I have heard this expression in the past, why people assume and are referring to Britain as the fifty second state?
Britain / England considered the 52nd fifty second state ?
People that refer to them as such refer to the "special relationship" between the US and the UK. However, they are hardly the 52nd state, as they still enjoy sovereignty from the US federal government that the US states are guaranteed by the US Constitution but haven't enjoyed since FDR got elected...
...because of the "special relationship" Britain was refused 2 times to join the European Union in 1960, finally the 3rd time they begged the EU - they were admitted in the Union.
The UK is currently the black sheep of Europe (despite begging Europe to join the Union - it is the most Euro-skeptic member always boycotting something)
For this reason Britain, is ironically so-called the 52nd State, and not an EU country.
To date, Britain remains the only country in Europe that was refused EU membership.
The UK is currently the black sheep of Europe (despite begging Europe to join the Union - it is the most Euro-skeptic member always boycotting something)
For this reason Britain, is ironically so-called the 52nd State, and not an EU country.
To date, Britain remains the only country in Europe that was refused EU membership.
Of course Britain is a member of the EU, one of the main members as well, they just don't have the Euro currency.
I've never heard anyone in Europe calling them the "52nd state". Besides, everyone knows there are already 52 states, so that wouldn't make much sense, would it? Anyone saying so would be laughed at.
I've never heard anyone in Europe calling them the "52nd state". Besides, everyone knows there are already 52 states, so that wouldn't make much sense, would it? Anyone saying so would be laughed at.
There are 50 states... Then the US has 4 major territories: US Virgin Islands, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Obama actually screwed up and said there were 57 states... I don't know why it's difficult for people to remember there are 50...
Obama actually screwed up and said there were 57 states... I don't know why it's difficult for people to remember there are 50...
The main point of commonality between the UK and the USA is, of course, the one of Language....the English Language.....but even on that one there are differences, as we all know. By and large we can both understand each other, especially in written form. It's when it's spoken between Brits and Americans that problems can arise and even then it's usually quite funny with the misunderstandings which occur. I think the misunderstandings are far more likely to happen when Brits are in many parts of America than the other way round, as Americans, generally, are far less familiar with "foreign" accents than are Brits. It's not all that unusual for a waitress/waiter in the USA to look puzzled when a Brit asks her/him for another pitcher of water, so now some Brits resolve that problem by asking for "waddah" - and sure enough the penny drops. :-)
As for the UK being the 51st/52nd, whatever) State of America is just joke all due to this so called "special relationship". I don't think too many Brits consider this to be the case anyway - in many ways we have more in common wih other European countries than we do with a country over 3,300 miles away at the nearest point. Many Continental Europeans, though, do tend to think otherwise because of the close alliance between the UK and the USA in times of war and intenrational disputes, this of course being much more apparent in the unfortunate situations such as Iraq and Afghanistan. It was only because of there being a Labour Government in offfice in the UK at the time of the Vietnam conflict in the 1970s, a Government resolutely opposed to such close ties at the time, that the UK defiantly refused American requests to side with the USA in that horrible conflict, and so Britain stayed out of the affair.
It's because of Continental perception that the British are still America's "best buddies" that the Royaume Uni nowadays scores virtually "nul points" in a farce called the Eurovision Song Contest (this year's fest was held last weekend from Belgrade (Serbia). The UK, as ever nowadays, came right at the bottom of the list of countries from all over Europe (and, amazingly, even outside of Europe, which makes the whole thing even more farcical. Since when has Israel been part of Europe? Or the majority of Turkey?) participating in the song contest. Only Ireland gave any point scores for the British song, performed, incidentally, by a black guy, not that that is of any significance at all.
The point at issue here is that no matter how brilliant or fantastic or absolutely supercalifragilisticexpialidociously wonderful a BRITISH song is at the Eurovision Song Contest it will receive practically no points at all from the majority of the Continental countries, if any at all. As happened this year, last year and ever since the Iraq war year of 2003. It is all so stupidly political with all the block voting, and with Eastern European countries all voting fo each other -giving Western European countries very few votes in comparison, and none at all for Britain, the main target for their"boycott".
Even more astonishing (but not really all that surprising) is that the Language used throughout all the proceedings, even when all the various countries are announcing their own national results, is....well, of course....ENGLISH. Only the reporter from Paris refuses to speak in English, but again, that's no surprise is it? :-) Practically all the countries have their own national singers singing in English as well, and when the whole circus is over the one song most likely to be played in the clubs and bars and parties across the Continent is.......the British one, the one that came bottom of the voting list! :-) How amazing.....
