"Imported from Britain" means what?

[kayaker]

So, I'm drinking a Boddington's Pub Ale. Not bad. But the can brags, "Imported from Britain". Why? I've see things labeled "Made in England", "Made in The UK", even , "Great Britain".

Is their use of "Britain" some sorta political statement?

Smooth, creamy, and you gotta love the widget.

[Mangetout]

There's more than one brewery producing the stuff - one in England and another in Wales.

[kayaker]

^That's all?

Oh well. Luton, England. Thanks.

[Colophon]

I know it's not the case with Boddingtons, but I wonder if "imported from Britain" could mean "Made in the People's Republic of Shitbeeristan then shipped in to Britain and exported from there"? Or would it have to be made in the exporting country? Quite a lot of products are made in one country and packaged in another, after being shipped in bulk.

[Lukeinva]

Originally Posted by Colophon

I know it's not the case with Boddingtons, but I wonder if "imported from Britain" could mean "Made in the People's Republic of Shitbeeristan then shipped in to Britain and exported from there"? Or would it have to be made in the exporting country? Quite a lot of products are made in one country and packaged in another, after being shipped in bulk.

Smooth and creamy? Don't think that would come from Shitbeerstan.

[MPB in Salt Lake]

I was not happy when my know-it-all (yet still wrong almost all the time) cousin informed me that Bass Ale was now being brewed in the USA, but for once in his life, he was 100% correct....

It's still priced at nearly $16 per six pack here in the good ol' People's Republic Of Zion....

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by Lukeinva

Smooth and creamy? Don't think that would come from Shitbeerstan.

I did say I know it's not the case with Boddingtons. I haven't had Boddies for ages, now I come to think of it. It used to be my beer of choice as a teenager.

They had good TV adverts back then, too.

(They had to stop calling it "the cream of Manchester" when they closed the brewery in the city...)

[kayaker]

Britain = England. Right?

[cochrane]

It could mean Wales or Scotland also, because they are on the island of Great Britain.

[Askance]

Originally Posted by kayaker

Britain = England. Right?

There's no such discrete entity as "Britain" per se; it should be taken as shorthand for Great Britain or The British Isles, neither of which are the same as England.

[Sunspace]

Originally Posted by Askance

There's no such discrete entity as "Britain" per se; it should be taken as shorthand for Great Britain or The British Isles, neither of which are the same as England.

Or the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland).

[Mangetout]

We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune

[nudgenudge]

Originally Posted by Askance

There's no such discrete entity as "Britain" per se; it should be taken as shorthand for Great Britain or The British Isles, neither of which are the same as England.

Nitpick: "Britain" is not used to refer to the British Isles (a term that has slightly fallen out of favour itself), since the British Isles includes the country of Ireland (as well as other territory that is not technically part of the UK). "Britain" is just another term for the UK (even though the UK includes some territory that is not actually on the island of Great Britain, as others have mentioned). "Great Britain" is also very often used to refer to the country as a whole and not just the island of that name.

In other words, all these would mean essentially the same thing:
Imported from Britain
Imported from Great Britain
Imported from the UK

[Colophon]

Originally Posted by nudgenudge

"Great Britain" is also very often used to refer to the country as a whole and not just the island of that name.

Indeed the ISO 3166 country code for the UK is, rather confusingly, GB, not UK (although the top-level internet domain is .uk). This leads to the rather odd situation that cars in Northern Ireland are identified abroad by "GB" stickers (or on the side of the plate itself) even though they're not from "Great Britain" itself.

[WotNot]

Originally Posted by Mangetout

We're an anarcho-syndicalist commune

You're fooling yourself. We're living in a dictatorship, a self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes are exploited by an establishment hanging onto outdated imperialist dogma, which perpetuates the social and economic differences in our society.

[Floater]

Originally Posted by Colophon

(They had to stop calling it "the cream of Manchester" when they closed the brewery in the city...)

"Boddingtons, the cream of Manchester" is an anagram of "Boddington's stomach ache fermenter".

