Englishman

English

An Englishman

Etymology

From Middle English Englishman, Inglishman, from Old English Englisċman, Englisċmon, corresponding to English + -man. Compare Old Norse Englismaðr (Englishman).

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /ˈɪŋ.(ɡ)lɪʃ.mən/

Noun

Englishman (plural Englishmen)

  1. A male native or inhabitant of England; a man who is English by birth, descent, or naturalisation. [from 7th c.]
    • c. 1541, The Chronicle of Calais, London 1846:
      the Ynglishe men had great vyctorye, for there was taken and slayne a greate nombar, and there was slayne the lorde Morley and Englishe man.
    • 1931, Noel Coward, "Mad Dogs and Englishmen":
      In Bangkok at twelve o'clock they foam at the mouth and run, / But mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun.
    • 2003, Richard Schickel, "Sweet Agonies of Affection", Time, 3 Nov 2003:
      He has his dark -- well, darkish -- side under control. Which is to say that he is an Englishman, well practiced in masking pain and absurdity and descents into sheer goofiness with mannerly behavior, sly irony and stiff upper lips.
    • 2014, John Oliver, “Scottish Independence”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 17, written by Tim Carvell; Josh Gondelman; Dan Gurewitch; Jeff Maurer; Ben Silva; Will Tracy; Jill Twiss; Seena Vali; Julie Weiner, HBO, Warner Bros. Television:
      Yea, but that’s not really a surprise, is it? She famously wrote a book where a redhead plays second fiddle to a magical Englishman. “Come along, Ron, come along. I shall have all the powers, and your brothers can die fighting my war. Come along.”
    • 2014 September 14, John Oliver, “Scottish Independence”, in Last Week Tonight with John Oliver, season 1, episode 17, HBO:
      Also, for their national flower, the Scots chose a thistle. That is a plant made of tiny knives and a throwing star. “The only flower I like is a flower that can pierce an Englishman’s throat!”.
  2. (Britain) The grey partridge (in opposition to the Frenchman, ie the red-legged partridge).
  3. (Quebec, dated, ethnic slur) a Canadian of British descent and/or whose first language is English (as opposed to French-descended, French-speaking Canadians).
    • 2017, David Bélanger, Béatrice G. Martineau, and Charles Grenier, “Kona”, in Kona, Canada: Parabole:
      ... others, an aging Englishman who would do anything to further his fortune ...
  4. (South Africa, dated, ethnic slur) a South African of British descent, and/or whose first language is English (as opposed to Afrikaans-speaking Afrikaner South Africans).
    • 2008, Christopher-Lee dos Santos, At thy Call, Dino Pappas and Ksenija Micic:
      Fucking above your head Englishman!

Coordinate terms

Translations

This article is issued from Wiktionary. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.