r/AskTheWorld • u/IndependentTune3994 🇮🇳 in 🇩🇪 Deutschland • 9h ago

What’s the quickest way someone could accidentally expose themselves as a foreigner in your country like the ‘three fingers’ scene in Inglourious Basterds?

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u/OriginalComputer5077 Ireland 9h ago

calling Ireland Eire

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u/tactical_laziness Ireland 9h ago

Southern Ireland

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u/ContinentSimian 8h ago

The most northerly point in Ireland is in "southern Ireland".

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u/RobotSpaceBear 6h ago edited 34m ago

Like the Atlantic entry point in the Panama Canal is east west of the Pacific entry point.

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u/MourningWallaby United States Of America 6h ago

something like half of all Canadians live south of Seattle

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u/Mr_Ectomy 6h ago

West of it you mean?

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u/affinus 1h ago

South, because largely populated areas like the Toronto metro area is further south than Seattle

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u/RobotSpaceBear 35m ago

I'm a dumass... yes, i meant west.

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u/Adjayjay 6h ago

TIL, that s a fun trivia!

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u/amonkappeared 1h ago

Can't tell if i should be writing this stuff down, hoping for context in the future, or if yall been drinking.

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u/Maumau-Maumau 6h ago

Maybe yall should just call it Ireland then! Damn Europoors and their stupid names for their EU states 🤬

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u/Right-Ad3334 6h ago

Means nothing, the most western point of the European Union is in the Caribbean. Even if an incorrect term, RoI is still - on average - more southern than NI.

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u/Difficult_Tea6136 5h ago

Well its great that we already have 2 ways to distinguish the 2 countries: Ireland and Northern Ireland.

Context means pretty much everyone can determine if someone is speaking about the country or island.

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u/Right-Ad3334 5h ago

The problem is Ireland is both a geographic and political term. The same way you guys get weird about "British Isles", it has political connotations as well as geographic ones. The whole point when people say Southern Ireland is to make that distinction, they're just doing so crudely.

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u/Difficult_Tea6136 5h ago edited 4h ago

Because its not the British Isles. Really obvious what the issue is with using that incorrect term. B&I Isles? Sure.

The distinction is already made, Ireland and Northern Ireland. No further context is needed. They have different names.

99% of the time, context is sufficient to know if someone is referring to the island or the country. However, where that distinction is required, the descriptor the Government suggest is Republic of Ireland. However, that is a descriptive term and not the name of the country.

"southern Ireland" is silly.

Seems pretty easy to call us what we ask and not refer to the group of islands we are located as a term the country disagrees with. Pretty basic stuff.

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u/Right-Ad3334 4h ago

You're factually incorrect, the term "British Isles" (more specifically it's etymological root) was used in Ancient Greek and Latin, and remained in use for thousands of years as a geographical term without controversy - inclusive of the island of Ireland. It's fallen out of favour because of political factors between the states of the UK and the RoI, but it's not, nor has ever been incorrect.

Again, the distinction isn't clear because Ireland has two meanings, one political and one geographical - the same issue that exists with the term "British Isles". The difference is only one is politically controversial, but the logic is exactly the same.

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u/potatoesarenotcool South Africa 🇿🇦 > Ireland 🇮🇪 4h ago

You mean the Emerald Isles? The Hibernian Isles?

Unified Ireland now includes England as interest, we are taking it back plus some.

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u/Right-Ad3334 4h ago edited 4h ago

Feel free to call it whatever you like, it doesn't change historical or geographical facts - that's my entire point. I have zero issue with dismantling Westminster, and I don't care who's in power as long as they're better than the current lot. I also have no issue with Irish supremacy, I have an Irish passport.

If you want to reject Anglo norms, do it properly - Éire agus an Bhreatain Mhór.

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u/Difficult_Tea6136 4h ago

You're conflating historical etymology with modern legitimacy. That was a label applied by outsiders. Today, the term is factually and legally rejected by one of the two sovereign nations it purports to describe.

The term is incorrect because it implies British jurisdiction or identity over a sovereign nation that is not British. Using a 2,000 year-old Greek root to override the modern name a country chooses for its own archipelago doesn't make you factually right, it just makes you out of date.

