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"United Kingdom" or "Great Britain" | ||
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 Language Learning Forum : Specific Languages |  | |
| Captain Haddock Diglot Senior Member Japan kanjicabinet.tumblr. Joined 6767 days ago 2282 posts - 2814 votes  Speaks: English*, Japanese Studies: French, Korean, Ancient Greek | Message 9 of 31 02 March 2010 at 8:21am | IP Logged | |||||
This diagram is a classic, and explains it nicely.
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| Volte Tetraglot Senior Member Switzerland Joined 6438 days ago 4474 posts - 6726 votes Speaks: English*, Esperanto, German, Italian Studies: French, Finnish, Mandarin, Japanese | Message 12 of 31 02 March 2010 at 11:10am | IP Logged | |||||
Or mixing up names for people from different parts of the States. I'm sure there are some southerners who wouldn't want to be called 'yankees', etc. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Elexi Senior Member United Kingdom Joined 5564 days ago 938 posts - 1840 votes Speaks: English* Studies: French, German, Latin | Message 13 of 31 02 March 2010 at 1:19pm | IP Logged | |||||
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I recently went to a conference on what was formerly called British history where the set of islands formerly called the British Isles were referred to as the North Atlantic Archipelago!
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| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6010 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 14 of 31 02 March 2010 at 2:47pm | IP Logged | |||||
I agree with you entirely, Peter. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6010 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 15 of 31 02 March 2010 at 2:56pm | IP Logged | |||||
Almost: referring to the British Isles is now politically incorrect, because British as an adjective in all other usages means "belonging or pertaining to Great Britain".* The "British Isles" geographically refers to the whole archipelago, but it leads to confusion among people in the US who take the modern meaning of British rather than the Classical one. The use of the term makes people think that Ireland is part of Britain, which is another name for England, like our friend Peter may well think. * Compare with the situation of the Catalan language, once spoken in Southern France, the Balearics and the east coast of Spain down as far as Benidorm. But since the establishment of the Autonomous Community of Catalunia, Catalan has become associated with that particular region. Valencians now speak Valencian and Balearic islanders now speak Balearic. People in the south of France mostly speak French, but the Andorrans are at least happy to continue calling their language Catalan. Historically correct general terms always become specific if they are used in an exclusive way long enough. 1 person has voted this message useful | ||||||
| Cainntear Pentaglot Senior Member Scotland linguafrankly.blogsp Joined 6010 days ago 4399 posts - 7687 votes Speaks: Lowland Scots, English*, French, Spanish, Scottish Gaelic Studies: Catalan, Italian, German, Irish, Welsh | Message 16 of 31 02 March 2010 at 3:01pm | IP Logged | |||||
No it doesn't! It doesn't touch on the distinction between the island of Great Britain and Great Britain as the former United Kingdom of Great Britain, formed after the Union of Parliaments, and later succeeded by the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, which finally became the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland after the Irish partition and independence. To my mind, using the term "British Isles" while not using "Great Britain" to refer to a single island is a bit inconsistent. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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