Is England a country? Of course it is ... except.
Look at the scan from my Philip's World Atlas and you will notice there is NO England, just a United Kingdom on another page. Not sure whether the PWA is the creme de la creme of map books, but on face value let us accept they probably know their onions. Countries, too.
Wikipedia elaborates. England is, in fact, a Constituent Country. A term which describes England, Scotland and Wales; three of the four principal parts of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Dunno why NI fails to get a guernsey. Guernsey: get it?
"What's the rumpus, then," you ask.
Well, for instance, you may -- I stress maayyyy, you never can tell -- be asked "Who won the men's hockey gold at the 1988 Olympic Games?" Were you to confidently answer "England" you may be un-gruntled to know that you'd be wrong. Great Britain won the gold at those Olympics, not Eng-Ger-Land.
But try telling that to punters at trivia nights. As you might imagine, questions involving GB/UK/England come up on a regular basis. The trivia host tells me he does it just to bait the punters, but fuck me if the argument doesn't drag on ad nauseum.
That is all.
Simon Jones - Wales but plays for England.
Posted by: Burty | 02 September 2005 at 12:00
Norman Davies in The Isles comes to the conclusion (IIRC) that the likely end-product of political devolution is that the UK will eventually break into its constituent parts in the future, with England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland all as separate states within the EU. Then we'll all have to buy new atlases.
Posted by: carneagles | 02 September 2005 at 12:26
That's a point, Burtois. It used to be the England & Wales Cricket Board (or something like that), but now it's just the ECB. You remember when Gower flew that plane over Carreras? Was the guy in the plane with him Hugh Morris? Anyhoo, he was Welsh, too.
Carna. The dissolution of the Soviet Union (and the wider eastern block) was a dead-set boon for atlas makers.
I wonder if any Scotsman would be prepared to stand up and shout "I want to stay with England!"
Posted by: Tony.T | 02 September 2005 at 12:59
I like that the Faroe Islands get a gig in the atlas, and England, Scotland and Wales don't.
Posted by: Tony.T | 02 September 2005 at 13:13
Interesting. Do you know a good constituent researcher?
If the host were to ask Commonwealth Games related trivia, he may have to qualify the terms, or I'm on the side of the country punters.
Posted by: boynton | 02 September 2005 at 14:36
I know a researcher whose constituent parts are the sum of their whole. More or less.
I think he, either needs to qualify the question every time he asks it, but that often gives away the answer. Or he stands on his digs and says "Bugger England! England is wrong. The answer is United Kingdom."
Posted by: Tony.T | 02 September 2005 at 14:59
Indeed- either he stands on his digs or digs himself deeper into trivia no man's land's end.
Posted by: boynton | 02 September 2005 at 15:08
I dig that pun.
Posted by: Tony.T | 02 September 2005 at 15:14
Can you dig IITTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!?
Posted by: DJ | 02 September 2005 at 15:24
Yes. Yes I can. I dig it ... dug it.
Posted by: Tony.T | 02 September 2005 at 15:39
Reminds me of the Young Ones:
Woman (to Neil digging a grave): Do you dig graves?
Neil: Yeah, I think they're really cool
Posted by: Mr Z | 02 September 2005 at 15:52
Wasn't "bugger England" the last words of King George V?
Posted by: carneagles | 02 September 2005 at 15:59
No it was "Bugger Bognois"
Posted by: Scott Wickstein | 02 September 2005 at 16:19
I thought it was "Bugger Bognor" (and having been on holiday to Bognor I can understand his sentiments).
Posted by: John R | 02 September 2005 at 22:00
And if countries that are part of a greater union don't count then what's going to happen when the EU really kicks off? The atlas will die in the arse.
Posted by: Adam 1.0 | 02 September 2005 at 22:09
There is faeces on the walls, there is faeces all over the place.
Posted by: Big Ramifications | 03 September 2005 at 00:10
Of course England isn't a country. Hasn't been for 8 centuries now.
Posted by: John | 03 September 2005 at 00:43
What about the ashes ? Great Britain got a hold of them at the moment. And what's so great about it ? Their Empire consists of some lonely little Island in the South Pacific. And they nearly lost that.
Posted by: Brett Pee | 03 September 2005 at 02:55
I'd like Bognor. I'm a big fan of holiday "hot spots" that are famous because they are horrible.
Posted by: Tony.T | 03 September 2005 at 23:23
"We pee on the floor. We are like animals," said Taffany Smith
Taffany is a good name for a dog. A silky terrier, probably.
Woof.
Posted by: Tony.T | 03 September 2005 at 23:25
It's quite simple. Great Britain is the funny shaped big bit (England, Wales, Scotland). The UK is the funny shaped bit plus a bit of the other funny shaped bit (Northern Ireland). Plus a few other crap places (Shetlands etc).
England, NI, Scotland and Wales have kept their separation in the sporting world (FIFA etc) because that way there are four votes instead of one. And despite the miserable Welsh, violent Scots, and confused Ulstermen (yes I know there is a difference between Ulster and NI and its not all men there so fuck off) despising us show much, we all vote the same way when it comes to hosting big events and rule changes.
Me? I'd float Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland off back to their mud huts. And no Jocko, the North Sea Oil is ours.
But what do I care now? I'm Australian now and I don't have do deal with this kind of crap again unless we absorb NZ or the Tazzies get antsy.
Posted by: flute | 09 September 2005 at 14:56
Aussie. Aussie. Aussie. Flute. Flute. Flute.
Posted by: Tony.T | 09 September 2005 at 15:13