Quote:
Originally Posted by RobinMask
I guess my question is how the heck do you define a state or country, and what the hell is the difference in the scheme of things? Why isn't Texas a country, and why isn't Scotland a state?
Sorry if it's a stupid question, but it's been bugging me for a while now.
|
Well both ways of defining it are correct I suppose. But you have to be consistent about it that's all.
State or country, whatever word you use. As long as you understand that at least in the heirarchy of their relationship... Scotland is to the UK what Texas is to the USA.
Most people in my experience, when the word country is used, they mean "fully sovereign nation state". Therefore Scotland doesn't qualify under that definition as it's not fully sovereign. The United Kingdom is though... so naturally... outsiders to the UK think of the UK as a single entity.. and considering England is by far the largest of the 4 "countries" that make up the UK... People confuse England as being synonymous with the UK simply because of the insistence of English people that England is a country.
And I think that should be understood by people that insist Scotland, N. Ireland, Wales of England is a "country".