Thistle Show ‘Em

The Library of Congress could have saved itself a heap of trouble by designating Scottish, English, and Welsh literature (I’m sure there’s Welsh literature) as simply “British”; calling it all “English” was boneheadedness of the first order. But it’s boneheadedness with a precedent; I’ve heard many educated Americans refer to the entirety of Great Britain (that’s England, Scotland, and Wales) as “England.”

The English, the Welsh, and the Scots are all properly “British,” and many people in Northern Ireland (the term “United Kingdom” refers to Great Britain and Northern Ireland) consider themselves to be British as well. Let’s use this opportunity to get this right going forward.

Incidentally, I can’t help wondering whether the Post’s headline for this story is an intentional reference to “Flower of Scotland,” the unofficial national anthem for Scotland, which refers to sending “proud Edward’s armies” home “tae think again.”

This entry was posted on Tuesday, January 15th, 2008 at 12:53 pm and is filed under Foreign Desk, Language. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.