User talk:Tb/British Isles

Comments
Say, that looks darn good. PS- I long for the day, the BI usage controvarsy goes away. GoodDay (talk) 20:28, 3 April 2008 (UTC)
 * Nice piece of work, may I say. The term "Britain and Ireland" covers all the islands of Britain, and all the islands of Ireland. I don't object to the term"British Isles", but it is often quite wrongly used when there is little need to use it. The term is going out of use because many people throughout the world don't see the term as including Ireland. Should be used sparingly. 78.19.170.114 (talk) 17:01, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
 * What does someone say if they mean only the two principal islands? Tb (talk) 18:12, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
 * One could ask that question about anything. Like, what do people say when they only mean the two principle islands and the "Isle of Man". Whether one likes it or not, the term "British Isles" is a political term. It started its life as a political term, and it's quickly losing favour among scholars. Some British Nationalists are fiercely defensive of the term, as do some nationalists from Ireland very much dislike the term. Like New Zealand, there is no special name for the few islands, or in the case of Corsica and Sardinia, no special name either. No name arose for the islands because Britain and Ireland are two very distinct cultures, and should not be lumped as one homogenus group of people. Technically Ireland and Britain, are considered by some to be too big to be classed as archipelago islands. 78.19.177.225 (talk) 18:54, 4 April 2008 (UTC)
 * I understand, but let's be careful. My point is that if someone meant only the two principal islands they would say... "Great Britain and Ireland", which makes that term ambiguous.  That's all.  Please be careful here, to understand that saying "substitute X is bad" is not saying "'British Isles' is unproblematic".  Tb (talk) 19:01, 4 April 2008 (UTC)