Notes from a Big Island

[steepholm]

Okay, I realise this is beside the point, but one thing that irritates me almost more than anything else about the referendum debate is the assertion that Britain is "a small island". This is mostly heard from the No camp, with the implication that it would be ridiculous to split the island into two (but that if we did, Scotland would definitely be Haiti to the UK's Dominican Republic).

So, once and for all, Britain is a big island! Excluding continental landmasses, it's the ninth largest island in the world. That's big, right?

Steep Holm is a small island, if you like.

I'm glad I got that off my chest.

As you were. Carry on.

Comments

Re: Magaluf girl.

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

I blame Bill Bryson.

[cmcmck.livejournal.com]

North Ronaldsay is a small island. This.......isn't!

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

Perhaps it's partly because Britain is small compared with some other Anglophone countries?

[ethelmay.livejournal.com]

Reminds me of the story one of my Latin professors told, about the time he used the locative for Sicily when he was in school.

"Boy," said his teacher, "what is this?"

"The locative, sir. For towns and small islands?"

"But boy, Sicily is an e-NOOOOORRRRRRR-mous island!"

[steepholm.livejournal.com]

:)

Sicily, according to Wiki, is 45 in the list, just below Timor (and that has a sovereign state occupying just one part of it!), so your professor had a point - but compared with Britain it's titchy.