On the use of the word British / by Ralph Thomas.

  • Thomas, Ralph, 1840-
Date:
1897
Catalogue details

Licence: Public Domain Mark

Credit: On the use of the word British / by Ralph Thomas. Source: Wellcome Collection.

Provider: This material has been provided by The Royal College of Surgeons of England. The original may be consulted at The Royal College of Surgeons of England.

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    it to the country it belongs to if possible, or repudiate it as not English. Sometimes the result is curious, as in talking of one of the magnificent ships which you know are built in Scotland and hail, say, from Glasgow. An Englishman abroad is proud of her, so, in reply to what country she belongs to, “ la belle Havraise ” is informed she is English. You cannot go into details, and say, Well, probably she is built in Scotland by Irish- men and much of the materials and inventions are from England. What would a Scotsman answer] Would he reply British, or Anglais, or Ecossais ? At Marseille* there is a tradesman who has * The curious English one meets with in Prance is proverbial. In this town there was a bootmaker who had “ High-life boot-maker ” painted over his shop. The French restaurants persist in translating “ dejeuner ” as “ breakfast,” which is quite unintelligible to an Eng- lishman (I mean a Britisher, no I mean an English- speaking person) unacquainted with French : whereas if they gave it, its proper equivalent, which is given in my dictionary viz “lunch” it would be understood by all. To translate it breakfast, also gives the French an idea that we partake of that meal between 11 and 1 the French “ dejeuner ” hours. At Dieppe, a barber in order to induce the natives of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland to get Bhaved has the word “ Lavatory ” painted right