On Fri, 1 Dec 2000 21:23:40 -0400, [EMAIL PROTECTED] (Joseph B. Reid) wrote: >Scott Clauss wrote in USMA 9484: >>And on a off topic, what is the difference between British and English? I >>suppose they used to swing swords at each other because of the distinction, >>but in America at least in modern times the distinction has faded. > >I suppose the term British would be appropriate for events after 1707 when >the Scottish parliament was abolished and Scotland started to send MPs to >the parliament of Westminster. To recap what was covered here some time ago: Britain=the island that comprises England, Scotland and Wales. The United Kingdom = Britain + Northern Ireland. As Joe says above, since 1707 the parliament in London has ruled over all of the UK (including all of Ireland up to Irish independence earlier last century). However, Scotland retained its own legal system, and while most laws apply across the whole of the UK there are occasionally separate laws that apply to Scotland (or N Ireland) only, or laws are modified slightly for these regions (the Weights & Measures legislation being one example). Presumably now that Scotland has its own parliament it will be passing its own laws, but I'm not sure exactly what the relationship between that and the parliament in London is. For a discussion on terminology regarding these islands, I refer you to 'The Isles' by Norman Davies, a highly-regarded historian. He chose the title as the most appropriate name. -- Chris KEENAN UK Metrication: http://www.metric.org.uk/ UK Correspondent, US Metric Association
