Yeah that happens to me too. And the maddening thing is, when you do know the guy!
PS. biggest untold secret about Ireland - we actually really really like the English (yes, I did say English, and not British). England is a very civilised country, and it's where I now live. Their sense of humour may have rubbed off on me a bit.
That's where I went wrong, since I remember from a different thread that you live in London and that's why you bought your awesome Anonymous instead of a car (still enthusiastically hoping for an update on that!), because of course only English people live in London, right.
A reasonable assumption! Yes I remember that
thread. I swapped my
car for a
Dupondius because there's
good buses and tubes in
London.
For the wider
Forum audience who may not understand the differences and wish to avoid minefields:
UK = the political entity of
England, Wales, Scotland, and a small residual fraction of
Ireland (those who live in that residual fraction can choose either UK or Irish nationality and passport)
Ireland = used interchangeably for both the entire island of
Ireland, and for the political entity which is the major
part of
Ireland (i.e. the independent country that uses the
euro, has a president etc.)
Irish = any person from the island of
Ireland, regardless of which entity (
north or south) they live in (but a small minority may consider themselves both Irish and British, see below*).
Eire = do not ever use (politically incorrect, despite it being written on the coin
types), it's a term historically used to describe
Ireland in a way to imply it's somehow less than a full country, and
comes from a time when
Ireland briefly
had Dominion status, akin to
Canada.
English = those UK citizens who live in or are from
England, and consider themselves English
British = those UK citizens who give allegiance to the UK political entity (many don't). This is also the usual self-described nationality of English people of non-English (e.g. Caribbean)
ethnic origins. It's also possible* for a person from northern
Ireland to describe themselves as both Irish (geographically) and British (allegiance). Oddly (who says it has to be logical?) that's perfectly politically correct.
British Isles = do not ever use (politically incorrect as it implies British sovereignty). Instead say "UK and
Ireland", or "British and Irish" if referring to nationality, or cultural similarities
Generally, it's just safest not to assume ... also, this is an Irishman's perspective. Those born in the UK may not even have thought over the sensitivities.