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should the word Gre...
 

[Closed] should the word Great be removed from Great Britain ?

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It'll soon be the nation previously known as the United Kingdom and now comprising Little England and Wales; a new nation of Scotland and adjacent to the newly formed United Republic of Ireland.


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:04 pm
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... previously known as the United Kingdom and now comprising Little England and Wales; a new nation of Scotland and adjacent to the newly formed United Republic of Ireland.

Yes, use that in the passport I like it. 🤣 🤣 🤣


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:06 pm
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Literally nobody would ever introduce themselves as "great british" and pretty much nobody as "from great britain". There's some people who probably would, except they'll always answer "english" not "british" let alone "great british".


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:12 pm
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benv

That blog is a load of shite, full of contradictions and corrections.

Have you got a link that shows Ordnance Survey's description of the countries they map is wrong?


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:13 pm
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chewkw

Do you lot actually know where you are or which country or nation you live in?

Aye, some of us do.


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:14 pm
 Drac
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Nope – that is definitely wrong. UK includes northern ireland.

Well yes to be specifically accurate but Britain is England, Wales and Scotland.


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:21 pm
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Again,

Political definitions and geographical definitions differ.

There is no official definition of "Britain" in isolation. It's commonly used as a shorthand for "the United Kingdoms of Great Britain and Northern Ireland" - ie, the UK - and to be honest most people (outside of the non-English parts of the UK) use England / Britain / the UK / GB interchangeably anyway.

I've never heard anyone assert that "Britain" is England and Wales (excluding Scotland) outside of this thread and that one-liner from a blog post on a previous page. Citation needed.

I've spent hours explaining this to US friends over the years. I never thought I'd have to explain it to people who actually live here.


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:22 pm
 db
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But did you all know the 2 digit iso code for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is actually GB and not UK?

ISO 3166 in case you care (I have to due to work)


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:24 pm
 benv
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Have you got a link that shows Ordnance Survey’s description of the countries they map is wrong?

Not saying they are wrong, just their blog on the subject is shite. I don't know if they are right or wrong from reading it. Could have been the work experience kid that came up with it for all I know.


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:24 pm
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I have heard the "Great Britain" for the mainland and "Britain" for england and wales before but cannot find any sources

Northwind - I describe myself as British not English or Scottish. I do usually also say " but Scotland is my home"

Growing up in Glasgow in the 70s I had the idea of ever calling myself a Scot beaten out of me 🙂 - and I have a very English name and accent. However I do not consider myself English. So British it is. Same as I would never wear a kilt.

those attitudes have changed over the decades however and it is much more acceptable now for immigrants to refer to themselves as Scots and to wear a kilt


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:31 pm
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“Britain” for england and wales

Not a thing.


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:36 pm
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tjagain

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Northwind – I describe myself as British not English or Scottish. I do usually also say ” but Scotland is my home”

But not "great british".

I mean, you're alright.


 
Posted : 27/11/2019 11:50 pm
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Should be rebranded as Greaterborisshiteland.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 12:17 am
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Are we all happy to conceded that Great Britain didn't exist until 1707 and the Treaty of Union? That being the case, either Scotland or England withdrawing from that treaty would mean the end of Great Britain.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 12:22 am
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Depends scotroutes.

On one of the Wiki references is the romans describing Great Britain as the island we know as great britain today and little britain as the island of ireland

But then did the english not attempt to rename scotland as "north Britain"


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 12:24 am
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Are we all happy to conceded that Great Britain didn’t exist until 1707 and the Treaty of Union?

Was in use hundred of years earlier, scotroutes, but yes, describing England and Scotland.

There are earlier records of a similar name for an area of that didn’t include Scotland though.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 12:28 am
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I quite often say I'm Welsh these days rather from the UK.
It saves awkward conversations about how rediculous and racist the English are.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 12:31 am
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But did you all know the 2 digit iso code for the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is actually GB and not UK?

Yeah - it's one of the very rare instances where the ISO code differs from TLD domain codes (ie, we're www.blah.co.uk rather than www.blah.co.gb).

There's rather a [cool | dull] reason for this: the UK's academic network came up with a name resolution system way before DNS was really a thing and "UK" is what they settled on; essentially we were ahead of the standard. When JANET transitioned to TCP/IP proper it was always envisioned that we've migrate to .gb to fall in line with the rest of the non-US world but it never happened.

There may be other TLDs which depart from ISO standard but the only one I can think of off the top of my head is .su for the Soviet Union, which AFAIK still exists even though the USSR obviously doesn't. (USA aside which doesn't use country-specific TLDs.)


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 12:36 am
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Are we all happy to conceded that Great Britain didn’t exist until 1707 and the Treaty of Union?

Nonsense. It's existed since several thousand BC, long before anyone thought to give it names. (-:


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 12:40 am
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If it ain’t from Yorkshire it’s sh*te.

I have no more to say!


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 12:42 am
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Look to the translation into other languages for a clue

In German it is Groß Britannien - literally LARGE Britain.

It is certainly not Großartig Britannien or Wunderbar Britannien or any other superlative that implies a glorious heritage


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 12:53 am
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Interesting.

