as in Latin America, completely non-existent. This is reflected in the media where the British government, the army, etc., are all referred to as Inglés[English].

In Polish the common informal term to describe an Englishman is Anglik, which is probably derived from the vernacular Polish word for the United Kingdom Anglia. A derogatory term for an English man coined in the recent years is Angol; however, due to its negative connotations it is not used in formal writing or by the media.

In Nepal, British are often referred as Kuires/Khaires which means people of white/pale colour. It is also used for any foreigner with white skin.

In India, especially in British India, the British were, and often still are, referred to as firangis/pirangis (aliens) or goras (literally "Whiteman" in Hindi).

The Malay word 'Mat Salleh' originated from the general depiction of British Colonial Sailors who were often drunk (Mad Sailors). Due to the inability of locals to pronounce English words correctly, it became 'Mat Salleh' (Mat and Salleh are both typical Malay names). Another alternative is 'Orang Putih' (white people) or it's shortened rural version 'Omputih'. In ancient Malaccan times, the term 'Orang Feringgi' was also used.

Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Vietnamese use terms for Britain/British which are derived from the words "England" and "English". The Japanese word for Britain has its origins in the Portuguese word for English: Inglês became イギリス Igirisu.

Although the Chinese Yīngguó (Hanzi:英国), Japanese Eikoku (Kanji:英国), Korean Yeongguk (Hangul: 영국), and Vietnamese Anh Quốc are all derived from "Eng-" in England, they are used to mean "Britain" and "British", including both Great Britain and UK. They are still used to mean England in unofficial contexts. There are also more formal specific names for the UK, such as the Japanese and Chinese 連合王国 Liánhéwángguó/Rengōōkoku literally meaning "United Kingdom". Separate words exist in all of these languages for each of the constituent parts of the UK, including England, although, as elsewhere, there is little awareness of correct usage. However, sport teams are called by their correct name, as can be seen in any World Cup schedule.

The written form of Yīngguó in Chinese is made up of two characters: 英国. The first 英 (yīng) means "hero" or "brave", the second is 国 (guó) which means "country", "state" or "kingdom". Originally the adjective word was written as 英吉利 Yīngjílì as an approximation of the adjective word English, and is still used to mean English in the Chinese word for the English Channel 英吉利海峡 Yīng jí lì hǎi xiá. The noun word was written as 英格兰 Ying ge lan for the noun England, also 苏格兰 Su ge lan for Scotland, 爱尔兰 Ai er lan for Ireland and 威尔士 Wei er shi for Wales. Also in history books Great Britain is written 大不列颠 da bu lie dian, from 大 (Great) and the sounds of the words 不列颠, which also mean "can't be knocked down/tipped over". The word 英吉利 was given the reading igirisu in Japanese, and the same abbreviation was adopted, 英国 eikoku, taking the first character and using the more usual 'Chinese' reading. These days, the word is usually written using katakana script as イギリス Igirisu, although 英国 Eikoku is still common. The first character is also used in the word for the English language, 英語 eigo. Additionally, Vietnamese đảo Anh (literally, "English island") means the island of Great Britain.

See also

• British Isles (terminology)
• Offensive terms per nationality