Originally posted by stokerbritish means to me someone living in that little island cluster just off the coast of belgium,
Here in England its not popular to refer to yourself as ENGLISH they keep saying British well im ENGLISH tea at 3 and so on. British is a collective term anyone from india to jamaca , hong kong to australia can call themselve British. Plus our colonies lost
i have never heard anyone refer to australians as british.
some pretend to be british, as they pretend to be english.
Originally posted by VargAt the very least, you fellows are responsible for everything bad in the Cricketing world.
You are out of date, my friend. For many years we have been taught to hate ourselves and our history. Since schooldays, the British are evil, we were responsible for everything bad in the world. When we are not being bad we are being useless and innefectual. Now we are deeply ashamed. Why are foreigners so much better at everything than ourselves. I wish we were more like them.
P.s. A while back I could have said sporting world. Bloody World Cup.
Originally posted by flexmoreSome of the people living in that little cluster of islands are Irish, not British.
british means to me someone living in that little island cluster just off the coast of belgium,
i have never heard anyone refer to australians as british.
some pretend to be british, as they pretend to be english.
The idea that people who live in what used to part of the 'British Empire' can now call themselves British is nonsense. That's like saying Iraqis or Afghani's can call themselves American.
And the distinction between English and British isn't trivial. Not for Scots or Welsh people, for example.
And the idea that the British/English invented chess is ludicrous.
yes i can imagine some irish would not like to be called british
i do appreciate english as a better defined term - so what does british mean - is it meaningless?
as for chess - an english guy was involved in the carving of the shapes of the pieces we now use i believe.
does anyone know who added the castling and double pawn moves?
Originally posted by flexmoreThose were introduced in continental Europe somewhere, I think. Same goes for the enhanced power of the piece we now call the Queen.
does anyone know who added the castling and double pawn moves?
I don't believe, by any stretch, a case can be made for the invention of chess being an English accomplishment 🙂
Originally posted by flexmoreNot wishing to be picky, but nobody who is Irish would want to be called British. You're one or the other. You can't be both.
yes i can imagine some irish would not like to be called british
i do appreciate english as a better defined term - so what does british mean - is it meaningless?
as for chess - an english guy was involved in the carving of the shapes of the pieces we now use i believe.
does anyone know who added the castling and double pawn moves?
Conversely, English isn't a better term than British, it is just different. British means a subject (we're not even citizens) of Great Britain, which consists of England, Scotland, Wales and assorted wee islands. This specifically doesn't include Northern Ireland.
So, if you're Scottish, you're also British, but not English.
If you're English, you're also British.
To further complicate things, there's the concept of the United Kingdom. This is what Tony Bliar is Prime Minister of (and what Rich Liz is onarch of), and is basically Great Britain plus the bit of Ireland we still hold onto called Northern Ireland.
Re the shapes of the pieces, I think you might mean Staunton (?!). Some modern sets are known as Staunton pieces, but I think this is just in honour of Howard Staunton, a famous English[player, I don't know how much he had to do with the design.
Let me just start off by asking a question...How many brits have been world champion. NONE! 'Tis true America has had only one, and thats all well ever need. Bobby fisher totally handed boris spassky his but with all the trimmings. Thats how good he really is. Yes Great Britain was this great empire, mistress of the seas, blah blah blah. They also had King John and King Henry VIII...need I say more. As it has been pointed out, no they didn't invent chess. They'd like to think they did just as much as the Italians try to claim they invented pizza(for which they didn't). No matter where you go in the world, no matter how good you are, there will always be someone better than you. theres plenty better than me, i get my butt kicked all the time, and every so often i hit back. Point is, the guy who started this is an extreme hypocrit. He's stereotyping Americans everywhere saying we can never live up to the reputation that the British don't have. "I'm not racist"...yeah right! You might as well call yourself a nazi and put on a sweet lil puppy dog face and say your not anti-semitist either. Go away will ya...