[ferrierd@shaw.ca]

It may help to keep in mind that the name of the country is "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Island." This is of course too much of a mouthful to use in informal speech or writing, so most persons refer to the country as "the UK" or "Great Britain."

Citizens of the UK or Great Britain are called "British subjects." Hence, the correct adjective is "British." (Accepted slang terms: Brits, the Brits, a Brit.)

Some argue that the UK is an amalgam of separate units: Wales, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland; and it is better to speak of the Welch, the English, the Scots (a Scot, adj. Scottish, but never scotch, a type of whiskey), and the Irish. However, that idea leaves us without a non-specific term for citizens of the UK.