There aren't many things that seriously bug me, but ...
... many countries' tendency to use "England" and "Britain" synonymously is one of them (as you might have guessed from my post on the international response to the Olympics).
The following news item appeared on the TF1 website (they're not getting a link this time!) as breaking news at 10:07pm tonight, French time: A New-York, une cloche offerte par les Anglais après le 11 septembre 2001 a retenti en mémoire des victimes britanniques. A bell given by the English to New York after 9/11 rang in memory of the British victims.
Now I have to say that previously I'd never heard both terms being used in one sentence, which suggests it's a conscious decision to avoid repetition (which is very French) - if anything, though, it makes the mistake all the more apparent.
England is one of the four nations which make up Britain. It's frankly insulting to the other three to talk about them as if they were English.
Honestly, do I have to draw a Venn diagram?
The following news item appeared on the TF1 website (they're not getting a link this time!) as breaking news at 10:07pm tonight, French time: A New-York, une cloche offerte par les Anglais après le 11 septembre 2001 a retenti en mémoire des victimes britanniques. A bell given by the English to New York after 9/11 rang in memory of the British victims.
Now I have to say that previously I'd never heard both terms being used in one sentence, which suggests it's a conscious decision to avoid repetition (which is very French) - if anything, though, it makes the mistake all the more apparent.
England is one of the four nations which make up Britain. It's frankly insulting to the other three to talk about them as if they were English.
Honestly, do I have to draw a Venn diagram?
posted by Anthony at
21:47
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