MadModder
The Breakroom => The Water Cooler => Topic started by: sparky961 on January 02, 2012, 08:24:17 PM
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Forgive my ignorance, but could someone give me a brief geography lesson and explain the difference between the United Kingdom and England? For that matter, where does Brittan fit in there?
I've always lumped them all into the same basket in my own head, but I'm sure that's like someone asking me if I know their cousin Joe from Canada.
-Sparky
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'The United Kingdom of Great Britain' comprises of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland - England being the best bit of course. Plus some smaller islands.
UK, United Kingdom, Britain and Great Britain essentially all mean the same thing.
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Hi,
Nope that is not correct.
Great Britain is an island that comprises of Scotland, England and Wales, and a load of little bits here and there.
United Kingdom refers to Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
Shame when a South African has put it right. :lol: :lol: :lol:
:beer:
DaveH
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Wow, it's no wonder I've been confused!
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:lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
Wow, it's no wonder I've been confused!
Don't feel bad I cheated and looked it up :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
:beer:
DaveH
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And just to add further to the confusion, the Isle of Man (which lies about half-way between the north of England and Northern Ireland) isn't part of the UK or of Great Britain. Nor are the Channel Islands, which are much closer to France than to Southern England.
Andy
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Correction!
The British Isles is the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland.
The United Kingdom is, as stated, England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland
England is the bit of the mainland up to the Scottish Border which is more or less the Cheviot Hills and the bit to the West that is Wales which is where they sing 'Fathers Pants will Fit Poor Willy, willy wear them , willy Hell' to the tune of Cym Rhondda.
Scotland is much more mysterious, it is a land of the confused. Nobody seems to know what a Sassenach is or that haggis is a French dish or that half the language is Norman French. They have just sung 'Auld Lang Syne' which is a traditional tune which their only poet- a Sassenach Freemason stole and it was all sung to a Geordie tune. To do this, they all dress up and wear checked clothes which they call tartan and this- as you all know- was invented by a little sex starved German lady.
There is one happy bit left. It is Berwick on Tweed which I have to admit is still at war with Germany.
And really that is it. No complications apart from the fact that it wasn't that long ago that the whole lot was connected to Europe-- and people could walk across.
The Germans finally translated the Ode to the Haggis as 'Great Fuhrer of the Sausage People' They would!
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... It is Berwick on Tweed which I have to admit is still at war with Germany.
And Berwick may still be at war with Russia too, though that proposition does depend on a rather pedantic comparison of the 1853 declaration of what became known as the Crimean War and the 1856 Treaty of Paris which ended it.
Andy
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By 'ek! No wonder I'm confused! :scratch:
I live somewhere near the middle of it all...... :doh:
David D
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Maybe this video will clear things up a bit.
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...And Berwick may still be at war with Russia too, though that proposition does depend on a rather pedantic comparison of the 1853 declaration of what became known as the Crimean War and the 1856 Treaty of Paris which ended it.
Andy
But that Russia no longer exists but what happened to Tsar Nicholas's Holzapffel Ornamental Turning Lathe?
Just another idle comment because it depends on which boundary line is drawn because I either live in England or Scotland.
'Fergus'- and that comes from another line - the Highland one which separates the Gaels from the Sassenachs
Oh and Big Ears is my immediate next door neighbour-- and he is a Welsh Prince whose mother was German- called Battenburg and his father a Greek Prince.
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Interesting but the man is talking to fast, it's very hard to try to understand :doh:
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Interesting but the man is talking to fast, it's very hard to try to understand :doh:
The problem is the accent, not the speed of speech :D
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Maybe the printed version (http://blog.cgpgrey.com/the-united-kingdom-great-britain-england-venn-diagram/) would be easier for you. He's also hard for me to understand.
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Maybe this video will clear things up a bit.
Sorry......
I gave up, after 1 min of babbling! :doh:
David D
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Uh.... ok. Well, I don't feel so bad about my understanding now.
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Hi sparky
Do'nt you mean "lack of understanding", if so join the club. I have lived here for all of my 71 years,visited all 10K corners of it ,and do'nt give a hoot about what they want to call any of it. :med: All these names are just there for the benefit of the politicians, so they know who is messing up which bit. :coffee: Nowadays we are all ruled by france and germany anyway so even they dont matter anymore. :thumbup: Wey-hey, that should put the cat amongst the pidgins eh? :) :)
Cheers Deko
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Hmmm.... Yes he did speak fast!
He has missed some bits but never mind.
Just for your information...
The English come from Germany, the Scots come from Northern Ireland and the Welsh are the British (more accurately Britons) as are the Cornish. You can thank the bloody Romans for that (What have they given us, apart from the aquaduct?)
