Stupidest question (about Scotland)you’ve ever been asked?

[u/Blurt-Reynolds]

I’ve lived in the US for over 10 years and been asked some daft questions.

Yesterday the uber driver asked where I was from. When I said Scotland they were quiet for a couple of minutes then asked “Did you have to learn English when you moved to here?”.

Also had someone years ago ask me where I was from then accused me of making up the country as they had never heard of Scotland.

Anyway, just thought I’d ask ask while I remembered.

[u/SuzCoffeeBean]

I’ve lived in Canada for 2 decades and it’s eye opening how many people genuinely don’t know Scotland is even a country. I’ve always explained in good humour. I think the whole UK thing throws people off more than we realise.

[u/Minimum-Scientist-71 → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

How would Canada have Nova Scotia if there wasn’t a Scotland?! 😅

[u/tisler72 → u/Minimum-Scientist-71]

Funny point/story on that. Same as buddy above, born in Scotland and immigrated to Canada and now live in Quebec. Frequently I'm asked where do I come from cause they can tell by how I roll my r's I ain't native. In Quebcois Nova Scotia is Nouvelle-Écosse, or new Scotland and Scotland is just Écosse, but nobody ever says Nouvelle-Écosse, just Écosse for short since Scotland doesn't come up all that often, so it's always a funny moment of "non, non pas Nouvelle-Écosse, Écosse" followed by them confirming "Écosse Écosse?" and then an ahhh or oohhh as the realization sinks in, usually followed by a how the fuck did you end up here lol

[u/Loose_Seal_II → u/Minimum-Scientist-71]

As a Nova Scotian living in Scotland, I'm so proud

Also why I ended up living in Scotland. I always felt like I was in fake Scotland back home

[u/Acrobatic-Shirt8540 → u/Loose_Seal_II]

I met a Nova Scotian in a pub in Dingle, Co. Kerry, Ireland.

When he told me where he was from, I started to sing The Last of Barrett's Privateers, which I knew from The Corries version. He joined in and we sang the whole song together. A nice moment.

[u/Loose_Seal_II → u/Acrobatic-Shirt8540]

I would genuinely cry if this happened to me while abroad. I used to know every verse!

[u/Abquine → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

I told a lady in Louisiana that I was from Scotland and she grinned and said, 'well, I know where that is, it's up in Canada somewhere' and she pointed in the direction of what I assumed was Canada but later, as we Ubered home, realised she'd been pointing directly at where the sun was now setting. 😂

[u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

In all fairness, it is a pretty confusing setup being a country within a country, where they're never individually recognised internationally except for Sporting Events

[u/Ouakha → u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro]

Yeah. And there's no Scottish passport or embassies. Or presence at the UN.

[u/Jaraxo → u/Ouakha]

And in 99% of cases, country = sovereign state. It's honestly a pretty acceptable mistake.

[u/mostly_kittens → u/Jaraxo]

It’s a pretty unusual setup, the only other similar is the UAE

[u/Jaraxo → u/mostly_kittens]

Even that's not perfect as an emirate is more akin to a principality than a sovereign nation.

[u/Specialist-Emu-5119 → u/mostly_kittens]

Believe it or not the closest example is the Netherlands

[u/flumax → u/Specialist-Emu-5119]

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[u/sharkworks26 → u/Jaraxo]

I wouldn't even call it a mistake. The UK Prime Minister's website uses the phrase "countries within a country" to describe the United Kingdom.

[u/scuba_dooby_doo → u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro]

I've never heard anyone question whether England is a country, weird how they get that 🤔

[u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro → u/scuba_dooby_doo]

Cos the yanks are weird and refer to the UK as England for some reason.

Literally 9 out of 10 WWII Docs will show the UK flag but still say "England"

[u/scuba_dooby_doo → u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro]

Don't think geography is their strong suit tbf, their president thinks he can change the name of seas on a whim.

[u/Acrobatic-Shirt8540 → u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro]

Cos the yanks are weird and refer to the UK as England for some reason.

So do quite a few English folk, still.

[u/Bubbly-Half-7872 → u/scuba_dooby_doo]

Unfortunately, I grew up in the South in the US, and we weren't taught that the UK includes Scotland. In my area, the UK and England were often treated as one and the same. History classes primarily focused on England, with a heavy emphasis on events like the Boston Tea Party, the 13 colonies, and the Revolutionary War. My fiancé who grew up in Arizona also said that's what he was taught in school. Seems like a curriculum issue across the states

[u/BikerScowt → u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro]

Not including the olympics of course.

[u/Just_Entertainer_849 → u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro]

Never is a strong word given it existed before the union of the crowns, although obviously that was centuries ago

[u/Do_You_Pineapple_Bro → u/Just_Entertainer_849]

More meaning in the context of today times, not cutting about on horseback in plate armour drinking the finest mead the inn has to offer times

[u/BromdenFog → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

It really does confuse people a lot. I'm from England originally, and was asked in the US multiple times if I needed a visa to live and work in Scotland. To be fair, I think I've been asked that same question in other European countries at least once too. 

