Apologies. This might not be the perfect community for the post.
The term British Isles is, of course, disputed by the Irish.
They had a signpost in the Atlantic saying “Irish Isles” for weeks before we noticed.
How about we collective reestablish the name “Albion”, then?
Treacherous Albion
I prefer Perfidious Albion
I’m an idiot
I think this chart is out of date
Interesting though as it shows what “hard Brexit” was. Not in the customs union, economic area or council; just yeeted all the way out.
The best part is the voting slip never defined any of it and, if taken literally, the UK would still be in the EEA.
We’re currently alone in two new zones called “Fucked around” and “Found out”.
Image in link:
eg Croatia is now in the EU and Eurozone (maybe Schengen area too).
Why does this feel like high school all over again
Because it is. You never graduated and you have a test right now that you didn’t study for. You’re also in your underwear.
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!
That’s one of my favorite nyms
And there are plenty of people in russia who think everything that was ever USSR should be russia.
It’s basically the same argument Argentina has about the Falkland Islands. When Argentina was part of the Spanish empire the Falkland Islands were part of the empire, not that the Spanish did anything with the islands. But at no time in history has Argentina existed as an independent country and has had ownership of the islands.
& vers vicea
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.
I’m trying to remember though, aren’t the Jersey, Guernsey, and Man somehow closer to Scotland or Wales status than say Sheppey or the Orkneys?
Yeah, the channel islands and the Isle of Man have more autonomy. Officially they are “self-governing British Crown Dependencies”.
Jersey and Guernsey have different VAT rates for instance. For years, play.com was based in Jersey solely so they wouldn’t have to pay VAT on most of the cheaper stuff they sold to the mainland.
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.
But they are all part of England, Scotland or Wales which, according to the diagram, are within Great Britain…
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)_/¯
Britannia and Hibernia. Brittano-Hibernian Islands? Atlantic archipelago seems vague as an outsider from neither Britain or Ireland.
FYI “British Islands” isn’t a specific name whereas all the others are
I’m not sure I follow. It looks as specific in the diagram as all the other names?
It’s not an actual term that is used though. “Great Britain” and “Ireland” are the names of the islands, “the United Kingdom” and “(the Republic of) Ireland” are the names of the sovereign states, “the British Isles” is (one) name for all the bits of land. “British Islands” is not an official term or one that anyone uses.
what about canada and australia?
show the entire commonwealth, and every place the UK has ever colonized?
well sorry idk the difference between commomweath and the map, isn’t that the point?
pretty much! The commonwealth is what the British empire became, most former British colonies are members, and King Charles is its head, though most member states are republics now, and don’t have him as their king. It’s a mostly-cerrmonial political group that occasionally does things like promote trade or diplomacy
Is India part of the commonwealth?
Yup, every British colony as of 1945 joined the commonwealth except Myanmar, and one called Aden that is now part of Yemen
TIL! Thank you dear sir!
I did not wake up this morning expecting to read someone claiming that Canada is an island.
But Hans Island is an island, and it’s ours! 🇩🇰
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
The North shall rise again
Well, Scots would often say “we’re not British but we are Scottish” since British usually means “from the UK” but I don’t think any of them would deny that most of Scotland is in Great Britain.
And Anglesey in Wales, and Wight in England, etc. Honestly I’m not a fan of this diagram.
Those are groups of northern islands, so they were excluded. Unlike Northern Ireland, which isn’t an island so it was included.
???
Huh, is that the old Jersey?
Yup. Though original is probably the better description.
The OJ
The new jersey is extra crispy
They prefer the term “Jersey Classic”
Ye Olde Jersey
and the Original Guernsey (not to be confused with the new one)
A quiet little tax haven full of polite stuffy old people. I’m thinking of visiting the new one, I assume it’s much the same?
Not at all.
they call the state ROI (republic of ireland) to distinguish between the island
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.
And it doesn’t even include Bretagne.
Tell me about it. Immigrants? From Britain? Taking over (culturally) a foreign land. You couldn’t make it up. I once witnessed some drunk Bretons speaking to some drunk Welsh in their respective languages… and “kind of” understanding each other.
I just stay ‘fuck it’ and call them all Celtoi.
That’s a nice word. I like to use Pritani but might mix it up a bit from now on.
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
So you’re saying they’re decent cunts?
Lol irish shit cunts
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
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!
Republic of Ireland
Which on the diagram is coterminous with “Ireland (state)”?
Exactly - that’s it’s proper name and how it’s distinguished from Northern Ireland since they share the land mass of Ireland
You did a great job on this though, OP. It’s difficult to explain to non-nationals with no idea of the history, so this is very helpful
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.
Most people not from the UK will use “Britain” as an alternative word for “England”.
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.
Why the hell is it so complicated
imperialism
