bought_the_tshirt

yes nona 1, sorry but i don't know anyone from Wales, Scotland or N.Ireland who like being called British or a Brit, as its a little too close to being thought of as English. I am not anti-English but it is a bit of a sensitive subject being from Northern Ireland..

BTilke

Well, I don't like being called a yank either--we're not from New England, we don't have British heritage (my family is almost entirely Pennsylvania German, with a bit of Swiss and "real" German thrown in). During the Revolutionary War, my ancestors supported the colonists by brewing beer for the troops rather than fighting. So, if anything, I'd rather be called a Dutchie.
Southerners also don't appreciate being called Yankees. But the non-American Fodorites don't seem to care about the distinctions, they lump us all into the "yanks" category anyway.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee

Back to the OP, my British doctor (well, he's actually a Sikh who's been here just slightly longer than I have) uses the metric systems for my height and weight (he uses kilos, not stones, for recording weight). But in conversation with nurses and (as of yesterday) physiotherapists, we talked in feet and inches. For weight, we used pounds, not stones, but I suspect that the staffers realized I'm probably not used to calculating weight in stones (and they're right).
It's a bit of muddle in the UK. Petrol is sold in litres but distances between exits (junctions) are listed in miles. The weather forecast is given in degrees Celsius but the forecaster will often add the F equivalent.

In the U.S., I always found it odd that the switch was made to metric ages ago when it came to ski lengths, everybody knows their ski lengths in cm, probably nobody knows them in feet and inches. It's virtually the only part of U.S. consumer society where the metric system has been automatically accepted. Wonder why?

SandyBrit

LoveItaly - Hello. I say I am 5' 5" but agree with the poster who said it will take another generation before feet and inches drop out of use.

I once was told off by a poster on this board because I referred to myself as English and my screen name says Brit.

I agree with Miss Prism do not like children to be called kids, find it disrespectful. Does this reflect my age?

Sandy

alanRow

I just want to know why Americans call BA / British Airways "British Air"?

And why "Customs" instead of "Immigration"?

Nikki

Customs and Immigration aren't the same thing, are they? Immigration having to do with who can enter the country, so they check passports, and Customs having to do with what you can bring in with you and whether you have to pay for the privilege.

However, many people on these boards confuse the two terms, possibly because they think of "going through customs" as the time-consuming part of entering a country. That used to be the case, at least in the US, but now it's waiting at passport control (immigration) that takes the most time.

Nikki

Meanwhile, on the topic of what people are called, I have been surprised to see mention on this forum several times of people from the US and Britain as "Anglo-Saxons".

I have been called many things in my life, but never that before. Is it something that French people say about people from all English speaking countries? At least here in the US, in my experience, that would refer to one's ethnic background rather than to one's residence or language.

Maria_H

I'm 5 foot 5 and * and a half stones. I still prefer to know how much my meat or fruit costs per pound, so I know if it's expensive or not! I swear they only changed petrol prices from gallons to litres when it approached the £ per gallon mark (now well past) and I still compare car fuel efficiency in mpg.

I don't mind being called a Brit. I used to be proud to say I was English (well half, at least) but somehow there seems to be a lot of English bashing that goes on these days. If we go back far enough, most of us were downtrodden peasants and mongrels when all said and done!

hanl

"Is it something that French people say about people from all English speaking countries? "
Yes, it's a general term the French use to denote the British, Irish, Americans, Canadians, Australians etc. etc. It took me a while (and a lot of giggling) to get used to the term in French, but it still sounds ridiculous to my ears in English. A bit like if we started calling all French-speaking people Gauls or Franks or something...

alanRow

<<< Customs and Immigration aren't the same thing, are they? >>>

They aren't that's my point. Immigration is where they decide if you are to be allowed into the country, Customs is where check your goods and possessions to see if they are to be allowed in the country

stormbird

Hi LoveItaly,
Here in Australia we've used the metric system for nigh on 35 years but we still like to discuss our height in feet and inches and whenever we hear a baby's weight in kilos we nearly always ask oh how much is that in pounds?

Though curiously I don't even think about my own weight in stones and pounds anymore - just kilos. Liquid measures and weights all seem to be discussed in metric with no problems but it is funny how the height thing has remained the old feet and inches.

audere_est_facere

When the frogs are banging on about "anglo saxons" they are usually balls-aching about our economic model - ie comparitively free market, non statist.

It's the word they use to describe our system (and that of the USA Canada etc etc)

Duffman

Personally, I prefer something more Durotriges, like Picti or Cantiaci, maybe even Monmouth-head.

NeoPatrick

While a few have said they don't like the term Brit, we're still short of hearing terms to replace that. Or are they saying they don't mind being called British, just not Brit? And by the way, if people from Great Britian object to Brit, do people from Scotland object to Scot?

Meanwhile regarding customs and immigration -- I was once chastized here when I said "you meet your driver right after customs". I got a lecture that there is no customs at Heathrow, that it's after immigration. But, huh? After immigration or passport control (as we often call it), you must still collect your luggage. No driver meets you when you pass through immigration! Even when you have nothing to declare -- passing that final stage after luggage into the big lobby IS called Customs, isn't it?

So who says Customs, meaning immigration? I never hear those terms mixed up.

ira

Hi BT,

>everybody knows their ski lengths in cm, ... It's virtually the only part of U.S. consumer society where the metric system has been automatically accepted.

Spiritous liquors are sold in metric sizes.

I remember when the distillers switched from 1/2 gal to 1.75 L. It was called the "metric half gallon".

It's about 10% smaller, but the price stayed the same.

At he same time, they dropped the alcohol content from 86 to 80 proof, another 8% reduction.

ira

Hi Nikki,

> I have been surprised to see mention on this forum several times of people from the US and Britain as "Anglo-Saxons".

There are also those who refer to Americans as "US Americans" or "US North Americans".

It's just a PC thing, coupled with a faint hint of jealousy.

BTilke

Thanks, Ira. I don't buy "spirits" much. But my experience is that most people just buy bottles or half bottles or "a fifth" or little bottles etc. I don't know anyone who goes into a wine shop and asks specifically for 750 ml of Bordeaux instead of merely "a bottle". (And I don't even know the size of the hard booze bottles that you get in Duty Free, they're all just "big bottles" to me.) Wherease with skis, the customer will ask for the specific length--170cm, 175cm, or whatever.

ira

More on Anglo-Saxons

> it's a general term the French use to denote the British, Irish, ...

The Irish?

The Welsh, too, I suppose?

ira

Hi NP,

>So who says Customs, meaning immigration? I never hear those terms mixed up.<

About 4-5 times per week we get someone asking if they will have time to get through Customs at such and such airport, and someone tells them that it's Passport Control or Immigration that has the long lines, not Customs.

Perhaps they think that there are long lines at Customs, or perhaps they are confusing the two. It's not always easy to tell.

NeoPatrick

Oh, I see. I guess I just always interpreted that as Customs being the final stage of getting "processed" between the departure from the plane and your "freedom" into the world. "Clearing customs" means you are all finished, so when someone says "How long will it take to clear customs?" they are referring to the total length of time to complete the entire process of arrival and get going. But I see how you could interpret it your way too.

Nikki

Calling people from English-speaking countries Anglo-Saxons is a PC thing, Ira? Speaking for myself, I find it a very odd thing to have my ancestors converted to an entirely different ethnicity and history. And looking around the streets of London or New York, I have a hard time imagining anyone calling that slice of humanity Anglo-Saxon.

And Audere, I have seen the term used here to describe more than political or economic systems but opinions and tastes as well.