Confused about the expectation vs. reality in level of service- looking for insight

[exlondoner]

2 minutes ago, Pear Carr said:

Sorry I’m with cruising.mark.uk here - never been offended by the term ‘brits’ and do not know anyone who has! This is lost on me - can you elaborate?

 

Like calling US people Yankees or French - no I won't go there. And anyway, what does it mean? Where is Britain? 

[cruising.mark.uk]

2 hours ago, exlondoner said:

I've never met anyone who didn't find it mildly patronising, but only mildly, and it is not a major subject of discussion, I must admit. Why not call them UK passengers?

Well you have now!

[Pear Carr]

Where is Britain?

“Great Britain, also called Britain, island lying off the western coast of Europe and consisting of England, Scotland, and Wales. The term is often used as a synonym for the United Kingdom, which also includes Northern Ireland and a number of offshore islands.”

[exlondoner]

So it doesn't actually include you, if you come from the Scilly Isles or the IOW. And, anyway, why not say British rather than the patronising Brits, if you want to use it?

[Host Hattie]

46 minutes ago, Pear Carr said:

Sorry I’m with cruising.mark.uk here - never been offended by the term ‘brits’ and do not know anyone who has! This is lost on me - can you elaborate?

I'm one, I really don't like it. How difficult is it to say British? 

 

[Pear Carr]

Each to their own. As stated not a term that I have ever been offended or felt patronised by but have now been made aware that some people are sensitive to the abbreviation of British for whatever reason.

[MarkBearSF]

I've never heard that it was "mildly patronizing" so I'll try to work UK in instead.

By the same token "Americans" can refer to people from two continents, and although I seldom hear Canadians or Brazilians getting worried about the term, I will usually say something like "cruisers from the US"

 

[Victoria2]

10 hours ago, Host Hattie said:

I'm one, I really don't like it. How difficult is it to say British? 

 

 

10 hours ago, exlondoner said:

So it doesn't actually include you, if you come from the Scilly Isles or the IOW. And, anyway, why not say British rather than the patronising Brits, if you want to use it?

 Brit has always been a diminutive of Britney and Brits is the term for a music award  as far as I'm concerned.

Can't say the term, if applied to me, offends as I've never  thought about it as pertaining to the British as a people but I can see how it could be seen as mildly patronising in some circumstances.

 

I either say English or British, never Brit.

[frankp01]

6 hours ago, MarkBearSF said:

I seldom hear Canadians or Brazilians getting worried about the term

I used to travel extensively in Mexico. I  was warned that Mexicans can feel excluded by the term "American" when it's used to refer to those from the US, since Mexico is also in north America. When referring to residents of our  country I try to use "someone from the States". While I don't use it, I like "Yanks"

 

3 hours ago, Victoria2 said:

How difficult is it to say British?

Not at all. But I've always considered British to simply be an adjective: "British food", for example. By itself I never thought it referred to "the British people". So now you're using two words rather than one short and to the point term.

[exlondoner]

7 hours ago, MarkBearSF said:

I've never heard that it was "mildly patronizing" so I'll try to work UK in instead.

By the same token "Americans" can refer to people from two continents, and although I seldom hear Canadians or Brazilians getting worried about the term, I will usually say something like "cruisers from the US"

 

US people, from their presidents down, seem to refer to their country as America and themselves as Americans. I have never heard anyone who lives here refer to themselves as a Brit. In fact the only people I’ve encountered using the term have been US.

[Victoria2]

32 minutes ago, frankp01 said:

I used to travel extensively in Mexico. I  was warned that Mexicans can feel excluded by the term "American" when it's used to refer to those from the US, since Mexico is also in north America. When referring to residents of our  country I try to use "someone from the States". While I don't use it, I like "Yanks"

 

Not at all. But I've always considered British to simply be an adjective: "British food", for example. By itself I never thought it referred to "the British people". So now you're using two words rather than one short and to the point term.

Not my quote m'lud.

[exlondoner]

36 minutes ago, frankp01 said:

I used to travel extensively in Mexico. I  was warned that Mexicans can feel excluded by the term "American" when it's used to refer to those from the US, since Mexico is also in north America. When referring to residents of our  country I try to use "someone from the States". While I don't use it, I like "Yanks"

 

Not at all. But I've always considered British to simply be an adjective: "British food", for example. By itself I never thought it referred to "the British people". So now you're using two words rather than one short and to the point term.

 

Surely if British is a mere adjective, though I don't think it is, a fortiori its abbreviation would also be an adjective.

[frankp01]

3 minutes ago, Victoria2 said:

Not my quote m'lud

Yes, sorry. It was Host Hattie's comment. While I was composing my reply I scrolled up to where I saw her comment. Unfortunately, it was in your reply to her rather than her original post.

