Early in my time in England, I read this brilliant book, Watching the English by Kate Fox, an anthropology text. I highly recommend it to anyone who wants to learn more about the English. Working through what she was saying also made me realize a lot about my native cultures that I’d just absorbed naturally (as you do) without bringing into relief, so it was actually really helpful for me in many ways. I’d love to find similar works on other cultures.
Between that book and other sources, I quickly learned the difference between England, Britain, Great Britain, and the United Kingdom. As time went by, I realized that not everyone – not just my American friends and family, but also some born and bred here – knows these differences. Today I found a brilliant video explaining it, so I thought I’d share: