Re: What are the basic differences between British and American English?

Richard Herring wrote:
In message <486cc2dlmcgt28ph5nbtf9ap49asfu6cnv@xxxxxxx>, Mark <mark@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> writes
On Tue, 25 Jul 2006 13:55:09 +0100, Richard Herring <junk@[127.0.0.1]>
wrote:

Which parts of Britain are not in the U.K.?

Britain consititues the territories of the Britsh Crown.

Thank you for playing. "Britain" is a geographical entity. "Great
Britain" is a political one.

Other way round, surely!

Both ways, if you try hard enough.

As you say, we're technically the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 'Great Britain' has no
political sense as such.

Tell that to those who drafted the Act of Union 1707:

"That the two kingdoms of Scotland and England shall, upon the 1st day of May next ensuing the date hereof, and for ever after, be united into one kingdom by the name of Great Britain,... "

That's what it was *then*, and it was in the name only insofar as it was literally descriptive: the kingdom came to cover the full extent of the island of Great Britain. In 1801, after Ireland was annexed, the name of the kingdom changed because now it covered both islands: "the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland".
.

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