[nudgenudge]

Originally Posted by Colophon

Indeed the ISO 3166 country code for the UK is, rather confusingly, GB, not UK (although the top-level internet domain is .uk). This leads to the rather odd situation that cars in Northern Ireland are identified abroad by "GB" stickers (or on the side of the plate itself) even though they're not from "Great Britain" itself.

I suppose "GB" translates better than "UK" - Grand Bretagne, Großbritannien vs. Royaume Uni, Vereinigtes Königreich etc.

[SanVito]

Originally Posted by nudgenudge

I suppose "GB" translates better than "UK" - Grand Bretagne, Großbritannien vs. Royaume Uni, Vereinigtes Königreich etc.

Also used by Team GB, the UKish olympic team. Just an accident of history, really, we do like hanging on to our old stuff..

[SanVito]

Originally Posted by kayaker

Is their use of "Britain" some sorta political statement

No, nothing political, just a shorthand reference for the United Kingdom Of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. No different from calling the US 'America'. Politicians use the word 'Britain' all the time, and they're more politically correct than anyone else. Handy for campaign slogans.

[Ms Boods]

Originally Posted by WotNot

You're fooling yourself. We're living in a dictatorship, a self-perpetuating autocracy in which the working classes are exploited by an establishment hanging onto outdated imperialist dogma, which perpetuates the social and economic differences in our society.

Oh, there you go, bringing class into it again.

[MikeS]

Originally Posted by Colophon

I know it's not the case with Boddingtons, but I wonder if "imported from Britain" could mean "Made in the People's Republic of Shitbeeristan then shipped in to Britain and exported from there"? Or would it have to be made in the exporting country? Quite a lot of products are made in one country and packaged in another, after being shipped in bulk.

Last time I checked, Guinness and Harp were brewed in Canada and imported to the U.S. from there. The packaging says "Imported" on it, but it's not imported from Ireland like you might think.

[brad_d]

Originally Posted by MikeS

Last time I checked, Guinness and Harp were brewed in Canada and imported to the U.S. from there. The packaging says "Imported" on it, but it's not imported from Ireland like you might think.

Same with Foster's (Australian, rather than Irish), last time I looked at a bottle.

[Chronos]

Last time I checked, Guinness and Harp were brewed in Canada and imported to the U.S. from there. The packaging says "Imported" on it, but it's not imported from Ireland like you might think.

From what I understand, there are two Guinness breweries in North America, one in the US to serve the Canadian market, and one in Canada to serve the US market, so both can be "imported".

[Nametag]

Originally Posted by Ms Boods

Oh, there you go, bringing class into it again.

That's what it's all about!

[Dahu]

Originally Posted by Chronos

From what I understand, there are two Guinness breweries in North America, one in the US to serve the Canadian market, and one in Canada to serve the US market, so both can be "imported".

Not according to the Guinness website-

All the GUINNESS® sold in the UK, Ireland and North America is brewed in Ireland at the historic St. James's Gate Brewery in Dublin.

[isaiahrobinson]

Originally Posted by nudgenudge

"Britain" is just another term for the UK

Originally Posted by SanVito

No, nothing political, just a shorthand reference for the United Kingdom Of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. No different from calling the US 'America'. Politicians use the word 'Britain' all the time, and they're more politically correct than anyone else. Handy for campaign slogans.

This isn't right. The term "Britain" doesn't include Northern Ireland, which isn't on the island of Britain. "The UK" is the only term that includes Northern Ireland, and if you want to refer to the country as a whole that's the only term you should technically use. Politicians here do nevertheless use "Britain" to refer to the country, and no one here in England, Scotland or Wales would care, but they hate that in Northern Ireland. Tony Blair used to do it a lot.

(Confusingly, "British" is fine. People from Northern Ireland are British, but they're not from Britain - they're from the UK).

[kayaker]

Originally Posted by isaiahrobinson

This isn't right. The term "Britain" doesn't include Northern Ireland, which isn't on the island of Britain. "The UK" is the only term that includes Northern Ireland, and if you want to refer to the country as a whole that's the only term you should technically use. Politicians here do nevertheless use "Britain" to refer to the country, and no one here in England, Scotland or Wales would care, but they hate that in Northern Ireland. Tony Blair used to do it a lot.

