A coworker haltingly started a conversation with me saying “You’re of British descent?…”

I felt a bit confused. Most folks who’ve heard me speak would say that I’m pretty obviously English. (Except Brits. They’d say I was pretty obviously American. That’s another story.)

But this coworker had known me for at least 15 years.

He was sorta right. A lot of my ancestors were British. But usually when it’s said that someone is of xxx descent, it’s implied that the person wasn’t born in xxx.

Given that usage, it’d be better to say that my kids were of British descent and that I was British.

I felt a need to clarify: “That’s accurate but I’m also British.” (I wasn’t gonna muddy the conversation further by bringing up my citizenship.)

Now it was my coworker’s turn to be a bit confused.