How Should The 'great' Be Put Back In 'great Britain'

[vortex]

Picking up on AOG's comment on another thread, I thought I would open this up to you all.

What needs to be done to make GB 'great again'? What went wrong and when, or do you think that there is little to worry about?

[fiction-factory]

The Great in Great Britain was never meant to mean "wonderful" or "really good", just as the name Greater London doesn't mean it's better than another London.
I'm not sure what, if anything, went wrong. If things are as bad as some suggest why do so many people want to come here? We have the NHS which people say is the envy of the world. The climate is pleasant. We have wonderful countryside. The Premier League is watched all round the world. We still play a leading role in Music.
Having said that, I enjoy watching black and white films from the early 50s and there does seem to be a sort of Britishness we don't see any more- a cheeriness, politeness , more cooperation- but no doubt there was dreadful poverty in some areas and there would have been areas where it was not safe to walk the streets at night

[douglas9401]

Well, we could start with getting this to the top of the hit parade again. :)

[Zacs-Master]

As ff says the 'Great' in GB simply refers to the greater land mass of our Island nation, as distinct from say the Isle of Wight. Nothing to do with us being a great nation.
It's debatable whether we were ever a great nation which I think stems from the time we ruled half the world but the story of how we became and maintained that status is a pretty dark one.
If we were ever great i think it was at the end of the second world war. We showed an immense fortitude and resilience which is something to be proud of.

[cassa333]

Stop people complaining about everything. Stop people thinking they are entitled to everything that everyone else has.

Britain can only be great when the people realise that they are the ones to make it happen. Sitting on your backside waiting for money to whisk its way to your bank account is lazy and endemic of the entitlement society that has been created.

When people work hard it brings its own rewards. Self respect. Pride in your achievements. Respect has been so diluted it means nothing these days. That was the start of the slippery slope to mediocrity.

When people realise it is 'the people' that make a country great then the rest of the world sees it too.

As a nation we can't trade with the world without producing something the world wants. The government can make as many trade deals as it wants but we have to deliver to be credible.

[vortex]

Douglas9401 - oh dear! ;-)

[espookid]

well fiction factory ,I think you have hit the nail on the head as to the cause .It is the attitude you have that makes the rest of Europe laugh .Firstly you don't know the difference between great and greater as used in the context .The reason people come to UK is not that it is the best -that I can promise you - but because it is the easiest to live a higher standard than they have been used to .The NHS is running with 96% of hospitals short of staff ( Daily Mail) .Yes the countryside is wonderful but it is by no means the only beautiful country
On the OT, I think the main thing missing is respect and that has meant the loss of so many other values

[ummmm]

Who is laughing?

And FF knows the difference between great and greater.

This isn't the only country that gives people a higher standard of living.

[Jackdaw33]

I remember the 'I'm Backing Britain' campaign of 1967/68. Another short-lived con by Harold Wilson.

[Islay]

I personally believe that our country is still great, and I refuse to put it down unlike many others that do.

[fiction-factory]

I think you might have misread my post, espookid. I can confirm I do know the meaning of Great/great and Greater/greater. And I didn't say we were the best.

[vulcan42]

Jackdaw33, I remember that campaign as well, especially the time when it was revealed that the ' I'm backing Britain ' T shirts were printed in Portugal.

[espookid]

Well UMMMM
you don't know but I will tell you the rest of Europe laughs at the Great part of GB because it is the greatest untruth ,it might have had some substance when we had an empire but with the demise of the empire sadly went the meaning of the Great in GB
There is a lot to be proud of in GB but it isn't great any longer ,sorry .As you might have gathered I don't live in the UK any more , where I do live has a better health service ,a better standard of living , just as nice countryside ,a better system for unemployed and pensioners ,better education and a healthier lifestyle and is constantly in the top three countries to live according to polls .And it isn't great anything just a great place to live .Oh and you can go out and leave your door unlocked

[vulcan42]

espookid, before you go any further please research the history of Great Britain.

[Jackdaw33]

Great Britain is so-called to distinguish it from Lesser Britain, now called Brittany, so-named because many Britons fled there after the Saxon invasion of England.

[Zacs-Master]

Seems like we have another blinkered contributor.

[RandyMarsh]

Chicken could taste like chicken again for a start.

[espookid]

Vulcan the true meaning is not my point it was the argument I was attracted to .I was simply stating that the word Great could not in any longer be meant literally and that any one who thinks that the UK is the best place to live is quite simply wrong. The people who think it are blinkered in their views not that I mind as here the population density is 1/15th that of the UK

[Zacs-Master]

but the argument is false and the word was never meant literally.

[mikey4444]

This has been explained before on AB !

Great doesn't mean the best....it was a distinction between us other "British" parts of northern Europe, such as Brittany.

I don't think anything needs to be done to make Britain great again, in the meaning that most people understand the word to be. I certainly don't think it should be taken back to some mythical age in the 1950's....lets go forwards, not backwards.

[espookid]

Zacs which argument? the OP asked when the GREAT could be put back ! whatever the meaning he had in mind