[via this discussion on MetaFilter] Perhaps the diagram to the left — The Great British Venn Diagram — will finally end the confusion between the terms “British Isles”, “United Kingdom” and “Great Britain” once and for all.
Jan
21
2006
[via this discussion on MetaFilter] Perhaps the diagram to the left — The Great British Venn Diagram — will finally end the confusion between the terms “British Isles”, “United Kingdom” and “Great Britain” once and for all.
4 Comments
From the wikipedia article on the subject, which is consistent with the feelings of my fellow Irish, and ought to be respected:
The term British Isles is no longer used in Irish state documents, has been abandoned in schoolbooks in the Republic of Ireland and is being phased out of textbooks.
Similarly, “Ireland” might well mean only the Republic in some contexts. And what about the Isle of Man?
I think we should call Great Britain part of the Irish Isles for a while, just to be fair.
Not to beat a dead horse, but calling Ireland part of the British Isles is like calling the Philippines part of the “Japanese Isles,” since Japan occupied them and all that.