After the Romans left we were invaded by the Germans: the Saxons (West and South), Angles (East) and Jutes (South East)
I am English because I was born and bred in East Anglia, the land of the Angles. After it became the land of the Angles/Angleland/England, the right hand side of the country became Danish, while the left half remained Saxon.
After a while more, the country was reunited by the Saxon King Alfed the Great...except there was still no 'England'. That did not come about until 955 when the 'King of Kings' (an Irish idea) became 'King of all the English'. We became Danish (and even Norwegian once which made us also Swedish as the same king ruled both countries) for a while again when we became part of the Scandinavian Empire. :clap:
We were then invaded again by the Normans...who were not French!!!!!! They were Danish too! They just spoke French. :scratch:
That gave us loads of land in that country where they speak in a way that nobody understands and eat snails.
They were jealous of us and wanted it back so we started warring with each other over our lands that they thought were theirs. :loco:
After a while the French became English when our Kings became kings of France. This eventually led to a war called the Hundred Years War. People will tell you that it lasted 116 years but, actually, hostilities with France were never ended until the Entente Cordiale of 1904. :lol:
We then became Welsh when the cosmopolitan king (for want of a better expression) was kicked out by a Welshman (whose grandfather had married the Queen of England and France after her King died just before the end of the Hundred Years War) so we were a bit French then too. :bang:
We then became Scottish for a while when a Welsh lady turned out not to be very good at having babies. That didn't suit us for long. We didn't have a King that we wanted so we became Dutch because we asked a Dutchman to be ours. That was very good for us. :ddb:
The trouble was that the last Dutch lady was not very good at having babies either so we asked a nice man (who didn't speak English...always a good get out when he tells you to do something you don't want to do) to be king so we became German again. :clap:
Eventually his family decided that being German was not the best thing so they changed themselves into English...and here we are! :lol:
Confused? Just call us Heinz...57 varieties! :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:
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Andy,
:lol:
Just run that by me again!
Are you sure that hostilities ceased with France in 1904? I'm not sure if they know that!
Cheers. :beer:
Phil.
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Nice done AndyB :clap:
I think your sense of humor comes from Germany, determination of the France and understanding come from Scandinavia.
:lol: :lol: :lol:
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haggis is a French dish
It is, of course, a well known fact that Haggises live on Scottish mountains (maybe they were introduced from France, I don't know). It's also a well known fact that Haggises have longer left legs than right, so they can run around the mountains while remaining upright. Of course, the problem is, they can only go clockwise, so catching a haggis is very easy - you just have to go anticlockwise (they fall over, see).
Other well-known Scottish "facts":
- All their food is deep-fried. Indeed, the latest wheeze is deep-fried butter (that's for real too, it was in the papers this last week - a lump of butter deep-fried in batter).
- The deep-fat fried Mars Bar was NOT invented in Scotland, although it is now the national dish.
- The reason Scots wear no underwear under their kilts was, historically, so they could wave their willies at the English just before doing battle. The English, being reduced to tears of laughter and sympathy, were attacked whilst distracted by the Scots. That's not to say that the Scots have sub-standard wedding tackle, but it's damn cold up there, and every man knows what the cold does to his meat & 2 veg...
There's probably many more, but I'm too tired to make them up...
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The Welsh are actually Irish that couldn't swim.. :coffee:
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Hi Andy,
We were then invaded again by the Normans...who were not French!!!!!!
Au contraire, mon ami. Speaking as a descendant of the Normans, the British isles were not invaded but liberated and then civilized :lol:
Ned
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Hi Ned,
Therein lies another tale...
I am also descended from the Norman invaders. I have a genealogy report that says that my surname, Belcher, is a corruption of de Bellecourt, which was the holdings in Normandy that they came from. Since then though, there has been an injection of real Saxon and real Celt blood. This all goes to make me true Northern Barbarian! :lol:
Sorry to say, I don't see the invasion (and it was, ask Harold) as civilising as it gave us feudalism. English Law at the time was much more egalitarian! Everybody's life had a value that would have to be paid to the family if you killed or maimed someone.
But there again, if you want a crushing of civilisation, blame Julius Caesar for defeating Vercingetorix which paved the way for us becoming Roman. There's a man who should have been strangled at birth!
Andy
PS We have fought every country on the planet except Portugal. We have the longest standing treaty in the world with them, it dates from 1373 and is still in force today.
And yes, we are still at war with France. Ask them about Agincourt... :lol:
They are taking us over by 5th column methods now though, buying up our water etc.
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The way I see it...
If it weren't for all that history stuff I'd not exist!
This philosophical view brought to you by a 6'2" 17st red haired Celtic blooded West Midlander! :lol:
Here's one for you to ponder... only slightly :offtopic:
Past lives and all that stuff that people think they were.... Who thinks it might be memories passed on through genetics? Stored in the recesses of the brain?