Who cares anyway.......the clubs and bars and parties in the UK would no way play any of their songs over here at any price. Not out of any childish revenge - simply because they just don't appeal and have no commercial value over here anyway, while the British ones do over there! Weird! But as I say - who gives a toss?
As for the UK being the 51st/52nd, whatever) State of America is just joke all due to this so called "special relationship". I don't think too many Brits consider this to be the case anyway - in many ways we have more in common wih other European countries than we do with a country over 3,300 miles away at the nearest point. Many Continental Europeans, though, do tend to think otherwise because of the close alliance between the UK and the USA in times of war and intenrational disputes, this of course being much more apparent in the unfortunate situations such as Iraq and Afghanistan. It was only because of there being a Labour Government in offfice in the UK at the time of the Vietnam conflict in the 1970s, a Government resolutely opposed to such close ties at the time, that the UK defiantly refused American requests to side with the USA in that horrible conflict, and so Britain stayed out of the affair.
It's because of Continental perception that the British are still America's "best buddies" that the Royaume Uni nowadays scores virtually "nul points" in a farce called the Eurovision Song Contest (this year's fest was held last weekend from Belgrade (Serbia). The UK, as ever nowadays, came right at the bottom of the list of countries from all over Europe (and, amazingly, even outside of Europe, which makes the whole thing even more farcical. Since when has Israel been part of Europe? Or the majority of Turkey?) participating in the song contest. Only Ireland gave any point scores for the British song, performed, incidentally, by a black guy, not that that is of any significance at all.
The point at issue here is that no matter how brilliant or fantastic or absolutely supercalifragilisticexpialidociously wonderful a BRITISH song is at the Eurovision Song Contest it will receive practically no points at all from the majority of the Continental countries, if any at all. As happened this year, last year and ever since the Iraq war year of 2003. It is all so stupidly political with all the block voting, and with Eastern European countries all voting fo each other -giving Western European countries very few votes in comparison, and none at all for Britain, the main target for their"boycott".
Even more astonishing (but not really all that surprising) is that the Language used throughout all the proceedings, even when all the various countries are announcing their own national results, is....well, of course....ENGLISH. Only the reporter from Paris refuses to speak in English, but again, that's no surprise is it? :-) Practically all the countries have their own national singers singing in English as well, and when the whole circus is over the one song most likely to be played in the clubs and bars and parties across the Continent is.......the British one, the one that came bottom of the voting list! :-) How amazing.....
Who cares anyway.......the clubs and bars and parties in the UK would no way play any of their songs over here at any price. Not out of any childish revenge - simply because they just don't appeal and have no commercial value over here anyway, while the British ones do over there! Weird! But as I say - who gives a toss?
''''The point at issue here is that no matter how brilliant or fantastic or absolutely supercalifragilisticexpialidociously wonderful a BRITISH song is at the Eurovision Song Contest it will receive practically no points at all from the majority of the Continental countries, if any at all '''
It because you've been sending a lot of crappy songs these days.
Gina G's - Just a little bit, and Imaani's - Where are you now scored high
because they were great. British people seem to like blaming others, that's not a good thing, i.m.o.
Bad song = no points
nice song = high score (Gina G, Imaani, Jessica Garlick, Kathrina & the Waves)
it can be simpler than that.
It because you've been sending a lot of crappy songs these days.
Gina G's - Just a little bit, and Imaani's - Where are you now scored high
because they were great. British people seem to like blaming others, that's not a good thing, i.m.o.
Bad song = no points
nice song = high score (Gina G, Imaani, Jessica Garlick, Kathrina & the Waves)
it can be simpler than that.
The language is naturally a large uniting force between the UK and US 'special relationship' but also how deeply rooted the US's founding was in English and Scottish Englightenment thought... John Locke, Adam Smith, David Hume, Thomas Hobbes... We still read these people... We use the common law system of the British Empire while the majority of Europe uses civil or Roman law... The ideals behind the US Decl. of Independence and the Constitution were basically written by Englishmen and Scotsmen who, not long before, had written "what would we do if we could dismantle the government of GB and start over..." The US was largely created by Englishmen and Scotsmen (or their American-born children) and most Americans have at least some English or Scot in their familial history.
To address someone's earlier question (hopefully it wasn't rhetorical), a person speaking of the 51st state in America would be referring to Puerto Rico, although it isn't a state at all.
Really? I've never heard to Canada referred to as the 51st state here. Are you from there?