British Isles bad, Irish Sea good?

Your Superior

So, why do many Irish people have a problem with the term "British Isles"? It's the name of the archipelago. Funnily I've never heard of anyone in the U.K. or Ireland having a problem with the term "Irish Sea".

Why is this?

efb

We have a massive inferiority complex

strelok

efb wrote: »

We have a massive inferiority complex

is that what the bbc said? arseholes

efb

strelok wrote: »

is that what the bbc said? arseholes

I know, I read their site every day and watch their channels - how dare they link onto anything Irish!

jamesbere

Why can't we all just get along

Your Superior

efb wrote: »

I know, I read their site every day and watch their channels - how dare they link onto anything Irish!

I do think the BBC should be blocked from Ireland the way RTE is blocked in Britain. Should be license payers only.

nelly17

But they stole our potatoes

RayM

strelok wrote: »

is that what the bbc said? arseholes

Shower of bastards.

The Backwards Man

Your Superior wrote: »

I do think the BBC should be blocked from Ireland the way RTE is blocked in Britain. Should be license payers only.

Plenty of places in Ireland couldn't get RTE until Sky came along. We were reared by Moira Stewart and Carol Barnes.

gazzamc

Irish Sea sounds better, British Isles sounds like something in a supermarket.

Cienciano

efb wrote: »

We have a massive inferiority complex

"We"? Lots of people have zero problem with the term. I don't mind it at all.

efb

Cienciano wrote: »

"We"? Lots of people have zero problem with the term. I don't mind it at all.

Good man

seamus

Bit of a silly question, it's pretty obvious. "British Isles" makes the implication that the both islands are part of Britain.

"Irish Sea" doesn't really make any such implications. No more than the "English Channel" does anyway.

Your Superior

seamus wrote: »

Bit of a silly question, it's pretty obvious. "British Isles" makes the implication that the both islands are part of Britain.

"Irish Sea" doesn't really make any such implications. No more than the "English Channel" does anyway.

But the French call it La Manche. The British use the term Irish sea with no complaint or issue.

Junkyard Tom

You're Superior wrote: »

So, why do many Irish people have a problem with the term "British Isles"?

What's your problem with people who reject the term 'British Isles' due to its connotations?

In standard English usage, the toponym "the British Isles" refers to a European archipelago consisting of Great Britain, Ireland and adjacent islands. However, the word "British" is also an adjective and demonym referring to the United Kingdom. For this reason, the name British Isles is avoided in Irish English as such usage could be construed to imply continued territorial claims or political overlordship of the Republic of Ireland by the United Kingdom.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Isles_naming_dispute

Your Superior

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

What's your problem with people who reject the term due to its connotations?

That they are petty. It's a geographic term, just like Irish Sea is. Nobody in the U.K. has a problem with that.

Your Superior

Your Superior wrote: »

So, why do many Irish people have a problem with the term "British Isles"? It's the name of the archipelago.

You already know why.

Why do some people feign innocence over this question? Don't you understand that a long and difficult relationship with Britain makes the suggestion of natural union slightly irritable? Or that Ireland might not want to be designated with reference to Britain, but as equal entities?

The British Isles is a man-made term that many people consider inappropriate, including the Government of Ireland, who don't use it. But then, you already know this.

Dirty Dingus McGee

efb wrote: »

We have a massive inferiority complex

Yeah but its the people who think there is something wrong with people having an issue with the country being addressed as part of the British Isles who are the ones with the inferioroty complex.

rizzodun

Seeing as the brits keeping dumping tons of harmful waste (some of it radioactive) into the Irish Sea they don't want any connection with it anyways, the cheeky feckers...

pickarooney

Your Superior wrote: »

But the French call it La Manche. The British use the term Irish sea with no complaint or issue.

Probably because they consider Ireland as part of Britain so it's no more an issue to them than Irish people calling the bay beside Galway 'Galway Bay'.

The feckers!

