Anglo

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The term Anglo is used as a prefix to indicate a relation to the Angles, England or the English people, as in the phrases 'Anglo-Saxon', 'Anglo-American', 'Anglo-Celtic', and 'Anglo-Indian'. It is often used alone, somewhat loosely, to refer to a person or people of English ethnicity in North America, Australia and Southern Africa. It is also used, in non-English-speaking countries, to refer to someone from any English-speaking country.

Anglo is a Late Latin prefix used to denote "English-" in conjunction with another toponym or demonym. The word is derived from Anglia, the Latin name for England, and still the modern name of its southeastern portion. Anglia and England both mean "Land of the Angles", a Germanic people originating in the north German peninsula of Angeln.

Anglo is not a technical term.^{[citation needed]} There are linguistic problems with using the word as an adjective or noun on its own. For example, the 'o' in Anglo means 'and' (Anglo-Saxon means of Angle and Saxon origin), so there is only an apparent parallelism between, for example, "Latino" and "Anglo". However, a semantic change has taken place in many English-speaking regions, so that in informal usage the meanings listed below are valid.

1 Specialized usage
2 References
3 See also
4 External links

Specialized usage

Australia

Main article: Anglo-Celtic Australian

In Australia, "Anglo" is the abbreviation of Anglo-Celtic, which refers to the majority of Australians who are of British and/or Irish descent.^[1] By the time of the 2001 Census of Australia, 38% of Australians identified their ancestry as simply "Australian".^[2] Because of the history of British settlement of Australia and modern Australian culture — which have been dominated by English-speaking people from the British Isles — this is also generally assumed to mean Australians of predominantly British and/or Irish descent, and is included in the Anglo-Celtic grouping.

In contemporary Australian usage "Anglo" is often used to denote the dominant ethnic group in Australia, either neutrally or as a slur. The slur equivalent is generally "Skip" taken from the title character of the Skippy the Bush Kangaroo television series who, as a kangaroo, fit stereotypical mainstream concepts of Australia.

Canada

In Canada, and especially in Canadian French, the term anglophone is widely used to designate someone whose everyday language is English, as contrasted to francophone (someone whose everyday language is French) and allophones (those with a different mother tongue). In Quebec, the word refers to English-speaking Quebecers in both English and French. Anglo-Metis is also sometimes used to refer to a historical ethnic group.

Israel

Immigrants from English-speaking countries were referred to as Anglo-Saxonim, and now sometimes as simply Anglo.^[3]

Scotland

In Scotland the term Anglo-Scot, often shortened to "Anglo", is used to refer to people born in England with Scottish ancestry such as Rod Stewart and Sandy Lyle.

United States

In the United States, and particularly in the Southwest, Anglo, short for Anglo-American, is used to refer to non-Hispanic White Americans or non-Hispanic European Americans, most of whom speak the English language but are not necessarily of English descent. The term has been regularly used by mainstream media such as the Los Angeles Times. In the 2000 Census, 24.5 million Americans (8.7%) reported English ancestry.^[4] The figure is self-reported and is likely far higher in reality since partial English ancestry is common among Americans who, accordingly, tend to emphasize the more distinctive aspects of their heritage to census takers^{[citation needed]}.

Anglo can simply refer to English-speaking population or media. The term is also used as a technically incorrect synonym for "White". Non-hispanic Whites constitute 66% of the total population. Also, Anglo is usually found in contrast with Jewish, even though most non-Anglo people do not see this contrast.^{[citation needed]}

Most non-Hispanics in the United States who speak English but are not of English ancestry generally do not identify themselves as "Anglo" and some of them find the term offensive. For instance, some Cajuns in south Louisiana use the term to refer to area whites who do not have Francophone backgrounds. Irish Americans, the second largest ethnic goup in the United States following German-Americans, also often take umbrage at being called "Anglo."^[5] Additionally, other white ethnic groups who do not identify as having English ancestry such as Italian Americans, Danish Americans, Greek Americans, Jewish Americans, Polish Americans, and Middle Eastern Americans tend not to identify themselves as Anglo. Americans of English descent may also be offended at being labeled "Anglo" (as opposed to Anglo-American or Anglo-Saxon).

Southern Africa

Main article: Anglo-African

In South Africa and Africa in general(and other former British colonies with sizable white English speaking British communities, including Namibia, Botswana, Zimbabwe and Kenya) people are referred to as Anglo-South African, short for Anglo Saxon-South Africans. This is a racial group, opposed to an Afrikaner, who is of person Dutch descent. The term "Anglo" is more heavily used in South Africa than other former British colonies with sizable immigrant populations because of apartheid and the importance placed on what racial group a person was but in, therefore Anglo is used to describe a white english speaking south african with british heritage.