Well fuck me pink and call me Rosie. AIBU?

[TooBigForMyBoots]

Do you know that Belfast and NI are in the British Isles? Are you aware that some British people claim they do not know that NI is in the same timezone as the rest of the UK?

YABU = You can't expect British people to know the history and geography of their country.
YANBU = Of course British people know this stuff. Anyone who says otherwise is having you on.

I haven't read the whole thread, so haven't read that Jourdain isn't from that part of the world, they didn't mention it in the post of mine they referenced - but neither am I and I have never ever thought that there was more than one time zone in the UK.

I think we should lobby France to re-join CUT.

Bullying my arse.

Im asking a totally reasonable question. This is a TAAT, and the OP won’t own that. It’s weird and annoying.

Fair enough to the Irish identity thing - I spoke from my experience but I concede my experience doesn’t reflect the whole of Ireland only my DH’s family (and the other way round for people claiming they don’t know NI people who call themselves Irish).

And I believe Jourdain is French. I have seen her post before and remember her stating this

P'raps they mean Belfast, SA, or Belfast, Canada 🤔 Definitely different timezones.

She lives in the U.K. She has confirmed this on this thread. I’m not British (or Irish) myself. However, I maintain that knowing the time zone (or zones, if applicable) of the country in which you live is pretty basic. Particularly if it’s a small country with only one.

The only people who wouldn't know this are most likely new to living in the UK

@TheObstinateHeadstrongGirl

There is a group of islands off the northwest coast of the continent of Europe.

The group of islands used to be called the British Isles.

The term isn't generally used anymore.

There are several reasons for this, but the salient one is the unfortunate association of the term British Isles with the historical political relationship of the smaller island and the larger one.
.

Where did I 'utterly deny' that there's a group of islands that lots of people refer to as the British Isles? What a bizarre thing to say.

'Ive never heard The British Isles be referred to in Ireland as a ‘geopolitical term’ but not being from Ireland im not sure why you’d expect me to?'

Maybe give it a moment's thought rather than instantly scoffing at the idea?

'Do you know all the political terms for all the countries in the world?'

Well of course not. But in such cases I wouldn't do as you've done, and stride confidently onto such a thread claiming I had full knowledge of a subject. I'm from Ireland, and I've lived in three other countries. Hopefully that has exposed my 'tiny brain' to a bigger bubble than your Little Englander one. I suggest you set foot outside of your village gates once in a while and expand your tiny mind.

You mean SOME people in NI call themselves Irish. Many many many people here say 'I'm Northern Irish.'
When you say 'not one says 'I'm northern Irish' I take it you're talking exclusively about your husband's family.

She is still French and not native to the UK. She was not educated in the UK and has probably given very little thought to time zones of a different country.

Edinburgh is further west than Bristol! There are lots of fascinating facts about the UK that lots of people don't know! That's one of the gifts of life - we are always learning!

I believe I’ve already addressed this.

She lives in the U.K. She has confirmed this on this thread. I’m not British (or Irish) myself. However, I maintain that knowing the time zone (or zones, if applicable) of the country in which you live is pretty basic. Particularly if it’s a small country with only one.

That's one of the gifts of life - we are always learning!
Indeed but some people are obstinate!

She presumably lives in either England, NI Scotland OR Wales but not several? Assuming she lives in GB, it would be fair to a non-Brit to see Ireland as a different country (both parts are) and as a detached country from GB it may have a different time zone. Hardly worthy of being called ‘thick’. I have no idea about eh time zones in European countries and if any have more than one and I couldn’t give a flying fuck either. I certainly wouldn’t sneer at someone and call them names for not knowing

She presumably lives in either England, NI Scotland OR Wales but not several?

I have no idea what you’re asking here, sorry. She lives in the U.K., which comprises all of those - and has one time zone.

Assuming she lives in GB, it would be fair to a non-Brit to see Ireland as a different country (both parts are) and as a detached country from GB it may have a different time zone.

She wasn’t talking about Ireland, she was talking about Northern Ireland. Which, as stated, is part of the country in which she lives.

I have no idea about eh time zones in European countries and if any have more than one and I couldn’t give a flying fuck either.

Again, nobody is saying she (or anyone) should know all the time zones of every country.

Hardly worthy of being called ‘thick’…I certainly wouldn’t sneer at someone and call them names for not knowing

She called herself thick and was agreed with. Nobody has called her any names that I’ve seen.

There are 32 counties not 33 And I have to row in with my support of Jane here.
Every single Irish person I know, which is many many people can ream off all 32 counties at lightning speed .
I have absolutely no idea why though, we must have had it beat into us in school.
Knowing all the counties is a given, it’s how fast can you name them all.

I think that largely depends what belief system they have.

I live in Belfast and can confidently say there are some people who would be very offended at being referred to as Irish. Personally I have no offence or strong point on it , but to say people don't call themselves Northern Irish or British (as opposed to Irish) is inherently untrue.

I can probably name more states in the USA than I can counties in Ireland. 😅
I'm in Northern Ireland, so we only had six counties drummed into us. But I live in Belfast which is covered by two of those counties, and because I live right on the border of both, I can never remember which one I'm officially in because people keep telling me something different.

We (family and most friends) use "Northern Irish" or "British" depending on the situation. Usually, when in person outside of NI, we use "Northern Irish" because when we say "British" it starts a whole thing about us not sounding English. Can't be bothered with that. Though when we say "Northern Irish" it usually starts a whole "Ooh you're Irish! My great-great-great grandfather was from Cavan. Wasn't it awful what the English did?" thing. Smile and nod.

On forms and online we normally tick British.

I think it's fair to not know much about a potentially far away region of the state you live in if you're from somewhere else. Christ. And I live in NI! We have a smaller population in our whole country than the county of Hampshire and I would struggle to tell you much at all about Hampshire.

I imagine it's not something that someone who hasn't grown up in the UK has done much thinking about. And given it's a flight away and that France itself has another timezone and its overseas territories have 12 it's not a wild thing to not be sure on.

I know. I once had words with a taxi driver in Belfast as I said "I've never been to Ireland before" and he took umbrage saying it was NI and mumbled something about the English. I argued that I'd meant the lump of rock, rather than country and that I was perfectly well aware that I was still in the UK.

Well this thread would have been a lot shorter if she had stated that in her post instead of telling me she didn't know and why was it shocking? I do still think she should know however - it's really nothing to do with education. I wasn't educated in the UK and have never been there but I know there is only one time zone.

This is an interesting thread. Most Irish people are aware that there is a lot of ignorance in England about the status of Ireland. I think the Scots and Welsh are likely to have some more understanding as they have nationalist movements and devolved parliaments.

The defensiveness from posters - why should anyone know about something as obtuse as the geography of their own country - is enlightening, and are the many examples of incorrect information presented as fact.

It all feeds perfecly, and entertainingly, into the stereotype of the superior but clueless English.

This may be true of your DHs family but absolutely is not true generally of 'people in NI'. Also not sure what is smug about being accurate.

Ugh. The gatekeepers I call them. But a fool kicks a ball and he's Fionn MacCool.

Although I'm sure some people think of themselves as Northern Irish. Fair enough.

And some are in their own Time Zone.