What is your nationality?

Geoff_One   Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:16 pm GMT
???
Geoff_One   Tue Sep 25, 2007 9:21 pm GMT
If you delete it, explain what it means and how it came about.
Demonstrate that you understand the English.
Damian in London SW15   Wed Sep 26, 2007 2:30 pm GMT
Hereford is a medieval cathedral city in the west of England, close to the border with Wales......something like 28 miles or so away to the west of the city. It's situated on the River Wye, which actually rises in the mountains of Central Wales.....ramblers, hikers and energetic people generally walk up the slopes of Plynlimon (a mountain) to reach the actual spot where a wee spring of water bubbles up out of the peat bog, and forms a wee rivulet meandering down through the tough grass covering the slopes of Plynlimon, the stream of crystal clear, icy cold mountain water gradually increasing in size on its downward journey.

That is the source of the sylvan River Wye, and by the time the flow of water reaches the English border at Hay on Wye, Powys, Wales it is already a river in the true sense of the word, one of the most well known rivers of the UK. Under normal conditions it is a gently flowing river, slowly meandering through the rich green pasturelands and woodlands of Herefordshire, England, and by the time it reaches Hereford city it is quite wide and deep.

The people of Hereford are, generally, very proud of their English heritage, something common to other towns and cities of the Marches area (as that part of western England bordering onto Wales is called historically), and similarly historically there has always been a kind of rivalry between the "border" English and their Welsh neighbours.

In fact, an ancient law from the Middle Ages (when the wild Welsh regularly stormed over the border into England to pillage - whether they actually raped as well I have no idea...they probably did, like the Vikings.....hence the Anglo-Welsh "rivalry and piss-taking") has never been repealed and technically it's still on the statute book - as a result it is still technically "legal" for an Englishman (or woman I reckon) to shoot any Welsh "invader" with a bow and arrow (no other weapon permitted) so long as it is within a certain number of leagues of Hereford Cathedral and only on a Sunday. It would be very, very unwise indeed for any present day proud English citizen of Hereford to deal with a wandering Taffy (ie a Welsh person) in this way, no matter where or what day of the week it is.

The closeness of Hereford to the Welsh border is reflected in the accent of a fair number of it's people - nowadays much more so with older people......many of these older people have a distinct Welsh lilt to their accent, but my guess is that this situation is now dying out, as standard RP plus varying tinges of Estuary is now pretty much universal among the present and up-coming generations of Hereford and Herefordshire generally, like it is in much of Southern England.

The "misplaced" accent situation is even more marked up there close to my Scottish homeland at Berwick-upon-Tweed, actually in Northumberland, England nowadays, and likely to stay put now for the duration, even though it has switched back and forth between England and Scotland nine times over the centuries. Now the English look set to keep their hooks firmly held tight on Berwick, which, like the bow and arrow situation down in Hereford, is still technically at war with Russia. For some reason nobody has bothered to sign a truce between wee Berwick and mighty Mother Russia. Even though it is now in England, the majority of Berwick people speak with with clear accents of the Scottish Borders region. The allegiance to England by these Berwick citizens is not quite as clearly defined as it is down in Hereford. The number of Saltire flags flying over the (technically) English streets of Berwick-upon-Tweed is testimony to that.

You actually have to travel five miles north of Berwick, on the A1 road, before you see the huge "Welcome to Scotland" sign on the present day border between England and Scotland. Home! :-)

So that's my nationality, in answer to this thread title ?. In descending order of importance (to me personally):

Scottish...British....European....Earthman.....end of the line I reckon.

English is my native Language, my sole means of clear, correct verbal communication.

I have just got back from Prague - I was so impressed with the excellent standard of English spoken by so many people of that truly beautiful city. Most of them seem to be glad of any opportunity to practise their spoken English. That's not good at all for native English speakers - it makes us lazy from the point of view of trying out our foreign language skills, and even speaking basic every day expressions correctly in Czech is no easy ride for the linguistic numbskull - in fact, it's bloody difficult!
Guest   Wed Sep 26, 2007 4:08 pm GMT
<<Scottish...British....European....Earthman.....<<
Milky Wayish or Milky Wayan?
Another Guest   Thu Sep 27, 2007 1:44 am GMT
"What is your nationality?"

If it's a relaxed situation, I could say "American." My first thought to answer the question was "I am an American."