Another Question

[desoto_hia873]

A question for members of my flist who live across the pond: when should one refer to England, when Great Britain, and when the United Kingdom? Are there historical time frames for any or all of these? My cod are currently hanging out in the early 1800s and the author is using all three terms interchangeably.

Comments

[speakr2customrs.livejournal.com]

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. And there wan't any acceptable short form as far as treaties were concerned. However in common parlance it would have been described as 'a treaty with Britain' or 'a treaty with the British'. 'The UK' didn't really catch on as a descriptor until after WW2.

'English' was often used even when incorrect. Nelson's famous signal at Trafalgar was 'England expects every man to do his duty', but the Scots, Welsh, and Irish sailors didn't neglect their duty in protest (because they'd have been flogged if they had!). A lot of the fishing boats would have been Scottish, and 'British' would be the correct term, but for someone to refer to them all as 'English' wouldn't be at all surprising.