This article is from the British comedy FAQ, by James Kew j.kew@ic.ac.uk with numerous contributions by others.
The UK is short for the United Kingdom, or in full The United Kingdom of
Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Great Britain consists of England,
Scotland and Wales; the term "British" is sometimes loosely applied to mean
"of the UK".
Saying "England" when you really mean "Britain" or "the UK" belittles the
significance of the other constituent territories and is quite offensive to
many UK citizens. It's like using "Californians" to mean "all Americans".
 
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