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Who can advise the Francophones that it's the British team, not the English team?
I'm enjoying the Olympics coverage on RTBF but there is something that is extremely annoying.
Clue: the opening ceremony started with children singing in London, in Northern Ireland, in Scotland and in Wales. Why? Due to the Olympics being in the UK. Translated, that means Great Britain and Northern Ireland.
It does not mean English! I am losing count of the number of times the commentators are saying 'les anglais', I read the same in Le Soir. We are competing as British, so 'les britanniques'.
Does anyone know why so many Francophones make the same mistake? More to the point does anyone know how to tell them they are incorrect.
In Belgium of all countries this is outrageous. It's like saying Flemish or Walloon to mean the whole of Belgium.
My biggest sympathy goes to those in Northern Ireland. It's team GB not team GB and NI, because of course that is just too long a name, meaning Northern Ireland gets cut out of the name somewhat.
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You'll never get other nationalities to understand the difference between England and UK of GB and NI. It's not just the Belgians or the francophone Belgians. I always correct if possible when speaking to other nationals, but I'm not sure what good it does.