(Confusingly, "British" is fine. People from Northern Ireland are British, but they're not from Britain - they're from the UK).

OK. I kind of skirted things in my OP, but this was what I was curious about.

Anyway, I'm back to an IPA.

[nudgenudge]

Originally Posted by isaiahrobinson

This isn't right. The term "Britain" doesn't include Northern Ireland, which isn't on the island of Britain. "The UK" is the only term that includes Northern Ireland, and if you want to refer to the country as a whole that's the only term you should technically use. Politicians here do nevertheless use "Britain" to refer to the country, and no one here in England, Scotland or Wales would care, but they hate that in Northern Ireland. Tony Blair used to do it a lot.

(Confusingly, "British" is fine. People from Northern Ireland are British, but they're not from Britain - they're from the UK).

I think you're flying in the face of widespread usage there. I just Googled "britain -great", and cannot see any instance in which "Britain" is used to refer to just England, Scotland and Wales. Looking up "Britain" in Wikipedia, the first thing it says is "Britain may refer to: United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland". There's a hugely popular TV show called "Britain's Got Talent" - I am not aware of the programme title being controversial in Northern Ireland. And so on.

[SanVito]

Originally Posted by isaiahrobinson

This isn't right. The term "Britain" doesn't include Northern Ireland, which isn't on the island of Britain. "The UK" is the only term that includes Northern Ireland, and if you want to refer to the country as a whole that's the only term you should technically use. Politicians here do nevertheless use "Britain" to refer to the country, and no one here in England, Scotland or Wales would care, but they hate that in Northern Ireland. Tony Blair used to do it a lot.

(Confusingly, "British" is fine. People from Northern Ireland are British, but they're not from Britain - they're from the UK).

It may not be 'officially correct' and no doubt it narks people from Northern Ireland, but it doesn't mean it isn't used frequently to reference the UK, because it is. 'America' isn't officially correct either, and no doubt pisses off people from outside the US.

It's just slang.

Example quote from David Cameron:

David Cameron: ''What is on offer isn't in Britain's interests''

Edit: Or what nudgenudge said

[isaiahrobinson]

Sure, I know how it's used. I live here. It's common. But it's still technically incorrect. And it's not just a complete nitpick, because it's a distinction that genuinely has the potential to cause offense in Northern Ireland.

It's the "United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", not just of Great Britain, and there was a 30 year war fought over whether that "Northern Ireland" bit should be tacked on the end of the name. It's not the equivalent of calling the US "America", it's related to some serious issues.

[An Gadaí]

Originally Posted by isaiahrobinson

(Confusingly, "British" is fine. People from Northern Ireland are British, but they're not from Britain - they're from the UK).

About half the population of NI might disagree with you there.


With regard to the clusterfuck of British and Irish identities, I noticed Ariel is running an olympic games ad. In the Irish version they say something like "Team Ariel, proud keeper of the Irish Tricolour", whilst in the British version (also shown here) they say "Team Ariel, proud keepers of our country's colours". I'm curious as to why they worded it like that, with a certain amount of ambiguity.

[isaiahrobinson]

Regarding the OP though: the name on the can won't be a political statement. Most people in Britain-proper aren't aware of the distinction between "Britain" and "Northern Ireland". It'll just be because the manufacturers like the sound of that name better than England or the UK.

[isaiahrobinson]

Originally Posted by An Gadaí

With regard to the clusterfuck of British and Irish identities, I noticed Ariel is running an olympic games ad. In the Irish version they say something like "Team Ariel, proud keeper of the Irish Tricolour", whilst in the British version (also shown here) they say "Team Ariel, proud keepers of our country's colours". I'm curious as to why they worded it like that, with a certain amount of ambiguity.

I don't know Irish, but it might be because the latter version contains a pun that wouldn't work in another language, rather than anything political. Ariel - given it manufactures laundry detergents - wants to boast that its products will "keep the colours" in your clothes fast when you wash them, but flags like the Irish Tricolour can alsobe referred to as "colours" so the pun works both ways. Maybe that pun wouldn't make sense in Irish so they went with a more straightforward version instead?