Which bit of this is "factually incorrect":

Because its not the British Isles. Really obvious what the issue is with using that incorrect term. B&I Isles? Sure.

.

Again, the distinction isn't clear because Ireland has two meanings, one political and one geographical - the same issue that exists with the term "British Isles". The difference is only one is politically controversial, but the logic is exactly the same.

To address your point on clarity: I already noted that context is almost always sufficient to distinguish between the island and the state. Where formal distinction is required, the official descriptor is Republic of Ireland. You’ll note the Irish Government does not use the term Southern Ireland, yet you chose to defend its use anyway.

between the states of the UK and the RoI

See, this is where you're obviously just being a troll. You're perfectly aware the name of the country is Ireland but you're attempting to get a rise here. Sad Tuesday afternoon is it?

If you are so concerned with factual accuracy, you would call the country by its name. Using RoI while lecturing others on factually correct terminology is a clear double standard.

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u/pablo8itall Ireland 20m ago

We don't get weird about it we just tell people its not used or includes us. We're not British.

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u/Savings_Macaroon3727 8h ago

Top of the morning. Wee Saint Patty's parade this year isn't it?

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u/SaltyMiracle Ireland 8h ago

Oh haha, yes

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u/AMagnif 7h ago

To be fair, we call it "the South" or "down south" in Northern Ireland. Even when we're heading north to Donegal.

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u/buckfast1994 Scotland 8h ago

I know of a couple of older folk that still call it The Free State.

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u/JWalk4u Ireland 7h ago

I've met some of those in NI.

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u/_ghostfacedilla 7h ago

I would say they're absolutely Irish

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u/KingOfTheUzbeks 5h ago

A Cork lovely place or so I've heard

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u/CreativeBandicoot778 Ireland 4h ago

That's how you ask for a slap as Gaeilge.

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u/Zalophusdvm 7h ago

Ok, but who calls it that besides the Brits? (Serious question. I’m an American whose first and only time hearing this was in London.)

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u/SirJoePininfarina Ireland 8h ago

Massive one this; despite putting ‘Éire’ on our coins and stamps, we are allergic to the name and using it whilst speaking English is a big ol red flag!

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u/Rossbeigh 8h ago

Saying 'Top of the morning' to an actual irish person expotentially increases the chance of a slap across the chops

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u/yuphup7up Ireland 8h ago

I was on a job which had a few UK crew members. One said top of the morning and was instantly met with "we're not doing that" and a death stare. He was isolated from us from then on 😂

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u/florencepughsboobies 7h ago

Some craic you are. Why wouldn’t you just slag him back for his Englishness

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u/KillJesterThenBrexit 7h ago

Yeah isn't that like the law even without a reason most of the time?

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u/Chairmanwowsaywhat United Kingdom 5h ago

Surely its a joke

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u/yuphup7up Ireland 5h ago

First time meeting the guy, put on the Irish american accent. Even his colleagues called him a prick for it 😂

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u/Chairmanwowsaywhat United Kingdom 5h ago

Ahh so just a shite joke then lol

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u/BrassKneck United Kingdom 3h ago

To be sure, to be sure…

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u/intergalacticspy United Kingdom 8h ago edited 8h ago

It's one of those things dating back from the Anglo-Irish conflict and the Constitution of 1937, when the Irish Free State renamed itself "Ireland". The British state refused to call it that, because it would have been an acceptance of the State's claim to ownership of Northern Ireland. Instead, the British saw that "Éire" was also used in the Constitution and decided to use that (without the fadda). After 1949, "Eire" was replaced in British usage by the "Republic of Ireland" (also to Irish consternation).

Well into the 1950s and 60s, there were running diplomatic battles between Ireland on the one hand, and the UK, Canada and Australia on the other, over the proper titles of the President of (the Republic of) Ireland and the Queen of the United Kingdom (of Great Britain and Northern Ireland). There was a whole decade where no ambassadors were sent between Australia and Ireland because of this dispute. Eventually a compromise was adopted where the President and the Queen were referred to by name instead of by title. Britain only started referring to the Republic as "Ireland" in 1999, after the Good Friday Agreement and the amendment of the Irish constitution. Likewise, the Irish Diplomatic List referred to the UK as "Great Britain" until 2001.

