Apologies. This might not be the perfect community for the post.
The term British Isles is, of course, disputed by the Irish.
this post was submitted on 30 Jan 2024
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They had a signpost in the Atlantic saying “Irish Isles” for weeks before we noticed.
OK, looking at this I can now understand why it may not all make immediate sense to someone who didn't grow up here.
And in the US, there’s definitely a subset that believes England means Great Britain or even the United Kingdom.
Same folks that referred to the entire USSR as Russia, probs.
There are plenty of people in the US that refer to England as "London".
Using any country's capital as shorthand for its current government is a common form of metonymy to be fair!
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And there are plenty of people in russia who think everything that was ever USSR should be russia.
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This chart: "England, Scotland and Wales are in Great Britain"
Wight, the Scillies, Anglesey, Sheppy, Anglesey, the Shetlands, the Orkneys, the Hebrides, and thousands more: "Are we a joke to you?"
I think Sheppey is a joke to everyone including the people that have to live there.
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Aren't those all part of one of the other three? The orkneys and Hebrides are part of Scotland.
That's my point: they're all part of England/Scotland/Wales, but they aren't part of Great Britain.
I think if you are a part of those three then you are automatically part of GB
None of those are in Great Britain, because they are islands and therefore not part of the island of Great Britain.
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FYI "British Islands" isn't a specific name whereas all the others are
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British Isles is not the term the Irish use. Atlantic Archipelago or just the isles is proffered.
Atlantic Archipelago
this is totally the Bahamas. Or Palm Beach condos.
Well they're just as much in the Atlantic as us so ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
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what about canada and australia?
show the entire commonwealth, and every place the UK has ever colonized?
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For a moment, I thought, this comment was in response to the Europe map someone else posted. There the answer would have been easy, of course: Eurovision. 🙃
The Scots wouldn't agree with this. I've spent a lot of time there.
The Shetlands, Orkneys, Harris and the rest of the Hebrides aren't even mentioned. Haha
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The words that ultimately gave us “Britain” have been in use for about 2,000 years, give or take a century or two. Politically and culturally a tremendous lot has happened in the meantime. Which is probably why we’re left with this almost indecipherable mine field.
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they call the state ROI (republic of ireland) to distinguish between the island
This is a good way to distinguish the terms. I wonder if there is a good colour scheme to also indicate the nation states as district from the landmasses
I just call em all cunts, except for the irish those cunts are cool.
As a Englishman, I can't have you talking down on the Scots. They're the only ones left which are still decent
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Now if someone can tell me what exactly "Britain" is? People say it all the time, like this is the largest statue of a vulva in Britain. Just shorthand for Great Britain, or is it something else?
Just that - shorthand for Great Britain. Easier to use when you don't think it's so great, like if you live in the Republic of Ireland!
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Most people not from the UK will use "Britain" as an alternative word for "England".
It's like saying America to mean the United States. Technically America includes Canada and excludes Hawaii. But when people say America they actually mean US + Alaska and Hawaii but not Canada.
Why the hell is it so complicated
I though it was complicated here in Australia where our states/territories (idk the differencd) all can have some very different rules and stuff at least we have mostly clear borders
Why the hell is it so complicated
One hell of a complex and crazy history in a very tiny space over the last two thousand years.
Hell, you could just cleave off the last thousand as a reference and be done with that. Although that does leave out some juicy origin stories.
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Can someone do one for terminology? Is calling people British mainly socially acceptable? I imagine the exception is the Irish from Ireland, but those from northern Ireland may give that a pass?
I'd think calling Scot a Brit is like calling Peruvian an American. Technically true but kinda rude
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northern Ireland may give that a pass?
Never push a national identity onto someone from Northern Ireland. Because that's also a political Identity
In general British is a national identity. English/Scottish/Welsh would be a cultural identity.
You would call them what they say they are.
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