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flakfizer
Joined: 12 Nov 2004
Location: scaling the Cliffs of Insanity with a frayed rope.
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 Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 7:58 pm Post subject: What should Britain's motto be? |
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http://news.yahoo.com/s/csm/20071116/ts_csm/ogreat
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By Mark Rice-Oxley
Fri Nov 16, 3:00 AM ET
LONDON - The French have their "Libert�, �galit�, fraternit�." The Americans have "In God we trust." Even tiny nations like Antigua and Fiji have stirring calls to nationhood, faith, solidarity.
Not so Britain. Remarkably, for a country with such a rich history and distinctive national traits, there have been no formal mottos to describe the British mission statement. Until now.
Keen to redefine an increasingly diverse nation and its values, the government has launched a quest for a national maxim. Meant to be "truly representative," the motto will be arrived at by 1,000 members of the British public. This week, the BBC and the Times newspaper jump-started the process by soliciting suggestions on their websites.
"Once Great: Britain," offered one contributor. "Americans who missed the boat," read a second. "At least we're not French" quipped a third. While some were genuine efforts, most were scornful in tone � revealing more about the British today than any motto could.
"It's stirring up a good characteristic of the British, and that is a sardonic humor towards any attempt by government to do unnecessary and pompous things," says Sir Bernard Crick, a former government advisor on citizenship. He says there's a good reason why Britain doesn't have a motto � it did not have the same grand cataclysmic moment of creation that other countries did.
"When the American states gathered together, they had 'e pluribus unum' and it was there right from the beginning and it meant something," he says. "We have no historical occasion like that. You have to take the British sense of history as a whole and I don't think it can be summed up. It would either be vague waffle or terribly contentious."
"You can't encompass a whole national history in a slogan," says Professor Crick. "It's ridiculous."
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cbclark4
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Location: Masan
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:03 pm Post subject: |
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| Great Britain: "See Our Teeth" |
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Kuros
Joined: 27 Apr 2004
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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| Great Brittannia: "Come for the food; stay for the ladies." |
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Czarjorge
Joined: 01 May 2007
Location: I now have the same moustache, and it is glorious.
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:07 pm Post subject: |
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Damn, I thought I might be early enough to make the teeth joke.
How about...
Britain: Our food is getting much better. |
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jinju
Joined: 22 Jan 2006
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:41 pm Post subject: |
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| America say, Britain do. |
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atomic42
Joined: 06 Jul 2007
Location: Gimhae
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:42 pm Post subject: |
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| If you fry it, we'll eat it. |
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yawarakaijin
Joined: 08 Aug 2006
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 8:47 pm Post subject: |
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| Great Britain; What happened? Didn't we use to own the world? And what's up with this shite weather? Blimey! |
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Czarjorge
Joined: 01 May 2007
Location: I now have the same moustache, and it is glorious.
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 9:38 pm Post subject: |
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Great Britain: Who needs an empire when you've got all this charm.
Great Britain: Proof a great accent can get you laid regardless of your looks.
Great Britain: Playing down the role of France in our history for 1000 years.
Great Britain: We like Ireland now.
Great Britain: Harry Potter's from here.
Great Britain: Now without Posh and Becks.
Great Britain: We didn't invite divorce, but we sure popularized it. |
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SPINOZA
Joined: 10 Jun 2005
Location: $eoul
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 10:52 pm Post subject: |
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| cbclark4 wrote: |
| Great Britain: "See Our Teeth" |
That might be best used for the US: over 1 in 3 Americans without dental insurance
Even if those paupers have wonderful teeth (highly doubtful considering all the sugary crap eaten), 1 in 3 Americans are also obese. No point having perfectly white teeth if you weigh 300lbs. You can't polish a turd. 
| article in the OP wrote: |
| Remarkably, for a country with such a rich history and distinctive national traits, there have been no formal mottos to describe the British mission statement |
Precisely why it doesn't need one.
The French are characterized by their Revolution; the Brits are not similarly characterized by one chiefly positive event it's acceptable to celebrate. |
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Atavistic
Joined: 22 May 2006
Location: How totally stupid that Korean doesn't show in this area.
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 10:57 pm Post subject: |
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| SPINOZA wrote: |
Even if those paupers have wonderful teeth (highly doubtful considering all the sugary crap eaten), 1 in 3 Americans are also obese. No point having perfectly white teeth if you weigh 300lbs. You can't polish a turd. |
So different from Britain's 1 in 4 obese adults, eh? |
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pugwall
Joined: 22 Oct 2006
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:05 pm Post subject: |
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Are England famous for bad teeth. When has that come up before. I have never heard that. It is like when Americans tell me British people don't like the French. Maybe 100 years ago or something but the mood now is pretty much ambivalent at best.
One of the only things I like about my mother land is that we don't really go in for that nationalistic nonsense. No proper national day, as illy national anthem nobody likes or sings, no pledging alleigance to any stupid flags, no propoganda in the classroom. Please don't change that. We don't need a slogan, they are for breakfast cereals and washing powder. |
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Dome Vans
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:09 pm Post subject: |
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Great Britain: Libert�, �galit�, fraternit�. Shit, somebody's already used that one? Who? Kidding me?
Great Britain: In Bod we trust
Great Britain: Come! We don't have any mosquitoes.
Great Britain: You thought you couldn't be more screwed? Watch this.
Great Britain: We have Argos.
Great Britain: In emergency, break glass! |
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dogshed
Joined: 28 Apr 2006
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:13 pm Post subject: |
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They have this travel slogan, "Be a Brit Different".
If you listen to a show on NPR you get to see the ad
with guys dressed up like the Beetles.
Edit: Here's the website:
http://www.beabritdifferent.com/?url=/us
Last edited by dogshed on Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:15 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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halfmanhalfbiscuit
Joined: 13 Oct 2007
Location: Seoul
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:14 pm Post subject: |
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| We're Ok cos we eat lard |
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Czarjorge
Joined: 01 May 2007
Location: I now have the same moustache, and it is glorious.
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| Posted: Sun Nov 18, 2007 11:24 pm Post subject: |
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Great Britain: Our men are hilarious when they act like our women.
Great Britain: The whole teeth thing is so passe. We're over it.
Great Britain: You speak OUR language.
Great Britain: Serving the needs of Goths for 20 years.
Great Britain: We're very good at irony.
Great Britain: Not as fat as America.
Great Britain: You like Dr. Who, right? What, you don't like Dr. Who? |
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