To back this up slightly... A spider knows from birth without being taught how to balloon (spin a web string and fly on the wind) and how to spin stunningly intricate and amazingly strong webs (look at how they are anchored) to catch food and how to subdue and prepare such food..... How? :scratch:
Similarly, I have the drive to "make stuff". Always have. My dad looks on gobsmacked and asks "how do I know how to do all this stuff"? I've had very little training (although I've learnt much in the last 5 years from an awesome forum :nrocks: :thumbup: )
Here's the intriguing part..... My Granddad was a toolmaker by trade. Was some of his skill passed on through my Mothers genes? :borg:
Did it cause me to pursue the knowledge of how things work?
Was this the direct cause of none of my interesting toys (eagle eyes, cylon, bigtrak....etc) making it through a whole year without seeing a screwdriver and pliers? :lol:
Just one of the many questions that often pop up during my average workday :smart:
Ralph.
(thinking about it, it's probably also the reason why when I hear strong bagpipes and drums I want to pick up a huge claymore and start swinging!? :loco: I really do love the sound of bagpipes :ddb: )
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Ralph,
You were doing so well and then you spoilt it all with your last sentence. :lol:
Ned
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But it's true Ned... ? Just one of those things, be it genereditary (yer it's a word..... Well it is now!) or not.
Bagpipes give me goose bumps and make me want to smack somebody :wack: :wack: And no.... Not the piper! :lol:
Ralph.
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That chap talking on the video mentioned the 'Commonwealth Realm', he did not name all the countries of the Commonwealth which is now known as the "Commonwealth of Nations" and includes countries such as India and Pakistan.
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That is what he missed but I didn't want to make too much of it.
Actually, there are more countries in the Commonwealth now than were part of the Empire.
It has become an alternative forum for smaller 'third world' (that is an anachronism these days as they are often more industrialised than we are!) to be heard rather than the UN where they tend to be ignored.
Andy
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:beer: Ralph, no wonder I am confused, my Father was born in Hampshire with french and English descendents, my Mother was born in Durham her descendants where Scots and Irish,
I was born in West Sussex. My Wife was born in Surrey with parents descendants from London France, my son was born in Hampshire so confusion reins in this house hold.
:doh: :scratch: :palm:
JD
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You do realise that if Alex Salmond gets his way all the above will have to be rewritten.
Dave. :coffee:
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Just a gentle reminder to all our members, politics and political discussions are a really quick way to get a thread locked/deleted. Let's not stray any further into political matters.
Tim
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As the "OP", frankly I wouldn't mind if the thread were obliterated.... it really didn't clarify things for me, though I do appreciate those who made a legitimate attempt.
:Doh:
-Sparky
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well i was conceived in a car and borne in a car so Du's that mean my country is a ford or am i just confused
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Sorry Sparky,
It is one of those cultural things that mean a lot to those of the culture, but are almost impossible to explain.
Simply;
British Isles is all of it, United Kingdom is most of it, Great Britain is a little bit less and England is one bit of it.
We have written history going back 2000 years and buildings and structures still standing that were built back then. We are several races and nations grouped together, not always in harmony, and we are proud of our individual heritages.
We are not alone in Europe to be like this.
Ask the people from Brittany what nationality they are, ask the Basques (no, not the lingerie!), ask the Flemish or the Friesians.
I could ask you the same question. I don't know where you come from, but I guess America; are you a Yank?
Do your people call themselves American, or do they say that they come from the United States? Or, do they say which state they come from? To us it is as confusing as you think we are.
Not having a go but trying to be helpful as the answers did not satisfy your curiosity.
Andy
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Andy,
Thanks for your clarification.
I do see your point, as I'm Canadian - not to be confused with American. :) My heritage is like many people in North America (and the world, for that matter). I'm a mix of quite a few different things, making me "just some average Canadian white guy".
I think the reason why this confuses me is because it's very easy for me to say "I'm from Ontario, Canada" and that nails me down to a province and country. I was thinking there might be a simple parallel in the UK (or whatever you want to call it "over there"). I guess I could go into which county and municipality that I live in, but that doesn't seem to matter much for most people here. I think we tend to associate with a nearest town/city rather than a geographical sub-region.
-Sparky
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No worries Sparky...are you French or English then... :lol:
Andy
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Hi I'm a Terrestrial. :beer: :lol:
Bernd
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Phone home Bernd.
br
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Hi I'm a Terrestrial. :beer: :lol:
Bernd
That is sign I don't hear often. Pisces is pretty usual tough.
I start evening as primate, but sometimes decend to quadruped - around last round that is-
PekkaNF
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Sparky961,
I might be wrong, but I suspect the folks from Quebec would see that a little differently.
And yes, over here, particularly in the North of England after a few beers in pub, it can matter a great deal where you come from. Right down to the part of town you were raised in.
Dave