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TidBITS 
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Great Britain and the UK
![[henryoddie]](/webx/?30@@1)
henryoddie (apparently)
- 12:48pm Mar 29, 2007 PSTvia emailTo throw in my tuppence worth -
My encyclopedia [Hutchinson 1998] succinctly defines them thus:
'Great Britain - official name of from 1603 for England, Scotland,
and Wales, and the adjacent islands (except the Isle of Man and the
Channel Islands), when the English and Scottish crowns were united in
the person of James IV of Scotland, I of England. With Northern
Ireland it forms the United Kingdom.'
Note incidentally that the 'great' carries no connotation of
importance or power. It is simply a term of extension as in the
kinship terms such as 'great uncle' or 'great grandmother'.
Henry Oddie
gregh2223 (apparently)
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Mar 29, 2007 7:17 pm
(#1 Total: 3)
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| Posts: 18 |
Re: Great Britain and the UK
Just to keep things simple, let me rescind my earlier advice, which
has been soundly refuted by a couple people who ought to know (one
British and one American). What I said was true: Fowler does tell
us to use periods in abbreviations if the first and last letter don't
appear, and the Penguin Dictionary of Abbreviations, which is British, not American, does prescribe U.K. rather than
UK, with no periods. But I'm convinced that the two writers are correct -- that edition (1989) of the Dictionary
doesn't reflect current practice. I would just take the word of
the British gentleman on that point -- obviously educated native
speakers know their own usage -- but the American's recent post makes
it official. So clearly: UK, not U.K.
Regards,
Greg
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johnbaxterlists (apparently)
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Mar 30, 2007 11:07 am
(#2 Total: 3)
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Re: Great Britain and the UK
Let's see. I have two series of stamps readily at hand.
One (the wonderfully and appropriately ornate Lewis and Clark
Bicentennial stamp) says UNITED STATES POSTAGE.
The other (the Crops of the Americas sheet--which clearly does mean
to include North, South, and Central America using the plural
"Americas") says USA (no full stops, which is the way too many people
in the USA or U.S.A. drive).
The back of my ferry schedule says "Printed in the USA on recycled/
recyclable paper." (Hmmm...they print 1/3 more of the Spring
schedule than of the Winter one.)
(I remember the deputy post commander at Ft Huachuca (with whom I
shared student status at a U of A business law class taught Saturday
mornings on post) coming back from a week-long writing class off post
and proclaiming in the post Daily Bulletin "All orders, directives,
and regulations will be written in the present tense.")
--John
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JolinWarren (apparently)
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Mar 30, 2007 11:07 am
(#3 Total: 3)
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Re: Great Britain and the UK
At 12:48 on 29-03-2007, Henry ODDIE wrote:
> Note incidentally that the 'great' carries no connotation of
> importance or power. It is simply a term of extension as in the
> kinship terms such as 'great uncle' or 'great grandmother'.
Actually, I believe that the 'great' in 'Great Britain' is to
differentiate it from Brittany. In the past, there were strong
cultural connections between parts of Great Britain and Brittany,
hence the similar names. Brittany is a smaller land mass than the
island of Great Britain. So it's not a designation of importance or
power but refers to the relative size of the two 'Britains'.
I don't have a definitive source on any of this, it is just my understanding.
_________________
=> Jolin
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TidBITS TidBITS TidBITS Talk Great Britain and the UK