[Victoria2]

7 hours ago, MarkBearSF said:

I've never heard that it was "mildly patronizing" so I'll try to work UK in instead.

By the same token "Americans" can refer to people from two continents, and although I seldom hear Canadians or Brazilians getting worried about the term, I will usually say something like "cruisers from the US"

 

Isn't that interesting. We have good friends in Canada and always refer to them as Canadians. Likewise, our American friends are American.

We all have different takes on life and this is yet another area where opinions differ. No problem at all.

[Victoria2]

1 minute ago, frankp01 said:

Yes, sorry. It was Host Hattie's comment. While I was composing my reply I scrolled up to where I saw her comment. Unfortunately, it was in your reply to her rather than her original post.

I can take it. My shoulders are broad! 😄

[frankp01]

2 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

its abbreviation would also be an adjective

I don't consider Brit to be an adjective. I consider it a noun, in its own right 

[Victoria2]

4 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

 

Surely if British is a mere adjective, though I don't think it is, a fortiori its abbreviation would also be an adjective.

Must confess, had to look that one up! Now added to my lexicon. 👍

[exlondoner]

11 minutes ago, frankp01 said:

I don't consider Brit to be an adjective. I consider it a noun, in its own right 

 

Seems illogical to me, but perhaps this is yet another difference between UK and US English.

[Windsurfboy]

We are all British not Brits

 

 

[frankp01]

30 minutes ago, exlondoner said:

Seems illogical to me

English is always evolving. Has the phenomenon of nouns becoming verbs made it to the UK? "How do you museum?" It's everywhere here.

[cruising.mark.uk]

1 hour ago, Windsurfboy said:

We are all British not Brits

 

 

Only in the same way that all Australians are Australian not Aussie.  You can't speak for everyone.  I for one call myself a Brit far more often than I call myself British.

 

Perhaps appropriately given the title of this threat, I'm now slightly confused how we ended up having semantic discussions about popular terms used to describe the inhabitants of the British Isles as a group.  A non-Brit poster was advised not to use the term by a Brit poster as it might offend.  I merely noted that neither I nor any other Brit I know would be offended by the term - it is one that I and many other compatriots I know and have met abroad use to describe themselves.  I'm not convinced it's possible to patronise yourself, unless perhaps you're trying to be ironic, and I think anyone who feels patronised by being described as a Brit is taking life a little too seriously.  Those who worry about whether Brit / British is a noun or an adjective (or a verb!) might be over-thinking things as well - as the examples used by posters above clearly demonstrate, it can be either, depending on usage / context.  

[Windsurfboy]

Don't  know how we got here either, but as abbreviations of some names are clearly deemed very derogatory,  putting it mildly.  Then a British citizen should be given same courtesy. 

[glanders]

We were on Queen Elizabeth in June in Queen's Grill. On a morning we needed to tender, we did not get priority tender tickets. We called the Grills concierge, who told us were were not entitled to priority tenders, which we knew was wrong. We went down to get a regular tickets, and there was a 1.5 hour wait, which also was annoying, as Celebrity seems to get folks off the ship faster. We spoke to the person who was managing the tickets, and he said he could not do anything and to take it up with the home office when we got home. It was all very annoying, as it delayed our touring by more than an hour. When we got back, the concierge tracked us down and was all apologies, saying that she should have sent the priority tickets. A couple of days later, she reached out to us to let us know a port that was to be tendered was now docked, and we would not need priority tickets. The experience was annoying, especially the insult added to injury of being told to contact the home office, but on the whole it did not affect the trip at all. We've cruised four times since cruising resumed, twice with Celebrity, once with Azamara, and once with Cunard. We tend to go into the experience with a lot of grace. Knowing how much money cruise lines lost during the height of the pandemic, it amazes me that things aren't even worse when you get on board. I imagine most cruise lines will struggle with staff and standards for years to come. And that's ok with us.

[escrick]

My goodness!  “A rose is a rose by any other name.”  I am a Brit.  Having lived in the USA for many years, and returning to the UK last year, I think the use of the English language here has deteriorated.  Because of texting and the like, words are shortened,  grammar is faulty, and I have trouble interpreting the many acronyms.  Even so, with everything else going on in our world, I am not the least offended by being called a Brit.  And, yes, it is a noun.  

[BklynBoy8]

21 hours ago, Miadessa said:

We (US and Swiss colleagues) jokingly  referred to our colleagues in the UK as "Brits" and we were "you Americans" (with, I believe, "dumb" implied to be inserted between the two)  🙂

You are correct.  I should have referred to them appropriately here.

 

I'm not offended by "Yanks".....I'm A Yankee Doodle Dandy".....lol...