The French call the islands Les Iles Brittaniques because they are all British islands, obviously.

Your Superior

rizzodun wrote: »

Seeing as the brits keeping dumping tons of harmful waste (some of it radioactive) into the Irish Sea they don't want any connection with it anyways, the cheeky feckers...

Yeah, and if only we could stop those ferries polluting the sea as they bring Irish football "fans" and abortion seeking young women who are denied a basic right in their homeland, we'd make a huge dent in the pollution level.

WesternZulu

Same reason a lot of British don't like being called European...it gives a sense of ownership.

I don't like the term 'The British Isles', it's politically charged and I can see why the Irish government refrains from using it.

Your Superior

WesternZulu wrote: »

Same reason a lot of British don't like being called European...it gives a sense of ownership.

I don't like the term 'The British Isles', it's politically charged and I can see why the Irish government refrains from using it.

So why don't the British have a problem with the Irish Sea? The problems have been both ways.

Also, Europe isn't a nation, so poor analogy.

Junkyard Tom

You're Superior wrote: »

That they are petty.

Au contraire. Those of you who wish to force us who reject the term to accept it are the ones who are petty.

It's a geographic term, just like Irish Sea is.

Nobody lives on the Irish sea and our territorial claim of it doesn't extend to the shores of Britain so your weak attempt at an analogy fails.

Nobody in the U.K. has a problem with that.

I don't care what people in the UK think.

seamus

Actually in all seriousness the reason why "Irish Sea" is fine is because the naming convention is already Anglo-centric. It's not the "sea belonging to Ireland", it's the "sea to get to Ireland". The British have no cultural complex about the Irish like we have in return. Many British people don't even realise that ROI isn't part of the UK.

The English channel is called the English channel because they hate the French and there's no way in hell they'd call it the "French channel". It's not a naming system based on logic, it's based on tradition. Just like the North sea; it's the location of the sea in relation to Britain.

The Backwards Man

If I was a British woman living in the Isle of Man I'd be hopping right about now.

WesternZulu

Your Superior wrote: »

So why don't the British have a problem with the Irish Sea? The problems have been both ways.

Also, Europe isn't a nation, so poor analogy.

I'd be willing to bet that they named it the Irish Sea as it was the sea in which Ireland was adjacent to...why would they have a problem with that?

Sea's the world over are named after countries they adjoin.

Your Superior

Your Superior wrote: »

So why don't the British have a problem with the Irish Sea? The problems have been both ways.

They haven't. Ireland has never occupied Britain, even in medieval times when raids were common. It has never made a claim of ownership over Britain.

Your Superior

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

Au contraire. Those of you who wish to force those of us who reject the term to accept it are the ones who are petty.



Nobody lives on the Irish sea and our territorial claim of it doesn't extend to the shores of Britain so your weak attempt at an analogy fails.



I don't care what people in the UK think.

So why should the people of Britain care what you think? British Isles it is, then.

darkpagandeath

WesternZulu wrote: »

I'd be willing to bet that they named it the Irish Sea as it was the sea in which Ireland was adjacent to...why would they have a problem with that?

Sea's the world over are named after countries they adjoin.

Wales and Scotland ?

Wright

Cienciano wrote: »

"We"? Lots of people have zero problem with the term. I don't mind it at all.

Referring to those that do have a problem, obviously, not those that don't...

... there is some serious lack in reading comprehension around here...

Duckworth_Luas

Your Superior wrote: »

So why don't the British have a problem with the Irish Sea? The problems have been both ways.

Also, Europe isn't a nation, so poor analogy.

The Irish Sea is the English language name for the body of water. It describes, from an English point of view, the crossing required to reach Ireland from Britain.

The Irish Language name for it is Muir Mannan, the Sea of Man, named after the Celtic god Manann Mac Lir.

Your Superior

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

The Irish Sea is the English language name for the body of water. It describes, from an English point of view, the crossing required to reach Ireland from Britain.

