Happy Birthday America

[Uncle Al]

Happy Birthday America JPG 2023-07-04.jpg

247 years, and still going strong


Uncle Al

[Midas]

247 years.

Nowt but a sprog.

[FranTastic444]

As a friend of mine once opined, Americans think 400 years is a long time and Brits think 400 miles is a long distance

[Fred in Skirts]

Of course we Americans first decided that the English King was not to our liking and then we decided to call him out when he put a large tax on tea. He lost!!!
And now we are two countries separated by a large body of water and by a language that is the same but different.
SO TO ALL THE AMERICAN MEMBERS HERE ON THE CAFE,
HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

[Ray]

He was a British king, Fred, not an English one. King of all bits of what was to be the U.K.

Good to see that your education system is as strong as ever

Ray

[Fred in Skirts]

He was a British king, Fred, not an English one. King of all bits of what was to be the U.K.

Good to see that your education system is as strong as ever

Ray

Ray as an American I really do not worry about such as it being English or British, that I leave to you as English/British persons. As for our education system has since I attended school declined to a state where the American Government wants it to be so they can control the population.

So "God bless the English/British King" and some one please take our Prez and put him in a home for the retarded.

[Ray]

Fred, as a non-English Brit, I find it mildly offensive when people refer to the U.K. as England - or in your case, use English as a replacement for British.

You may not bother, but people like me do. So I’d be grateful if you would be considerate and mindful of others’ views.

Thanks.

[Modoc]

Fred, as a non-English Brit, I find it mildly offensive when people refer to the U.K. as England - or in your case, use English as a replacement for British.

You may not bother, but people like me do. So I’d be grateful if you would be considerate and mindful of others’ views.

Thanks.

I think it's more a matter of not knowing than anything else.
Here's something that may help.
https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/diff ... %20British.

[denimini]

I think it's more a matter of not knowing than anything else.
Here's something that may help.
https://www.babbel.com/en/magazine/diff ... %20British.

Thanks, an ounce of education is better than a kilogram of criticism, to put it in a mixed unit metaphor.

[Fred in Skirts]

So I guess I will just have to try to keep all of this in mind when I refer to the land of my ancestors.

Since we speak the same language but different then may I suggest we just agree to not worry about how we refer to how the world is made up .

Fred

[crfriend]

Since we speak the same language but different then may I suggest we just agree to not worry about how we refer to how the world is made up .

Fred, the UK -- like the USA -- is not a monolithic country, and by referring to it as "England" it's like you're saying that I, as a New Englander, am from Mississippi. Not only is it factually inaccurate, it can be downright insulting.

Just as the USA was originally a Union of the original 13 British colonies in the New World, the UK is comprised of four distinct countries: England, Wales, Scotland, and Ireland, in no particular order. (I'm not sure if Cornwall was ever independent!) Things change with time, and the UK is no exception, the Irish republicans having wrested independence from the UK quite a while ago whilst the Unionists (there's that word again) held control of Northern Ireland. This, of course, let to the infamous "Troubles" which, hopefully, are behind us.

The entirely delightful term "Blighty" refers (fondly) to the UK.

Americans always gloss this, unfortunately, but just as the UK is a Union of things, the USA was not always a Union as evidenced by the bloodbath that took place in the 1860s. If only the European military commands had heeded the lessons taught by that fiasco, the world might be a vastly different place today than it is.

[pelmut]

[...] (I'm not sure if Cornwall was ever independent!)

Cornwall is exceedingly independent in a subversive way.  Whilst paying lip service to the laws of England (and welcoming the paying English tourists during the Summer), the Cornish lead different lives during the rest of the year and interpret the English laws, which they see as foreign, in their own way.

[Kirbstone]

I have progeny/descendants living near Plymouth, Devon. Looking down from the Maristow Estate at the bottom of Dartmoor, both Tamar bridges are clearly in view. West of the Tamar it's Cornwall and it strikes me that if you severed both those bridges, one road, the other rail, then Cornwall would drift away. Independence.

Cousins of mine who farmed in Cornwall on Bodmin Moor for a lifetime recently sold up and moved in retirement to Tavistock (in Devon) I reckon they got out in time. [Thread Drift]

Tom

[Ozdelights]

So is it similar to this thread USA v America (continent) which includes Canada, Mexico, etc?

[Coder]

So is it similar to this thread USA v America (continent) which includes Canada, Mexico, etc?

Wait, you mean there are other countries than the USA in North America ?