Terminology Of The British Isles

27 comments
  1. My question is what is “Britain”? People refer to Britain all the time. What’s the difference between Great Britain and plain old regular Britain?

  2. >The 2nd-century Alexandrian Greek writer Ptolemy, one of the most important geographers, mathematicians and astronomers in the ancient world, refers to Ireland in two of his works. In the astronomical treatise known as the Almagest he gives the latitudes of an island he calls Mikra Brettania (Μικρὰ Βρεττανία) or “Little Britain” (the south of the island at 58 degrees, the north at 61 degrees).

    >Greco-Egyptian Claudius Ptolemy referred to the larger island as great Britain (μεγάλη Βρεττανία megale Brettania) and to Ireland as little Britain (μικρὰ Βρεττανία mikra Brettania) in his work Almagest (147–148 AD).

    The Great vs. Little Britain/British Isles terminology predates the Anglo Saxons by hundreds of years. Of course, the complicated history since then means that the term is politically charged but it doesn’t mean that people who use it are being inherently political. Especially because there are people in Ireland (the island) who consider themselves British.

  3. There’s also Great Britain the island instead of Great Britain for England, Wales and Scotland including Wight, Anglesey, Orkney etc.

  4. Because of the messy terminology, you need to remember not to go all “well, actually…” when someone makes what you perceive as a mistake. Unless you’re negotiating a treaty, let it slide.

  5. You can tell the one who made this map was English because they ignored Scotland and Wales.

  6. British Isles really should be retired as a term.

    Forget the jokes about salty Irish, the memes etc, but the word is just factually incorrect.

    Isles means the grouping of Islands, and then labels them British. They aren’t. If you are going to use history as a precedent, because at one point they were all under British control, then I suggest we call them Celtic Isles, the true historical precedent!

    It’s not gonna ruin my day or annoy me that the word still exists, and I can tell you 99% of Irish don’t give a flying fuck either. But it is a silly name!

  7. It doesn’t help the map definitions but Ireland or Eire is the formal name not the Republic of Ireland. And the British Isles includes all the historically british or irish islands around the British and Irish irelands not just the 4 UK countries and Eire. The only reason this is relevant (apart from brexiters winding up the Irish) is tax laws and citizenship.

    Eire is sovereign and makes its own laws and foreign policy of course but the other isles are part of the wider UK federation in some form or another.

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