The Irish Language name for it is Muir Mannan, the Sea of Man, named after the Celtic god Manann Mac Lir.

Yes, and it is used so widely....

WesternZulu

darkpagandeath wrote: »

Wales and Scotland ?

'The Irish Sea' is an English name...I'd be willing to bet that it was named by the British if you have an issue with it.

Would Britain like if these islands were called 'The Irish Isles'...would they feck!

Harry Palmr

Christ didn't AH used to be like this all the time? Its like the Belfast Agreement never happened.

Your Superior

WesternZulu wrote: »

'The Irish Sea' is an English name...I'd be willing to bet that it was named by the British if you have an issue with it.

Would Britain like if these islands were called 'The Irish Isles'...would they feck!

Yeah, you see it wouldn't be standard to name the islands by the smaller of the two main ones. Ireland is smaller, you see?

Junkyard Tom

You're Superior wrote: »

So why should the people of Britain care what you think?

I'm sure they don't. I, like many others, reject the validity of the term if that sticks in yours or anyone else's craw that's your problem. Get over it.

British Isles it is, then.

No. Stop getting your knickers in a twist because many of us reject the term.

Duckworth_Luas

Your Superior wrote: »

Yes, and it is used so widely....

No it has gone out of fashion and usage, just like British Isles.

Your Superior

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

No it has gone out of fashion and usage, just like British Isles.

Only in Ireland. To the rest of the world it is the British Isles.

WesternZulu

Your Superior wrote: »

Yeah, you see it wouldn't be standard to name the islands by the smaller of the two main ones. Ireland is smaller, you see?

Would they like if it was called 'The French Isles' then since the two islands are floating off the coast of France?

I doubt it somehow!

Your Superior

WesternZulu wrote: »

Would they like if it was called 'The French Isles' then since the two islands are floating off the coast of France?

I doubt it somehow!

Since France is not an island, your comment makes no sense.

darkpagandeath

WesternZulu wrote: »

'The Irish Sea' is an English name...I'd be willing to bet that it was named by the British if you have an issue with it.

Would Britain like if these islands were called 'The Irish Isles'...would they feck!

I'm not Irish. Geographical terms don't tend to bother me in the slightest.

The Backwards Man

Harry Palmr wrote: »

Christ didn't AH used to be like this all the time? Its like the Belfast Agreement never happened.

It's trivial nonsense that only people with nothing better to do get worked about. If you were living in Biafra you'd know what worry was.

WesternZulu

Your Superior wrote: »

Since France is not an island, your comment makes no sense.

You could argue that the British Isles makes no sense either especially since the republic gained independence.

The fact that so many people don't like the term, and it isn't used by both governments, suggests that the term is well past its sell by date.

Duckworth_Luas

Your Superior wrote: »

Only in Ireland. To the rest of the world it is the British Isles.

I've never heard anyone from British North America or German South-West Africa use the term ever.

RayM

I hate it when people over on the mainland call it the 'British Isles'.

Your Superior

http://waterfordwhispersnews.com/2015/07/13/wwn-guide-to-overreacting-when-someone-thinks-ireland-is-part-of-the-uk/

Junkyard Tom

I wonder how the British would be with these islands being referred to as 'The European Archipelago' which would surely be more accurate seeing as European does not connote a distinct country or nation of people like British does.

osarusan

The Backwards Man wrote: »

the Isle of Man

It should really be called 'The Isle of Person'

SOCIAL JUSTICE WARRIORS, UNITE.

riffmongous

Duckworth_Luas wrote: »

I've never heard anyone from British North America or German South-West Africa use the term ever.

What about anyone from the Dutch East Indies?

darkpagandeath

Junkyard Tom wrote: »

I wonder how the British would be with these islands being referred to as 'The European Archipelago' which would surely be more accurate seeing as European does not connote a distinct country or nation of people like British does.

Would the British isles not have been around before Europe was ? Was it not Christendom