It’s a pet peeve of mine but will people please stop using the term “Europe†as if means a nation or state?
There is no country, nation or state called “Europeâ€!
Indeed it’s almost a conceit to call (the geographical area most people refer to as Europe) it a continent, since it is merely the 20% or so most “westerly†part of the Eurasian land mass.
If you say “Europeans do this…†or “Europe did this…†you are referring to a collection of about 46 totally separate and distinct countries and all the people that live there. There is not much that they all have in common, in fact the only thing I do know for certain they all have in common is that they are populated by humans. (I mean most of the people of “Europe†don’t even speak the same language as the people in their neighbouring countries!)
Now there are some distinct political and social groups within those 46 countries that you can lump together, such as the 25 that make up a treaty bound collection that goes under the name of the “European Unionâ€. (Which is quite an arrogant misnomer and I have told my EU MEP that it shouldn’t be called THE European Union but rather A European Union.)
Please, please do me a favour in future be a bit more careful about bandying around the term “Europe†and “European†and, unless you are meaning to refer to each and everyone of those 46 countries, avoid saying “Europe did this…..â€
Thanks
-Darat –
A Geordie Englishman, a British person, a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, a citizen of the European Union and an inhabitant of the continent of Europe, a part of the Eurasian land mass.
There is no country, nation or state called “Europeâ€!
Indeed it’s almost a conceit to call (the geographical area most people refer to as Europe) it a continent, since it is merely the 20% or so most “westerly†part of the Eurasian land mass.
If you say “Europeans do this…†or “Europe did this…†you are referring to a collection of about 46 totally separate and distinct countries and all the people that live there. There is not much that they all have in common, in fact the only thing I do know for certain they all have in common is that they are populated by humans. (I mean most of the people of “Europe†don’t even speak the same language as the people in their neighbouring countries!)
Now there are some distinct political and social groups within those 46 countries that you can lump together, such as the 25 that make up a treaty bound collection that goes under the name of the “European Unionâ€. (Which is quite an arrogant misnomer and I have told my EU MEP that it shouldn’t be called THE European Union but rather A European Union.)
Please, please do me a favour in future be a bit more careful about bandying around the term “Europe†and “European†and, unless you are meaning to refer to each and everyone of those 46 countries, avoid saying “Europe did this…..â€
Thanks
-Darat –
A Geordie Englishman, a British person, a citizen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain & Northern Ireland, a citizen of the European Union and an inhabitant of the continent of Europe, a part of the Eurasian land mass.
)
