[Leica] OT: What about England

[pdzwig at summaventures.com (Peter Dzwig)]

Peter Dzwig wrote:

> Adam Bridge wrote:
> 
>> I was listening to the news today and I heard a reporter sign off from
>> London, England.
>>
>> Someplace along the line I was bashed pretty hard (not here) about there
>> being a United Kingdom but that England wasn't precisely a place. So I've
>> always used U.K.
>>
>> What's "correct" and what's general usage. And does it really matter?
>>
>> I'm curious and wanted to know.
>>
>> An aside: Has anyone tried the McCallan Scotch that's aged in oak wine
>> barrels? It sure sounds mellow to me. Read about it in the Wall Street
>> Journal's article on Scotch that was out this weekend.
>>
>> Thanks!
>>
>> Adam
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
> Adam,
> 
> It's simple:
> 
> The United Kingdom is made up of England, Scotland, Wales and N. 
> Ireland; each of which except for Northern Ireland, which has the status 
> of "province", is legally a country in its own right and I am not going 
> to discuss further here. For example Scotland has its own legal system 
> and currency (same names different notes etc; very different laws in 
> some areas). Under conquest and the various Acts of Union etc, all 
> surrendered their powers to Westminster. Lately the constituents have 
> been granted limited autonomy, which has been seized upon by both Welsh 
> and Scots, causing conflict with Westminster. In addition various other 
> constituents such as the Channel Islands and the Isle of Man have their 
> own legal and tax systems which interact with the Enflish system in 
> various ways. Berwick-upon-Tweed is a completely different case with 
> until recently a seperate standing under international treaty and has 
> only recently made its peace with Russia after the Crimean War.
> 
> Great Britain is the same geographic entity. These days it tends to be 
> used to denote the complete political entity and provides, for example, 
> the generally excepted international designation, ie GB.
> 
> England is therefore VERY DEFINITELY a place. You have been wrongly 
> "bashed". Americans do have an annoying habit of failing to distinguish 
> between England and the UK/GB. People get very fed up about that for 
> both nationalistic reasons and because it betrays a lack of 
> comprehension of the geography of one of the US's oldest allies.
> 
> The British Isles is the geographical name for the archipelago off the 
> coast of the NW European mainland which includes the above plus Eire and 
> is rarely used these days except in geographical/meteorological contexts.
> 
> With apologies for any groups/islands/counties whose toes I may have 
> trodden on in the course of this rapid summary.
> 
> Hope that this helps.
> 
> Peter Dzwig
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> Leica Users Group.
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> 
> 
Before anyone asks I was deliberately eschewing United Kingdom of Great 
Britain 
and Northern Ireland, because:

(i) Irish politics means that Ulster (aka N. Ireland) is under direct rule 
from 
London in effect, at present.

(ii) If you listen to the pronouncements of British politicians and others 
the 
"...and Northern Ireland" bit seems to have been dropped recently (last five 
to 
ten years), thus modern usage appears to be changing (interesting isn't it?)

although the formal title remains and is strictly correct.

Peter