At what point are you considered "a brit"?

Was just wondering at what point is it okay or expected to identify as a "brit"? Is it once you become a full-fledged citizen? Or does it count if you just know that you intend to stay here long term?

Was just wondering at what point is it okay or expected to identify as a "brit"? Is it once you become a full-fledged citizen? Or does it count if you just know that you intend to stay here long term?

I only started calling myself a Brit when I had became a UKC, but you can call yourself whatever you want, whenever you want as far as I'm concerned.

Obviously others may think differently, but that's their problem, not yours.

I think my husband is really keen to be able to call himself British but like TF, he feels that'll come with citizenship.
I'll think of him as dual at that point, rather than British. 

My husband, the Brit, is going through the process to gain his US citizenship now after living here for 13 years. I asked him if he would ever consider himself "American". He said that he has chosen to gain US citizenship but to be "American", to him, that is reserved for people who were born here or in our territories. My father was a naturalized USC and he said he was a "citizen" but not "American". I know that when my time comes to move back to the UK and go through the process, I will never be a "Brit" but a UK citizen. But that's me. You can do whatever you like.


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Given I haven't been here very long, but I'm not sure I'll ever truly feel "British". Not the way my husband does. I just don't have all the cultural cues. But that doesn't bother me much - there's no one more patriotic than an expat, right? 

Reminds me of the Reagan quote they had on the wall at the immigration office i went to for my biometrics before I left the US:

America represents something universal in the human spirit. I received a letter not long ago from a man who said, 'You can go to Japan to live, but you cannot become Japanese. You can go to France to live and not become a Frenchman. You can go to live in Germany or Turkey, and you won't become a German or a Turk.' But then he added, 'Anybody from any corner of the world can come to America to live and become an American.'

I'm not close to being technically British yet but I expect that eventually I will be firmly British everywhere but the UK and the US. 

Homo sapien here.

I'm not close to being technically British yet but I expect that eventually I will be firmly British everywhere but the UK and the US.

I think this probably captures my feelings more closely haha

I was just asking the question because I was thinking about how many people may have immigrated to the UK and become "English"/"British" and are described that way but don't necessarily sound that way or share every part of the culture but it doesn't make them less British by standards so I was wondering at what point do people recognise a person as British vs an immigrant (was less about me personally hah). Just thought it was an interesting thing to think about and I think I probably agree with most people here about maybe needing to be a citizen before personally considering myself British, although ultimately it feels like I would never actually be considered British by the people that know me because they will have known that I was born in the US. If i went to somewhere in the US apart from my home state, I am pretty sure people would assume I'm British. I've assimilated pretty well here and, to Americans I don't sound American (but to English I don't sound English except on rare occasions where a stranger doesn't notice lol They all say I have a particular twang to some words suggesting I am not from here originally). But I don't feel British in that I feel like it's branded on me that I'm not. But what exactly makes a person British or American or anything else?

Like you know how to be diagnosed with something in a medical sense, you'd have to tick of a certain amount of boxes on a list of symptoms? If there were tick boxes needing to be checked to be considered a certain nationality, what would they be? What boxes need to be ticked to be considered British in your opinions? (sorry to get super deep haha I'm half awake with most of my coffee still in my cup and I think this whole Manchester thing has had me thinking about all the wonderful people, regardless of where they've come from, that make those living in this country proud to be from here and they outweigh the $h!tty people who commit these horrible acts)

I associate it with Citizenship.

Would it make a difference if you compared one person who had been in the country let's say 9 years and was a citizen to another who didn't go for citizenship but lived here 15? Or a child born abroad that was registered as an English citizen but hasn't actually lived in the country? Is it just about a piece of paper or about qualities/characteristics of a person and their lifestyle?

No right or wrong answer, by the way. Just looking to start a deeper discussion on this

Just to make things more complicated- I'm a UK citizen, but I consider myself a Scot. I'm not Scottish, as I feel that's the word for someone born here, but if you make your home in Scotland, you can be a Scot

ETA: I should add, I've been living here nearly 14 years, and have been told by many people that they consider me a Scot now.

Just to make things more complicated- I'm a UK citizen, but I consider myself a Scot. I'm not Scottish, as I feel that's the word for someone born here, but if you make your home in Scotland, you can be a Scot

If Scotland voted to break off from the UK, would you still consider yourself "British" though? Or Scottish? Or English? I mean...I guess that one brings a LOAD more questions haha Like would there even be a term "British" or "Great Britain" at that point as that might prompt N.I. and/or Wales to follow suit lol

On a smaller scale, I asked an English friend of mine who has lived here in Scotland for 4 years now whether she feels like a Scot. She said not really, unless she needs to pretend she doesn't understand someone 

Edit: My husband says I'll never truly be British, even as a citizen. Kind of the same way I was thinking - I don't have the cultural background to fully understand everything people say about their lives/past/history/culture. No matter how many times he shows me clips from old TV shows, I'll never really have any understanding of them. Not to mention my accent.

On a smaller scale, I asked an English friend of mine who has lived here in Scotland for 4 years now whether she feels like a Scot. She said not really, unless she needs to pretend she doesn't understand someone 

lmao that is brilliant! How often does that happen!? hahaha

I wonder if there's some level of her accent probably doesn't change as drastically and the cultures can be fairly similar depending on where in England your from and where in Scotland you're living (like same big shops/restaurant/bank chains etc.) so maybe it doesn't seem like as much of an adjustment? Would be interested to hear what big changes there are for those who were born in England and moved to Scotland in their adult years.

I wonder if there's some level of her accent probably doesn't change as drastically and the cultures can be fairly similar depending on where in England your from and where in Scotland you're living (like same big shops/restaurant/bank chains etc.) so maybe it doesn't seem like as much of an adjustment? Would be interested to hear what big changes there are for those who were born in England and moved to Scotland in their adult years.

She says her accent hasn't really changed, although occasionally she comes out with something that makes her family laugh. She moved here as an adult so it probably wouldn't affect much. Her partner and step-kids are Scottish so she's definitely immersed! I don't think she experienced a lot of culture shock but I'm sure there are some small differences. (She still says "scone" the English way until she says "tattie scone", when it switches to Scottish )