[An Gadaí]

Originally Posted by isaiahrobinson

Regarding the OP though: the name on the can won't be a political statement. Most people in Britain-proper aren't aware of the distinction between "Britain" and "Northern Ireland". It'll just be because the manufacturers like the sound of that name better than England or the UK.

Oh completely. For another example, I always heard Raleigh bikes as being made in Nottingham, England. It seemed to be a branding thing that they were English (and from Nottingham in particular) as opposed to UKian or British.

I suspect that NI farmers prefer to have their beef labelled Irish or Northern Irish rather than British.

[An Gadaí]

Originally Posted by isaiahrobinson

I don't know Irish, but it might be because the latter version contains a pun that wouldn't work in another language, rather than anything political. Ariel - given it manufactures laundry detergents - wants to boast that its products will "keep the colours" in your clothes fast when you wash them, but flags like the Irish Tricolour can alsobe referred to as "colours" so the pun works both ways. Maybe that pun wouldn't make sense in Irish so they went with a more straightforward version instead?

I don't mean Irish language. They're both in English. It's just on Irish channels the Irish (market) version plays, while on British channels we also receive, it's usually the British version.

[nudgenudge]

Originally Posted by An Gadaí

I don't mean Irish language. They're both in English. It's just on Irish channels the Irish (market) version plays, while on British channels we also receive, it's usually the British version.

Maybe the British version is from satellite, which probably covers Ireland and the UK, so they have to neuter the language to make it appropriate to both countries?

[An Gadaí]

Originally Posted by nudgenudge

Maybe the British version is from satellite, which probably covers Ireland and the UK, so they have to neuter the language to make it appropriate to both countries?

Maybe that's it but why bother doing an Irish one at all if that's the case?

[nudgenudge]

Originally Posted by An Gadaí

Maybe that's it but why bother doing an Irish one at all if that's the case?

To better address the Irish market? I fear that I may be misunderstanding the question.

[An Gadaí]

Originally Posted by nudgenudge

To better address the Irish market? I fear that I may be misunderstanding the question.

As far as I can see this is the British version of the ad which due to us having most of the British channels is also seen by Irish tv viewers. The Irish version mentions the Irish Tricolour. I'm curious why it's so neutral sounding by comparison with the Irish version, that's all. Plenty of products are advertised explicitly as British or supporting England or what not, without offending our sensibilities. Maybe they're being extra careful because it's Team GB in the Olympics and not Team UK. I dunno. I just found it curious.

[kurtisokc]

Originally Posted by Ms Boods

Oh, there you go, bringing class into it again.

Bloody peasants!

[notquitekarpov]

Originally Posted by MPB in Salt Lake

I was not happy when my know-it-all (yet still wrong almost all the time) cousin informed me that Bass Ale was now being brewed in the USA, but for once in his life, he was 100% correct....

It's still priced at nearly $16 per six pack here in the good ol' People's Republic Of Zion....

If you are paying a premium then I only hope the water they use in the USA is as hard as the water is from Burton-on-Trent. There is a reason it was once the brewing capital of the Empire....

Will not taste the same otherwise unless there is some very clever water treatment going on.

[Floater]

Originally Posted by notquitekarpov

Will not taste the same otherwise unless there is some very clever water treatment going on.

There is one. It's called, surprise, burtonisation.

[Jragon]

Originally Posted by kayaker

Britain = England. Right?

Great Britain: The island England, Wales, and Scotland are on.

The British Isles: England, Wales, Scotland, Isle of Man [...], Ireland (INCLUDING the entity politically separate from the UK).

The United Kingdom: England, Wales, Scotland, North Ireland

Crown Dependencies: Isle of Man... fuck it, just listen to this guy, he has Euler diagrams and everything!

[Northern Piper]

Originally Posted by Chronos

From what I understand, there are two Guinness breweries in North America, one in the US to serve the Canadian market, and one in Canada to serve the US market, so both can be "imported".

I checked out the Guiness in our local liquor store last night. It clearly says "Brewed in Ireland".

[Ms Boods]

Originally Posted by kurtisokc

Bloody peasants!

Oh! What a give-away!