# "Imported from Britain" means what? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 26, 2012, 11:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077 "2012-04-26T23:19:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![MikeS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/919ad9/32.png) [@MikeS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeS)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/21 "2012-04-27T17:00:21Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![brad\_d](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/50afbb/32.png) [@brad\_d](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brad_d)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/22 "2012-04-27T17:37:22Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [April 27, 2012, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/23 "2012-04-27T19:12:32Z")
> [@](#): > > 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”. ---
**Author:** ![Nametag](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/nametag/32/406_2.png) [@Nametag](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nametag)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 3:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/24 "2012-04-28T03:25:21Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > Oh, there you go, bringing class into it again. That’s what it’s all about! ---
**Author:** ![Dahu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dahu/32/3416_2.png) [@Dahu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dahu)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/25 "2012-04-28T09:52:17Z")
> [@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](http://www.guinness.com/en-us/faqs.html)- > [@](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 10:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/26 "2012-04-28T10:47:06Z")
> [@nudgenudge](#): > > “Britain” is just another term for the UK [QUOTE=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. [/QUOTE] 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). ---
**Author:** ![kayaker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kayaker/32/441_2.png) [@kayaker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kayaker)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 11:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/27 "2012-04-28T11:12:23Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![nudgenudge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@nudgenudge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nudgenudge)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/28 "2012-04-28T12:37:45Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![SanVito](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sanvito/32/2805_2.png) [@SanVito](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SanVito)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 12:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/29 "2012-04-28T12:37:57Z")
> [@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’’](http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-16104275) Edit: Or what **nudgenudge** said ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/30 "2012-04-28T13:55:56Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/31 "2012-04-28T14:22:08Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 2:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/32 "2012-04-28T14:22:53Z")
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. ---
**Author:** ![isaiahrobinson](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/85e7bf/32.png) [@isaiahrobinson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isaiahrobinson)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 2:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/33 "2012-04-28T14:28:17Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > 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? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 2:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/34 "2012-04-28T14:31:58Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/35 "2012-04-28T14:33:18Z")
> [@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. ---
**Author:** ![nudgenudge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@nudgenudge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nudgenudge)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/36 "2012-04-28T17:01:26Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > 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? ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/37 "2012-04-28T18:36:25Z")
> [@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? ---
**Author:** ![nudgenudge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/9f8e36/32.png) [@nudgenudge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nudgenudge)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/38 "2012-04-28T18:54:17Z")
> [@An\_Gadai](#): > > 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. ---
**Author:** ![An\_Gadai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/d6d6ee/32.png) [@An\_Gadai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/An_Gadai)\ **Post date:** [April 28, 2012, 7:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/39 "2012-04-28T19:35:05Z")
> [@nudgenudge](#): > > To better address the Irish market? I fear that I may be misunderstanding the question. As far as I can see [this](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jipn-MGg0DA) 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. ---
**Author:** ![kurtisokc](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kurtisokc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kurtisokc)\ **Post date:** [April 30, 2012, 12:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077/40 "2012-04-30T00:02:25Z")
> [@Ms\_Boods](#): > > Oh, there you go, bringing class into it again. Bloody peasants! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/imported-from-britain-means-what/620077.md?page=3)