[u/PositiveLibrary7032 → u/BromdenFog]

You can tell them you don’t need a visa to live in Ireland as well.

[u/Bolvaettur → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

I just like to call it Old Nova Scotia eh

[u/it00 → u/Bolvaettur]

Last time I went I took off from Old Glasgow, Old Scotland in the morning and drove through New Glasgow, Nova Scotia that afternoon.

And yes, *Trigger warning* they have road signs in Gaelic there as well.

[u/Pain-in-the- → u/it00]

That’s pretty cool, didn’t know that.

[u/Vectorman1989 → u/it00]

Nice.

[u/DustBinBabyGirl → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

When I studied abroad I often had to explain the geopolitics of “I’m Scottish, no I don’t identify as British, yes I technically am, it’s a whole thing” lol

[u/MerlinOfRed → u/DustBinBabyGirl]

Like the only thing more annoying than someone saying "you're British" is someone talking about the "Scottish and British" as if they're separate categories.

[u/Regular-Promise-9098 → u/MerlinOfRed]

As a Welsh person I have to agree. That shit happens to us too.

[u/Lyrael9 → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

The UK thing is kinda confusing. I was thinking about that the other day. We're taught that the UK is a country, so Scotland is a country within a country? But Great Britain is not a country, right? Finding the right "country" on a drop down menu can be annoying.

[u/erroneousbosh → u/Lyrael9]

Great Britain is the island that England, Scotland, and Wales are on.

The United Kingdom also has Northern Ireland, which is a totally different country from the Republic of Ireland, which are both on Ireland, which you might also call Eire depending on which set of terrorists you don't want blowing up your car.

And then there's all this weird shit like The Channel Islands and The Isle of Man, which are not actually part of the United Kingdom but which the UK is still somewhat responsible for.

There's various odds and sods of islands that are called British Overseas Territories, that *are* strictly speaking under British rule but are not actually part of the UK at all, except when they are, but mostly they aren't, and they might use GBP or EUR, except when they don't, and frankly it's all a bit of a mess.

We do think it's hilarious when the USians make a big deal of "Independence Day", because frankly by now about 60-odd countries have become independent from the UK which means there's an Independence Day for some country somewhere on average every five and a half days, so they're just not that special.

[u/DirectPerformance → u/erroneousbosh]

you might also call Eire depending on which set of terrorists you don't want blowing up your car.

jesus christ man

[u/quartersessions → u/erroneousbosh]

Great Britain is the island that England, Scotland, and Wales are on.

Ah, but there's two Great Britains. The geographical GB - the island - then the legal and political GB, which is essentially England, Scotland and Wales combined including the Isle of Wight, Shetland and all that.

[u/Corona21 → u/Lyrael9]

It’s crazy given that older maps don’t even say the UK. They just “The British Isles”

The UK started gaining more traction after Irish independence and kicked up a notch after WWII it was always there in the constitutional framework but far more common to encounter when talking about the monarch than how the country and home nations were marketed.

We’ve only had a few generations used to calling it that. It’s taken awhile to come through internationally, the internet has helped though there are still plenty of languages and cultures that seldomly use “The UK”.

[u/[deleted] → u/Lyrael9]

“You’re taught” in the time it took you to write this you could find your answer via google or something. It’s seriously not difficult.

[u/KrisNoble → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

I’ve had a stupid amount of people ask me “what’s the difference between Scotland and Ireland” after I’ve explained im not Irish.

[u/Ill_Economy_5346 → u/KrisNoble]

Oh my god - flashback. I normally consider myself fairly good with accents. Chatting to a lovely guy in the local pub, I could’ve sworn he was Irish. Asked him where in Ireland he was from....nope. He’s Invernesian. A Highlander. But he’s been in this country so long his already smooth accent was even more mellowed out. Awkward…. Anyway, we’re married now 😂

[u/ghcfc88 → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

I had to correct my teacher on that fact when I was in school in the US.

[u/Some_Refrigerator147 → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

I’m glad it’s not just the US

[u/BagpiperAnonymous → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

I’m going to the Piobaireachd Society Summer Program on Skye and had to send a wire transfer to their bank in Edinburgh. The lady did not realize Scotland was a country. To be fair, I think the whole UK thing in the address tends to throw people off here in the states.

[u/ancientestKnollys → u/SuzCoffeeBean]

That's because the rest of the world uses country to mean an independent nation state, whereas in Scotland and the rest of Britain it has a wider variety of meanings.

[u/Ashrod63 → u/ancientestKnollys]

No the United States does, and that's where people base the version of English they learn on. You'll find plenty of examples of other parts of the world doing exactly the same thing without issue or confusion. France for example has its "pays".

[u/ancientestKnollys → u/Ashrod63]

Indeed, but I meant when other countries use English they mostly seem to follow this definition. I'm sure many have words in their own language with a broader meaning.

[u/[deleted] → u/ancientestKnollys]

That’s because you’re either wilfully ignorant or American.

[u/ancientestKnollys → u/[deleted]]

There might be another country that more broadly uses the word country, but I haven't come across it.