Perhaps someone should inform the Ordnance Survey they don't know what they're talking about.

I'm sure they'll welcome the erudite opinions of random STW posters. 🙂

Here's the link

https://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/blog/2011/08/whats-the-difference-between-uk-britain-and-british-isles/


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 1:10 am
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Oh God, he's in this thread, isn't he? Non-sequitur inbound.

<<KILLFILE>>

My understanding was that the titular "Great" was the established convention for the colloquial name for an archipelago - as we kind of are consisting of lots of islands (LOTS! I mean lots, count 'em).

I'm late to the party, aren't I?


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 1:11 am
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Do you lot actually know where you are or which country or nation you live in?

Yes. Next.

I quite often say I’m Welsh these days rather from the UK.
It saves awkward conversations about how rediculous and racist the English are.

Nothing at all like the Welsh, then...*
Oh, and that term, ‘racist’: has no real meaning at all, race is a convenient myth used to belittle or insult other ethnic groups.
*My partner grew up in North Wales, she learned Welsh to O-Level standard, and she can (un)happily go on at some length about how she was treated by the local Welsh.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 1:12 am
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Where does the Isle of Wight fit into all this?


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 1:22 am
 benv
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Where does the Isle of Wight fit into all this?

It's an English island.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 1:32 am
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And is in Great Britain ‘politically’, but is it ‘geographically’?


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 1:44 am
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Perhaps someone should inform the Ordnance Survey they don’t know what they’re talking about.

I'm not going to comment on the accuracy or lack thereof of the article, but an OS blogger is not the OS.

And is in Great Britain ‘politically’, but is it ‘geographically’?

    Yes. No. I'm sure I've covered this at least twice now.


     
Posted : 28/11/2019 1:51 am
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Nothing at all like the Welsh, then…*

Difference being, the English hate everyone, the Welsh (and Scottish and Irish) just hate the English. And I increasingly can't blame them.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 1:54 am
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<<KILLFILE>>

👆 ❌ 👫 👂 🔔 🗣️ 👅 🤣


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 1:57 am
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I’m sure I’ve covered this at least twice now.

You have. But, I don’t think that makes it definitive.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 2:01 am
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<<KILLFILE>>

I have rather wondered for a while now, how do people using the killfile routinely and consistently know when to reply recommending the killfile? Surely if you do then it's not really all that effective?


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 2:04 am
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You have. But, I don’t think that makes it definitive.

Of course, I'm just a random gobshite on the Internet. But if I'm wrong I'll cheerfully update my understanding if you have any canonical evidence to the contrary.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 2:09 am
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A lot of confusion could be avoided if we just renamed it Bigger Brittany


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 7:31 am
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Or people just understood the meaning of the word great.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 7:52 am
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How about a winsome yet endearing contraction:

‘Brian’ (the 51st State of the USA)?

‘Hey, look at the State of Brian...’


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 8:28 am
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We all the know the real answer for our future name… “Little Britain”.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 8:30 am
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I’m liking Brian


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 8:46 am
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We could go back to the two Roman regions around 2nd Century AD where it was Brittania Superior and Brittania Inferior.

Except we wouldn't need the Superior part.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 8:49 am
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Difference being, the English hate everyone, the Welsh (and Scottish and Irish) just hate the English. And I increasingly can’t blame them.

its bullshit like this that stirs up emotional hatred.  The “English” dont hate everyone so kindly back down from your generalisation on behalf of us English and stop feeding the trolls and far right.

The other sad thing about this thread is the general lack of national pride.  We may be in a tricky political situation and not covered ourselves in European glory recently, but there’s a lot to be proud of on this small Island we populate.  It’s about time we listened to the other nationalities And they way they carry their pride and be grateful for what what we have, promote our industrial, geographical and national treasures, be proud of The Lakes, the architecture, the fact that you could jump on an MTB and have a pint with the next man, the fact we are generally a kind hearted nation with a Gnusmas type spirit behind us.

This country is in general by no means the shower of shit some people make it out to be.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 9:29 am
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So glad you didn't include "sense of humour" in that list.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 9:38 am
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Kryton - right now I am ashamed to have a uk passport and if I could have a differnt one I would in a heartbeat.

disgusting racist government, PM and policies, disgusting lack of care for the poor, the old, this disabled.

Institutional bias and lies accepted as the truth, completely dysfunctional parliament

I loathe what the UK has become and have no pride in it whatsoever. I am ashamed to be considered british


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 9:44 am
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I quite often say I’m Welsh these days rather from the UK.
It saves awkward conversations about how rediculous and racist the English are.

I don't, most people have no idea what I'm talking about; unless I'm in a country that plays rugby.

but there’s a lot to be proud of on this small Island we populate

I used to share that idea a few years ago but I really can't see it any more. There are a lot of people doing their best to be good and do good things but they're being drowned out by a baying mob. So no, not much to be proud of. We might be less racist overall than some places, for example, but our trajectory is downwards and that is shameful in itself.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 9:45 am
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Boristan - the country formerly known as village England. It's going to be so amazing.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 9:52 am
 Drac
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Well this thread seems to be going as well as Ton hoped for.


 
Posted : 28/11/2019 9:55 am
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