Miles 0 Report post Posted March 13, 2008 I wanted to make this topic to dicuss why it is that so many people from other countries have so many misconceptions about Britain. First on the list, Confusion of the UK with England The most common is the above, and is frequent among Americans. Contrary to what many believe, England is not Britain, it is merely a part of it, along with Scotland, Wales, and Ireland Confusion of the UK's measurement system This is the second most common. It seems most people outside of Britain assume that the UK uses the metric system, this is only partially correct. If you find a roadsign in the UK with metric on it (or in the case of height limits, no imperial equivalent), you can report it, since that is illegal. In everday talk you're likely to hear talk of Pint's and Miles, rather than Litres and Kilometres, although most official goverment work is with Metric, barring road signs as I mentioned. Confusion of the UK's currency This is also quite common. Many seem to think that the UK uses the Euro with most of europe, this is incorrect. The UK uses a currency called the Pound Sterling, and so does it's 14 overseas territories That ends my post. If you wish to discuss, please do! I enjoy reading the opinions of others. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
toby 0 Report post Posted March 14, 2008 I'm english and I talk to a lot of americans and other country people and I've never heard them. Most rumours are just colourful history. Things like what side of the road you drive on, like a lot of the world when horse-drawn carts were new and the only way around, north western Europe owned a lot of the world, so when England went on one side, France did the opposite, then when countries gained independance they changed just to be different. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
dangerdan 0 Report post Posted June 9, 2009 If you want to get technical about it Miles then the following statement is completely false;"England is not Britain, it is merely a part of it, along with Scotland, Wales, and Ireland."If you check your passport it will say "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". So firstly, Britain is simply England, Wales and Scotland actually. Northern Ireland is indeed part of the UK but nor Britain.And I'm sure the people from the Republic of Ireland (or Eire, or Southern Ireland) would be outraged to hear you ignore their sovereignty in such a way, ESPECIALLY in a topic you specifically start to dispel the myths!!!Secondly, anyone that thinks we use the Euro has been living under a rock all of their life and clearly never seen any news or information about exchange rates...ever. The £ is one of the absolute standard currencies along with the USD and Euro in monitoring the ForEx (foreign exchange market).You perpetuated one myth and spoke of one I've never heard of! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
iGuest 3 Report post Posted December 1, 2009 Use of the anachronistic European units of measurement called "British"Several Uk MisconceptionsYour use of the apostrophe is incorrect. I would urge you to study the use of the genitive in English. Furthermore, your opinions on anachronistic European units of measurement I.E. The pint etc... Is a personal one as usage depends on age-group. Every person under 45 has been educated solely in the international metric system. I know as I am a teacher.-reply by Philip Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
