On Mon, 26 Feb 2007, Arthur Figgis wrote:
John Rowland wrote:
wrote:
(a) the new name for the Imperial War Museum
National War Museum...
But which nation - or should the Commonwealth stuff go?
The British Museum do not seem to have had a problem with this!
and (b) the replacement for the Order of the British Empire?
Order of the British Nation.
Could that risk getting bogged down in the concept of a "nation" as a
"people", with its ethnic/linguistic connotations?
There are plenty of Nation or National this-that-and-the-others that don't
incur this problem; National Express, Test The Nation, National
Curriculum, Video Nation, Royal National Lifeboat Institution, National
Front, Terry Nation, etc. I don't think most people draw a distinction
between 'nation', 'state', and 'country'.
That said, i think 'Order of the British Nation' sounds a bit silly (and
as James observed, the acronym has already been taken by Private Eye!).
'Order of Britain' would, IMHO, be better.
It's not a problem with Empire, which is purely a bit anachronistic.
Not purely - it's also a painful reminder to some people. It's ever so
slightly like having a theme park in Germany called Himmlerspassland or
something.
Hey, is that Godwin's law i can hear kicking in? Does that mean this
thread's over?
More practically, if the honours were abolished or given a more
touchy-feely name, it would mean that the newspapers would have nothing
to moan about during the slow news period around the new year.
Do not underestimate the resourcefulness of journalists.
tom
--
They didn't have any answers - they just wanted weed and entitlement.