ira

My Dear T,

>Perhaps I'm extreme ...<

I agree.

I do not understand what point it is that you are trying to make other than that you are irritated when other people use perfectly acceptable and understandable common expressions.

As for >You are totally, deliberately, stubbornly and rudely missing my point.<

I respectfully take exception to your remarks. If you cannot make yourself clear, ad hominem remarks do not make your murky posts any more limpid or enlightening.

SiobhanP

Are your serious??!!?? Paisley?? The man is completely bonkers and personally is more vocal and spouts the hatred equal to a Klan member. I am no supporter of the IRA but the hatred and ignorance that oozes out of him is apalling. It find it hard to believe many Catholics hold him up as a respectable man.

Many years ago a relative of mine interviewed him and there was a lot of intimidating things going on at the time with the Orange Lodges. They had to take the train because they were noting their licence plates previously. He said interviewing him was like talking to the devil. He is a journalist and must stay unbiased but this was his honest feeling.

I will never see unification in my lifetime and most people would not be happy if it did happen for many reasons. The NHS and many benefits are far better in the UK and most people would be unhappy to lose them as well as the reasons stated by Ann41 above.

Flanneruk she has every right to comment on the issues of her home which is NI. How many years does it take for a person to b allowed an opinion on the country they live and work in?

Tallulah

ira: <sigh> I was replying to luvlondon - in which the point is made in CONTEXT. I'm not trying to change global geography, just encourage clarity.

Jenner

Haven't read the other responses, but I would say that it IS part of Europe. Speaking in vague geographic terms, sure. However, people from the UK generally don't consider themselves as being "Europeans" - they call Europe "the continent", removing themselves from that category. My friend who lives outside London says, "Oh, you're going to live in Europe - how exciting!" Well, SHE lives there as far as I'm concerned, but the way she says it, she doesn't. Not in her mind.

I generally use the term UK... I have a Scottish friend who takes offense at anything else (and I think the problem with "British Isles" and "Great Britain" is pretty obvious if you are sensitive to anyone who is from Scotland, Wales or Northern Ireland). Just like I prefer the terms "North America" and "South America" to "America". I would be annoyed at people saying I am from "America" - because then it sounds like I'm "American", which I am not. It wouldn't be incorrect, though, would it, saying a Canadian (or Peruvian or Mexican) is from America. But it just doesn't sound right to me, or any one else from any country other than the US in North or South America. Similarly, the "British Isles" and "Great Britain" are not so politically correct.

At least that's how I've come to view it, from speaking with good friends from the "UK"!!

Now, luvlondon, it would probably bother me a bit, too. But I'd probably say, "Oh, LONDON! You'll love the UK!" or something subtle that the offending person might not even pick up on - but I'd feel better. I mean, nobody says, "I'm going to Australasia," do they? They are usually more specific. If someone tells me they are going to Europe I assume they are going to take in at least a few countries, some of which would be in continental Europe. But really I think it would be the same if someone was going to Paris or Rome or any one city or small region in Europe, but telling everyone they were going to "Europe"! Sure, they are, but seeing one city is not seeing Europe, is it?

Jen who is moving to The Netherlands and is trying to remember to say "The Netherlands" and not "Holland" because outside of the provinces of North and South Holland, some people take offence to the use of "Holland"!! *sigh*

m_kingdom2

Why don't you just ask where they are going specifically?

Of course London is in Europe, and is a part of the United Kingdom, it's fundamental geography, pulleez!

Patrick

I really laugh when people say that the UK is not part of "continental Europe". Huh? I suppose that Japan isn't part of Asia either? Maybe that's because I do hear a lot of Brits getting ready to "cross the channel" and saying "I'm going to the continent". But they shouldn't be saying "I'm going to Europe" either. They're just leaving out the part which says "I'm going to the REST of the continent".

Back to your original question if you are wrong to let it get you upset. The answer is yes you are wrong. The British Isles, UK, England, and whatever are all part of Europe and I can't imagine why it would upset someong to hear someone else say they are going to Europe when they visit those places.

Kate

Patrick, "The Continent" as a term has fallen into common usage to mean, simply, MAINLAND Europe, not Europe persay. I can't think of anyone who'd say "I'm going to the Continent" as a conscious method of excluding us from Europe!

Of COURSE we know we're in Europe. Where confusion and political sensitivities come in is when the term 'Europe' is spoken in reference to the European Union, a whole different ball game. So if a Brit (and no, it isn't culturally insensitive to call Welsh or Scottish people British - have't you ever noticed how we are referred to at the Olympics?) says they don't want to be 'in Europe', they don't mean they don't want to be part of a continent, just not part of a political alliance!

PalQ

If London or the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is not in Europe, where is it? Or does it's island status mean it's not. Thus Sicily, etc. are not in Europe. Reminds me of what one British newspaper once supposedly said after a dense fog had stopped ferry boats to France and thus ran the headline "Fog shuts down ferry service; Continent isolated" not exact words but the point that some Brits also disdain the european monniker.

lauralamb

A lot of British people seem to be a embarrassed by the Unionists in Northern Ireland. Most Unionists seem to be either just deeply trashy people or deranged religious maniacs. Most people in the UK wouldn't care a hoot if Ulster united with the rest of Ireland! It's just those pesky Unionists who won't shup up about it!!

ira

>"Fog shuts down ferry service; Continent isolated" not exact words but the point that some Brits also disdain the european monniker.<

Ummmmmm, isn't the point of that joke that the insular Brits are saying that it was the entire European Continent that was "isolated", rather than their small island(s)?

Robespierre

It's all very personal. Some Scots don't appreciate being termed "British," just as some Americans are offended by being called "Yanks."

That's too bad in both cases, because those wars have been over for a long time.

As for "American" - since the country between Canada and Mexico is officially titled "The United States of America," I think "America" is a perfectly acceptable shorthand. I don't know anyone on the five continents I've visited who thinks I might be from Ottawa or Montevideo when I say I'm "American."

PalQ

Q does Limey (sp) apply only to English or Scots and Welch as well?

jez

lauralamb: "Most people in the UK wouldn't care a hoot if Ulster united with the rest of Ireland! It's just those pesky Unionists who won't shup up about it!!"

This is fact? Have you carried out your own nationwide poll on the matter? Or could it be just your opinion?

Anyway, as to the subject of this thread, the UK is indeed part of Europe. According to the CIA (http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/...k/geos/uk.html) the UK is located as follows:

"Western Europe, islands including the northern one-sixth of the island of Ireland between the North Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, northwest of France"

And, if you don't believe the CIA (and given recent events, who could blame you?), the good old BBC can step in. Find the UK listed under - that's right! - Europe:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/country_profiles/default.stm