Britons

[Deborah Hoffman]

I was also going to say that I had heard this word in other than an antiquated, stuffy context. To me it had a "clever" or "ironic" tone witih an implication that the speaker wished to avoid sounding too flip by saying "Brits."
   
  >Date:    Tue, 22 Jan 2008 08:32:42 -0700
>From:    Don Livingston <temp0001 at SHININGHAPPYPEOPLE.NET>
>Subject: Britons
>
>> We are British, not Britons. 
>I believe American media language is undergoing a shift in regard to
 >this word.  Several years ago I was surprised to hear hear British
 >citizens referred to as "Britons" on National Public Radio.  It struck me as
 >a poor choice because it could be easily confused with "Bretons," but
 >nowadays I notice it more and more often.  It's much briefer to write
 >"three Britons" than "three British citizens."  The media's need for
 >brevity will doubtless more and more favor the former over the latter.


Deborah Hoffman, Esq.
Russian > English Legal and Literary Translations

A man ceases to be a beginner in any given science and becomes a master in that science when he has learned that he is going to be a beginner all his life. -- R. G. Collingwood

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