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PaperclipPerfector  2d ago (text post)   8862 thread views

Culture War Roundup for the week of August 24, 2026

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Something like a quarter of England’s residents were of Irish descent before immigration picked up, no? These people seem to be counted as ‘ethnic Britons’- maybe the term has no meaning except not wanting to see brown people.

Come on, this is silly. There are two islands that make up ‘Great Britain’. Until very recently almost everyone on those islands were descended from the peoples of those islands, the newest of whom came here one thousand years ago. That is ‘British’.

These peoples are not French. They are not German (insert obligatory joke about the Royal Family, which proves people do notice them not being British even if it’s mostly pointed out in good fun). They are not Spanish. Nor Indian, African, or Asian. They are British.

the newest of whom came here one thousand years ago

Close, but we're still 40 years shy.

There are two islands that make up 'Great Britain'.

No, Great Britain is one island. The British Isles encompass both Great Britain and Ireland.

If we are nitpicking, "Great Britain" is both the toponym for the main island of the British Isles, and also the legal name for the mostly-obsolete political entity that includes both the main island and the minor islands (like the Isle of Wight and the Hebrides) associated with it. (Apart from an old joke about Berwick being at war with Russia, Great Britain in the political sense = England + Wales + Scotland)

Fair.

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