Apr 25

Rant : Rule Britannia (or is that Great Britain, or the UK, or the British Isles ...   Posted by sharps, tagged with

*

Here's a converstation I have *way* too often, so I thought I may as well document it online and in future direct interested parties here and save my breath. Here's how it goes :

Anon: "So Rich, where in [ Australia, New Zealand, South Africa ] are you from ?"

Rich: "Actually I'm English, I'm not from any part of [ Australia, New Zealand, South Africa ]"

Anon. "OK England, UK - that's near Britain right ? You don't sound anything like Sean Connery."

Rich: "Let me take those one at a time. Sean Connery is Scottish and therefore speaks a different kind of English than me; specifically English with a Scottish accent ..."

Anon: "but Scotland is *in* England right ?"

Rich: "... I was coming to that next. Scotland, England and Wales are countries that comprise "Great Britiain" which is essentially a big island off the North Western coast of Europe (in fact it is the largest island in Europe) plus some smaller groups of islands". The 'British Isles' is a bit of an anachronism - it consists of Great Britain, Ireland plus some other smaller islands - including the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man"

Anon: "Oh, you mean the UK right ?"

Rich : "Wrong. The UK (The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) is a formal state (or country) comprised of Great Britain (England, Scotland, Wales) and Northern Ireland. So - the UK is a real county, wheras Great Britain is just a collective name for some countries - it's confusing I know but that's history for you"

Anon: "OK, I get it (I think) - can you do an impression of Sean Connery ?"

Rich: "Not a good one ..."

----

*This flag is the St George's Cross - the national flag of England.

UK Britain England