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

*** T. Winter wrote:
In article <4imup8F4h9hbU1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> Harlan Messinger <hmessinger.removethis@xxxxxxxxxxx> writes:
> sanlosinst@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote:
...
> > Britain consititues the territories of the Britsh Crown. This includes
> > the UK (England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland) and all the
> > rest, which used to be called the Dependent Territories. I think that
> > they have now been renamed the Overseas Territories, which doesn't make
> > a lot of sense since many parts of the UK are separated from each other
> > by sea.
> > No. "Britain" is just an informal term. It's basically shorthand for > "Great Britain", which is the name of the island covered by England, > Scotland, and Wales, and which is used metonymically for "United > Kingdom".

It depends were you look. British dictionaries tell it is a synonym of
Great Britain. Merriam-Webster tells it is a synonym of either Great
Britain, or of the U.K. or of the commonwealth...

That's essentially what I said, except for the commonwealth part, and I don't believe that anybody, when using the term "Britain" intends to include all the disparate independent countries that belong to the Commonwealth.
.

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