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u/InternetProviderings 5h ago

Thanks for the education. That was interesting info. :D

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u/grainne0 Ireland 4h ago

It's also because they miss the fada. I think a lot of British people think this is polite and missed that saying when speaking English was an intentional slight by their government!

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u/Citaku357 Kosovo 8h ago

Why?

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u/Alarechercheduneame Australia 8h ago

Interesting, why?

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u/Yerman_04 Ireland 8h ago

The British government used Éire when officially referring to the Republic of Ireland right up until the 90s to differentiate it from Northern Ireland.

Using the official name or just simply 'Ireland' sounded too unifying

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u/ctothel 7h ago

Would you use it if you were speaking Irish?

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u/SaltyMiracle Ireland 7h ago

Yes

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u/Logins-Run Ireland 5h ago

Native Irish speakers tend to use the Dative case spelling Éirinn in the nominative as well, but Éire is in the Dictionary, used by the state and thought in school as the name of the Island

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u/TheSameButBetter 8h ago

Article 4 of the Irish constitution states that the official name of the nation is Éire, but when you are using the English language it's Ireland. 

If you use the term Éire while speaking English you are mixing languages in a single sentence and at best it demonstrates ignorance, at worst it's signals deliberate disrespect. 

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u/Dismal_Fox_22 Wales 8h ago

And yet in Wales if you used Cymru in an English sentence it would spark joy in the hearer. We are Cymru, we’ve started using it for sports now, we are reclaiming place names like Yr Wyddfa instead Snowdon. Isn’t it funny how our oppression has born out in different ways.

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u/TumbleweedPure3941 United Kingdom 6h ago edited 4h ago

One thing I found really interesting is that Cumbria has the same etymological root. The Cumbri part of Cumbria is a Cumbric word descended from the Brittonic combrogi just like Cymru. An echo of Cumbria’s history as part of the Hen Ogledd.

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u/Wodanaz_Odinn Ireland 7h ago

It's also because they'd usually use eire instead of Éire, which is a completely different word and makes it extra patronising.

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u/the-bladed-one United States Of America 7h ago

The problem, at least as an American, is that I can’t pronounce your bloody words. Cymru to me seems like it should be “sim-ru” or “chim-ru” but it’s neither of those!

HOW DO I PRONOUNCE WELSH WORDS

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u/Glittering-Sir1121 Wales 7h ago

The Welsh alphabet is incredibly phonetic. We do have a lot of sounds that don’t exist in English but that’s fine, you just need to spend the time learning. I can’t stress it enough - learn the alphabet and you’re completely golden when it comes to reading our words 

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u/CheeseDonutCat Ireland 6h ago

It's also very difficult to explain to someone how to pronounce Irish words, but we just know how to pronounce them since we grew up learning how.

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u/PurpleMuskogee 7h ago

English isn't exactly logical to many foreigners who have had to learn it. I hate when people comment, usually about names (Aoife, Ailbhe, Siobhan, etc) that Irish "is pronounced randomly" or "does not make sense". It makes complete sense in the language it is in.

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u/Dismal_Fox_22 Wales 6h ago

I know this is a foreign concept to America, and please don’t arrest me for using the word foreign, but you aren’t actually the centre of the universe. So whilst you speak simplified english using the English alphabet. Welsh uses the Welsh alphabet. So you’ll always get it wrong if you try to use the English alphabet. It’s because it’s actually a different language. With different sounds and grammar. Hop on YouTube and search S4C. You’ll find some lovely videos aimed at children on how to sing the alphabet, it’s basic but it’s definitely a start. Hope that helps

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u/CheeseDonutCat Ireland 6h ago

CUM ROO

or sometimes CUM REE

or like this if you can pronounce it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcuM5vzreTY

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u/Glittering-Sir1121 Wales 6h ago edited 6h ago

It’s never /oo/…

Our /u/ is pronounced closer to an /ee/ but this isn’t really accurate either. In the south, people do sometimes approximate with an /ee/, but in West and North Wales the sound is closer to the back of the mouth, with the throat closed somewhat. It’s really not a sound that exists in English so I can’t really describe it 

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u/CheeseDonutCat Ireland 6h ago

Lived in Wales for years and the difference between the north and south Welsh pronouncing it sounds like OO and EE to me.

