Reply to: 'World War II punishment beatings'

[SueEllen]

That's how I understood it to be, about the land mass not attitude. I think people fail to realise Rule Britannia came long after the name.

Rule Britannia was originally a protest song against a British monarch, George II. Instead they wanted the Prince of Wales, Frederick, on the throne. If the aristocrats protested openly they would have been put to death.

Edited to add: monarch and to add Frederick died before his father.

[darmstadt]

[shaunbhoy]

He obviously likes to see himself as a modern Churchill and consciously apes Churchill's anti-fashion, but there the similarities end.

Why would anyone get excited about emulating Churchill?

For all his marvelous oratory and quick wit, he oversaw a hefty catalogue of disasters in his time.

[BlasterBates]

The only common attribute Boris shares with Churchill is that he's overweight.

[BrilloPad]

Yes, you first Mr Brill Pad. Schnell! Raus! Come feel the sharp end of my jackboot :nazi:

This sounds familiar.

Has NLYUK hijacked the admin account?

[administrator]

Is this thread about how mods intend to improve CUK morale?

Yes, you first Mr Brill Pad. Schnell! Raus! Come feel the sharp end of my jackboot :nazi:

[BrilloPad]

Is this thread about how mods intend to improve CUK morale?

[NotAllThere]

Who does this man think he is? Ken Livingstone? Or is it just something that happens to London Mayors?

[sasguru]

Never understood why BoJo is considered to be clever.
I read his Churchill biography and found it cliche-ridden and completely lacking in any valid analysis whatsover.
More of a hagiography than a genuine biography.
He obviously likes to see himself as a modern Churchill and consciously apes Churchill's anti-fashion, but there the similarities end.

[vetran]

Great Britain is called Great Britain as in the sense of "Greater London". Originally (and in some modern contexts) Great Britain is the main (great) island of the British Isles. In German Gross can be used in the same way as Great in English. In French, they use Grande Brittagne - which really is identical to Great Britain. Big, in French, is gros.

That's how I understood it to be, about the land mass not attitude. I think people fail to realise Rule Britannia came long after the name.

I though Boris' comment was quite amusing. But then I took him to be referring to the Great Escape film, not WW2.

I thought it was crass & offensive, but that's Boris for you. He might just about have of got away with it if he said the great escape and no more.

[VectraMan]

They've stopped invading other countries but the arrogance is still 100% there. Bunch of to$$ers

A bit surprised to hear you describe your own country that way, but whatever.

With Trump in the White House we'll probably need to invade a new country sooner or later. Using Brexit to distract people from their real problems will only work for so long; we'll need another war to distract people from their Brexit problems.

[shaunbhoy]

obviously, geographically, Britain is not big, and calling our little island big seems more like somebody with a size complex calling themselves big when infact the whole world can see they are small

So do your continental workmates call you Bigbrained Milan then, following your logic?

[darmstadt]

Maybe they were pointing out that after Brexit, the City of London has already prepared itself:

[ClothCap]

Er, only the intellectually challenged ever thought it meant fab Britain. Rather than big Britain it translates more as large Britain, thus describing our island as the largest of the British isles. Hence Scotland can never leave Britain, only the UK

[NotAllThere]

oooh that rubbed a nerve didn't it

couple of thoughts...

. they watch Little Britain in Germany and the love it, so the headline although striking a nerve with you, might not actually have the same angle of humour for them

secondly,

something I only connected after living outside the UK, in the UK all of our lives our country has been called Great Britain, and we just grow up with these words not really reading too much into it, infact, if we try to read into it, we'd probably think, Great Britain, Great as in great, that's great, it's great, Britain is great.

But in the other countries, France, Germany, and others, Great Britain translates into.... Big Britain, which I actually find a little bit embarrassing when hearing Great Britain being called Big Britain in other languages because, obviously, geographically, Britain is not big, and calling our little island big seems more like somebody with a size complex calling themselves big when infact the whole world can see they are small


So Flashman, try not to get all annoyed, it was political humour, we also have a fair share of fantastic political cartoonists who lampoon all leaders from all countries, and secondly the angle which infuriated you might not actually be the angle they were playing

Have a think about that, maybe a cup of tea and lie down and digest it before replying.

There's lovely

Milan.

Great Britain is called Great Britain as in the sense of "Greater London". Originally (and in some modern contexts) Great Britain is the main (great) island of the British Isles. In German Gross can be used in the same way as Great in English. In French, they use Grande Brittagne - which really is identical to Great Britain. Big, in French, is gros.

I though Boris' comment was quite amusing. But then I took him to be referring to the Great Escape film, not WW2.