Just needs a pronunciation guide now. British place names are impossible to pronounce even for native British English speakers because they are often not said how they are written and only people within a 15 mile radius will know the right way.
https://www.shropshirestar.com/news/2015/06/27/shrowsbury-or...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Welsh_exonyms#United_Kingdom_(...
[*] - according to my made-up-on-the spot stats
A far from trivial task, given we can't agree on (for “can't agree on”, read “actually have arguments about”) the pronunciation of simple baked products.
It is neither scone nor scone you fools. Both are wrong, and it should in fact be pronounced “scone”.
The Map Men on YouTube did a short (8min) video on why pronunciation is hard and a guide:
Is it pronounced in English, Spanish, one of the Native American tongues?
Unless you are from the US and get taught these things it's easy to get place names wrong.
Nor-luns (locals)
Nyoo Or-lee-uns (british)
Noo Or-leh-onz (confused french people)
Its confusing.
NB Been a while since I lived in an adjacent area, things may have changed...
Officially (in some official documents) the name of the city is "'s-Gravenhage", but normally it's just called "Den Haag".
Another similar one from The Netherlands is this: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/'s-Hertogenbosch
You don't pronounce the first six letters in Londonderry, four countries is the same as one country, 26 + 6 somehow equals one...
Also I'm curious if you're familiar with any history of the islands of Ireland and Great Britain? If not, I recommend reading up - save you accusing any country of just being unwise, or whatever it is you are attempting to convey with "an event horizon that conventional wisdom slips over"
For one, Northern Ireland is variously described as a country, province or region despite (sometimes) having its own government and semi-independent legal system.
Wales has its own language and parliament, but shares a legal system (but not all laws) with England.
Scotland has its own legal system and is supposed to be the equal counter-party to {England {which included Wales}} in the name "United Kingdom of …".
England doesn't have an independent parliament of its own, "just" (scare-quotes needed) the one for the whole UK.
The history may have led to the status quo, but it's fair and reasonable to say the status quo is bonkers.
UK GDP is $3tn :D
> "Four countries is one country" is very different from "50 states is one country".
I don't think you made a very compelling argument. Both are made of constituent parts. Both are "united" in various ways. States have their own constitutions, laws etc. It's messy. Fewer issues around language, I grant that.
Most of which is England
> I don't think you made a very compelling argument
Fair enough.
"Four countries is one country" has the same level of abstraction; "50 states is one country" (or in reverse, the EU can be seen as "27 countries one state" if you squint and are a bit vague with definitions) is different kinds of abstraction.
Pizza is a possible pizza topping, but it's also weird.
Largely because of where the tax is booked, due to many companies having their headquarters office in London.
Most of the Oil revenue is raised in Scotland, what would the balance look like if that was booked in Edinburgh instead?
Except it ain't the former, it is more "A state comprising of 3* countries, and part of a 4th".
* Well if we add Cornwall, we get 4 internal GB countries, plus the bit of Ireland which came back.
It used to be that UK was described as "2 countries, a principality and a province", except it is not the whole province...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derry/Londonderry_name_dispute
The issue is more common in countries old enough to have not made up most of their place names (or unimaginatively stolen them from elsewhere, looking at you New York, Boston, Paris, etc.!) in recent centuries, so there has been a lot more evolution (or in some cases outright replacement due to invasions & politics) in language pronunciation and/or spelling since those names were first coined, but the young whipper-snappers like the US are far from immune to the problem.
(rhymes with scone).
For those who didn't hear the whoosh, is that the 'scoan' or 'scon' pronunciation?
Pronounced like Frome ;)