On Tue, 10 May 2011 23:06:08 +0100, Chris Tolley
(ukonline really) wrote in misc.transport.urban-transit:

1506 wrote:

If I told my neighbrs in Washoe County, Nevada that I grew up in
Buckinghamshire they would not relate that to a county, "Shire" is
obscure in North America.

It briefly comes to the fore every four years at the start of the
Presidential race.

It may be smaller than some US counties, but no one thinks of the
(clearly misnamed) New Hampshire as a county.