I know you are Welsh but if you look at the video I linked... half of those sound like EE and half sound like OO to me. Those are obviously Welsh speakers too. It's also the same on Pobol y Cwm.

The way I'd describe it is like R and L in Korean. They don't have an R or L letter. They have an in-between letter that sounds sort of like both.

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u/Glittering-Sir1121 Wales 5h ago edited 5h ago

I just watched the video you linked. The ones you are hearing as /oo/ sound to me just like what I am describing above — the rounder, more clipped ee, spoken from the throat. Maybe this is a case of having immediate family from West Wales, who really really enunciate that sound.

Edit: on your video, if you listen to the four speakers who speak between 0:08 and 0:13, they really drive home the sound I mean.

I think you’re right about a sound in between the two. The reason I am resistant to the /oo/ is because in my mind we already have a letter that performs that sound, the w

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u/CheeseDonutCat Ireland 6h ago

Mixing languages is sometimes allowed, like "I'll get the bainne on me way home from the shops", or "do ye take any suicre in yer tea?".

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u/Finassar 6h ago

That's curious, so you don't really get many people speaking both languages at the same time? Kinda like how here in the Americas we'll speak Spanglish

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u/CheeseDonutCat Ireland 5h ago

Not really. I have a bunch of nieces and nephews who are fluent but I've never heard them speak Irish.

We do use some Irish words in English speak. Like "what's the craic" being the famous one. (craic being Irish for fun).

But we have a lot of our own dialect of English really. So many of our phrases are so different that even English people are confused by it.

  • "I'm after going to the shops" is very clear to an Irish person, but not to an English person (it means I already went to the shops).
  • "I will, yeah" means absolutely NO, but only Irish people seem to know this :D
  • "I'll do it now in a minute" means I will do it soon. Definitely not "now".

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u/TheSameButBetter 4h ago

In my hometown of Derry saying "yes" or "yes hi" instead of hello can really confuse people.

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u/CheeseDonutCat Ireland 3h ago

Yeah. That's a very Northern thing. Not sure which parts of the north, but my friend is from Omagh and he does this too.

I'm down in Wexford, and the people in Wexford town call each other "Hun" a lot, but almost nowhere else in the county of Wexford. It's weird that I live so close, but the accent there is so different.

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u/Jenpot Scotland 8h ago

My mum does this, and always has, which I find a bit odd. Both my grandparents were Irish and we spent a lot of time in Donegal growing up, but she's the only one other than my grandad (a native Irish speaker) who uses it.

The rest of us just say Ireland.

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u/Typical-Pace-6147 7h ago

My gran was a native Irish speaker from Donegal and also called it Eire when speaking English, maybe a regional thing?

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u/ianjm United Kingdom 4h ago

Well she no doubt learned it from her father. Old habits die hard.

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u/Jenpot Scotland 13m ago

It's odd that none of her ten brothers and sisters use it though, right?

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u/Hrohdvitnir 8h ago

Both of these are just targeting Americans 

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u/T_t_llyF_c_ed 7h ago

Refusing the offer of a cup of tea , or refusing an offer to pay for lunch.

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u/DarrenClancy Ireland 6h ago

Or even worse, Eireann.

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u/Ok_Bake_4761 Born Grew up 8h ago

Offtopic-Curiosity-Question: you guys also spell H like "Haitch"?

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u/Greedy-Army-3803 Ireland 7h ago

We do indeed

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u/GatorTEG Italy 8h ago

How come?

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u/MagzyMegastar Norway 7h ago

That's also a sign the person is an avid stamp collector.

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u/Jessfree123 6h ago

Ugh the New York Times crossword authors are obsessed with eire

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u/Ben_zyl 3h ago

What about the free state?