5 ms·
England is a country. The UK is a country. People in the UK would refer to England as a country and most people would actually be confused if you referred to t
by sd9 1mo ago
England is a country. The UK is a country.
People in the UK would refer to England as a country and most people would actually be confused if you referred to the UK as a country, even though it technically is. People in England don’t really think of the UK as anything other than “the UK”. People from Scotland, Wales, and Ireland have more nuanced takes.
- juntoalaluna 1mo agoNo one is confused if you can the UK a country, or if you call England, Wales, or Scotland a country. You might get a tedious person saying something like "actually, Wales is a principality".
- sd9 1mo agoMaybe not in isolation, but if you call the UK and England both countries in the same conversation you’re going to be met with confusion.
- Closi 1mo agoMaybe...? I mean not anyone I know but i'm in the UK to be fair. It's like if you put four boxes in a box, it's not too confusing that the outer box is still a box.
- leereeves 1mo agoI would be confused if someone called Wales a country. I thought Wales (unlike Scotland) was a region of England and had little autonomy. TIL.
- jjgreen 1mo agoSay that in Wales and the locals will stick a leek up your arse.
- arethuza 1mo agoI must admit I've never heard NI being called a country... wouldn't be the UK if there wasn't some horrible complication involved.
- walthamstow 1mo agoI'm English and I don't think England or Scotland or Wales are countries. People get confused because of football and rugby. They're nations. The country is the United Kingdom.
- Blazara 1mo agoEngland, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are constituent countries of the United Kingdom. The United Kingdom is also a country. You can disagree, but you're disagreeing with the government and the international community.
- walthamstow 1mo agoNot a problem, I disagree with the government all the time. Scotland has less sovereignty than US states, it's not a country.
- arethuza 1mo agoThe UK seems fairly relaxed about constituent parts leaving (Scotland was given a referendum, NI has option to leave if they want) - which I don't believe applies to US states?
- deleted 1mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 1mo ago[deleted]
- walthamstow 1mo agoThe Scottish referendum was gifted by the UK, as was its parliament which can theoretically be dissolved by the UK at any time. The NI thing is different, involving a peace treaty between the UK and Ireland.
- nephihaha 1mo agoRelaxed is not the word at all. Northern Ireland is a powderkeg and the UK government has known that for decades. The Scottish referendum did not use neutral international observers, and had extremely biased coverage by state media. The BBC itself even tried to stir up forms of violent unionism. (Look up the so called "passionate Highlander", a drunken loyalist type who talked about defending the union to the death "in the name of Jesus Christ".)