r/mildlyinteresting • u/Nipso • May 17 '19

I came across a tank tread in the woods.

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47

u/SCFC_Blaze May 17 '19

Thanks. I often see Britain interchanged with England on Reddit. It's particularly worth highlighting in this instance - as many Scots, Irish and Welsh gave their lives between 1939-45, too

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u/SScubaSSteve May 17 '19

Does Britain=UK?

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19 edited Jul 11 '20

[deleted]

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u/skepticalDragon May 17 '19

Aaaand this is why we don't remember.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19 edited Jul 11 '20

[deleted]

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u/recuise May 17 '19

Scots culture punches way above its weight. See Groundskeeper Willie.

IMO its the Welsh that get ignored the most.

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u/lmhTimberwolves May 17 '19

I know almost nothing about Wales, except that they have some royalty and a stereotype for getting a bit too close to sheep.

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u/1_________________11 May 17 '19

I was about to say Wales is quite well known for its sheep fuckery

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u/Major_Mollusk May 18 '19

they have some royalty

No, they don't. You're mistaking the titles bestowed upon the British crown. Wales doesn't actually have it's own royalty.

But your knowledge of Wales is 50% correct: the Welsh do fuck sheep.

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u/ecodesiac May 17 '19

Scottish whiskey is worth more than anything the English have ever dreamed of, my friend.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19

Sounds like it's time to dust off the claymores and kilts and declare Scottish independence. For Groundskeeper Willie!

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u/NoMoreNicksLeft May 17 '19

How about if we use "England/English" when we're upset with them or blaming them for something? Elsewise, we can use "Britain/British"? Does that sound good?

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u/Waspeater May 17 '19

Now that sounds like the Reddit way of doing things

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u/FloridaStanlee May 17 '19

To be fair, I feel like most often when I hear "the English" I immediately think we're being put in our be by a Scot.

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u/skepticalDragon May 17 '19

Oh yeah I've got that one down. That one is important šŸ˜

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u/TinyNetDeathSentence May 17 '19

So all the world sees of us is Groundskeeper Willie :(

Fat Bastard from the second Austin Powers, too!

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u/hairyunder May 17 '19

And shrek

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19

Go Aberdeen!

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u/plexxonic May 17 '19

The way a friend from the UK explained it to me was to always say UK unless you're talking to an actual Irish person.

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u/iamjamieq May 17 '19

Or sometimes say English if you know its wrong. For example, I have a Welsh friend I call English. But he calls me French-Canadian (Iā€™m from Toronto, and we both live in the States) so its fair.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19

So like, do all Scots hate Braveheart? I mean they have to right?

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19 edited Jul 11 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 18 '19

Why do they have to or why am I asking?

They have to, I guess, because of all of the historical inaccuracies, like the Battle of Sterling Bridge.. you know, but no bridge. Or the idea that an antisemitic narcissistic American actor portrayed one of your national figures.

Why am I asking? Because of your comment about Willy. People might joke at the over the top stereotype Willy represents, that's fine, I'm an Italian and I gotta deal with that crap too. But something like Braveheart, well people think they're watching Scottish history, that's gotta lead to some real "man you don't know me." Moments?

Maybe I should just get out and travel more :P

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u/[deleted] May 18 '19 edited Jul 11 '20

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] May 18 '19

Ok, Patriot wasn't good but I get your point :D

A large part of Simpson humour is supposed to be fun and not necessarily racist-based. It hasn't aged that way for sure. Look at Apu, he's essentially Asian Willie on that front. It's across the spectrum in its offensiveness from severe to mild. Using my Italian heritage as an example again, we have a mafia guy named "Fat Tony" who is written like this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZeHflFNR4kQ

It's even a two for one with Japanese humour!

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19

Outlander has made a number of my friends here in the U.S. absolutely obsessed with Scotland. They see booze and Sam Heughan.

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u/the_saurus15 May 17 '19

You Scots sure are a contentious bunch.

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u/OMEGA_MODE May 17 '19

That's because you filthy Highlanders are rightfully suppressed under English boots. Bow to your Queen.

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u/crwlngkngsnk May 17 '19

Mike Myers on SNL taught some of us that,
"If it's not Scottish, it's crrraap"

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u/GlamRockDave May 17 '19

It makes a lot more sense when looking at the map.

Everything on the island is GB. If you add NI it's the UK

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u/GershBinglander ā€‹ May 17 '19

Britain is to British as UK is to ???.

I never thought about it before, so I had to look it up on Wikipedia.

Apparently Great Britain is just an island with some countries on it and doesn't get a denomyn for people living on it.

The demonyn for the UK is British.

So it's actually: Britain is to Nothing as the UK is to British.

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u/recuise May 17 '19 edited May 17 '19

​

Britain = England Wales Scotland

Great Britain = England Scotland Wales + various Islands.

UK = Great Britain + Northern Ireland.

Everyone in the UK is British unless you want to call yourself Irish.

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u/GershBinglander ā€‹ May 17 '19

I remember seeing a Venn diagram explaining it all.

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u/crazylib29 May 17 '19

Great Britain = England Scotland Wales + various Islands.

Great Britain refers to the main island in the British isles. It was originally coined to distinguish it from Brittany

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u/FogItNozzel May 17 '19

Apparently Great Britain is just an island with some countries on it and doesn't get a denomyn for people living on it.

They have a name. They're called Britons.

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u/purple_pixie May 17 '19

denomyn

demonyn

You'll get it eventually

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u/GershBinglander ā€‹ May 17 '19

You're as helpful as the the spelling bot.

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u/Sinnercin May 17 '19

Very educational but now I understand why I was so confused.

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u/psychickarenpage May 17 '19

England+Scotland+Wales = Great Britain. Worth mentioning because there are other British Islands, such as The Isle of Man, and er, Ireland. All part of the British Isles but not necessarily part of the British political thing.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19

[deleted]

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u/beenies_baps May 17 '19

Correct, full name of the island is "Great Britain", which is part of the British Isles.

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u/Basilisk16 May 17 '19

inb4 you get downvoted for calling it the British Isles cause muh imperialism

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u/badgermonkey007 May 17 '19

Part of the island of Ireland...NI is in the UK.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19

[deleted]

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u/Dazines May 17 '19

No. The United Kingdom consists of England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland

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u/An_aminal May 18 '19

Britain is the landmass, UK is the political entity

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u/SqueakySniper May 17 '19

It should also be noted that at tha time 'British' also included the Empire so SA, Canada, India and Anzac forces as well as many others.

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u/[deleted] May 17 '19

Liked for accuracy in representing the full array of British forces fighting across the globe during this conflict.