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Message |
Chick Loser
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2004 10:54 pm
Post subject: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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Hello,
I need an English word which stands for any of the following, with the
meaning of being a political geographical region large enough such that
anything larger should be considered a country. The word should be generic.
- State
- Province
- Region
- District
- etc...
The word I am looking for should mean all of the above in a genric way,
but should be unambiguous enough such that the person reading it understands
it is a large political region contained within a Country and can figure enough
from it to assign it a name, no matter where the reader is located.
This is for some software I am writing (and I need to name the
corresponding field with the approporate word).
Regards and many thanks for your help,
Neil
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Spehro Pefhany
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2004 11:22 pm
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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On 10 Oct 2004 09:54:32 -0700, the renowned chickloser@hotmail.com
(Chick Loser) wrote:
| Quote: | Hello,
I need an English word which stands for any of the following, with the
meaning of being a political geographical region large enough such that
anything larger should be considered a country. The word should be generic.
- State
- Province
- Region
- District
- etc...
The word I am looking for should mean all of the above in a genric way,
but should be unambiguous enough such that the person reading it understands
it is a large political region contained within a Country and can figure enough
from it to assign it a name, no matter where the reader is located.
This is for some software I am writing (and I need to name the
corresponding field with the approporate word).
Regards and many thanks for your help,
Neil
|
A lot of programs seem to use "State" or "State/Province". I suppose
those who have Cantoni or whatever may feel left out, but I suspect
it's pretty universally understood even if not technically correct in
some cases. In countries that are English-speaking:
USA: States and one District
Canada: Provinces and Territories
South Africa: Provinces
Australia States and Territories
New Zealand: Regions
UK: (seems to be a dog's breakfast of boroughs, cities,
royal boroughs, counties and districts)
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com |
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Don Phillipson
Guest
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| Posted: Sun Oct 10, 2004 11:51 pm
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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"Chick Loser" <chickloser@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e0ea39c8.0410100854.707fc84a@posting.google.com...
| Quote: | I need an English word which stands for any of the following, with the
meaning of being a political geographical region large enough such that
anything larger should be considered a country. The word should be
generic. |
There are no uniform or generic words because the
same English word means different things in different
political environments, e.g. US states and Australian
states, British counties and Canadian counties etc.
Size has nothing to do with it. Several recognized countries
are much smaller than US states, Australian states etc.
--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)
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Michael DeBusk
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 12:04 am
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:22:59 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
<speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:
| Quote: | In countries that are English-speaking:
USA: States and one District
|
I believe both Pennsylvania and Virginia are called "Commonwealths".
For the OP: Can you not query the system's country code and use the
appropriate word from a message file?
--
Michael DeBusk, Co-Conspirator to Make the World a Better Place
Did he update http://home.earthlink.net/~debu4335/ yet? |
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Martin Ambuhl
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 12:24 am
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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Michael DeBusk wrote:
| Quote: | On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:22:59 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:
In countries that are English-speaking:
USA: States and one District
I believe both Pennsylvania and Virginia are called "Commonwealths".
|
Don't forget Kentucky and Massachusetts.
The Northern Marianas Islands and Puerto Rico are also commonwealths. |
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bill ramsay
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 12:34 am
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:51:59 -0400, "Don Phillipson"
<d.phillipson@ttrryytteell.com> wrote:
| Quote: | "Chick Loser" <chickloser@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e0ea39c8.0410100854.707fc84a@posting.google.com...
I need an English word which stands for any of the following, with the
meaning of being a political geographical region large enough such that
anything larger should be considered a country. The word should be
generic.
There are no uniform or generic words because the
same English word means different things in different
political environments, e.g. US states and Australian
states, British counties and Canadian counties etc.
Size has nothing to do with it. Several recognized countries
are much smaller than US states, Australian states etc.
|
Also, in New Orleans, they have Parishes, where other parts of the
states have counties etc.
My mother and her extended family come from Fife in Scotland, it is a
county and accordingly the local authority is the Fife County Council,
however Fife is also known as the Kingdom of Fife. Not bad for a
little bit of the wider country.
kind regards
bill ramsay |
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meirman
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 5:48 am
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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In alt.english.usage on 10 Oct 2004 09:54:32 -0700
chickloser@hotmail.com (Chick Loser) posted:
| Quote: | Hello,
I need an English word which stands for any of the following, with the
meaning of being a political geographical region large enough such that
anything larger should be considered a country. The word should be generic.
|
I thought you said "any thing larger should be considered a county".
In the Midwest US, it's a township. I'm not sure there needs to be a
specific town to have a township. I think Marion County (where
Indianapolis is) was 27 miles square and had the city in the middle,
and 8 townships, each 9 miles square, iirc. The schools were
organized by township, but I can't remember anything else that was.
(Trash collection required payment, but I didn't know if it was to the
township or to a private company.) Each township (which doesn't count
the city) had one high school when I was there, and greater numbers of
lower schools. But the suburban population has gone up a lot in 40
years. There must be more.
OTOH, Baltimore County in Maryland only has County Council districts.
Each one gets to elect one member of the County Council, but districts
are not separate units when it comes to administration or governing,
any more than State Senate or House districts are when it comes to the
state government, or Congressional districts are when it comes to the
federal government.
NYCity comprises 5 counties, and because of the desire for local
control of schools, there are, I forget the name, local school boards
and the area assigned to them, and there are also State House and
Senate districts, but they are only for electoral purposes. The
Department of Sanitation probably has disticts, depending on where the
trucks are dispatched from, and the fire department and the police
department, and the Post Office has zones or sipcodes, with a post
office at the center, but none of these boundaries match.
| Quote: | - State
- Province
- Region
- District
- etc...
The word I am looking for should mean all of the above in a genric way,
but should be unambiguous enough such that the person reading it understands
it is a large political region contained within a Country and can figure enough
from it to assign it a name, no matter where the reader is located.
|
Sub-county?
| Quote: | This is for some software I am writing (and I need to name the
corresponding field with the approporate word).
Regards and many thanks for your help,
Neil
|
s/ meirman If you are emailing me please
say if you are posting the same response.
Born west of Pittsburgh Pa. 10 years
Indianapolis, 7 years
Chicago, 6 years
Brooklyn NY 12 years
now in Baltimore 20 years |
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Spehro Pefhany
Guest
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| Posted: Mon Oct 11, 2004 6:18 am
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 14:24:12 -0400, the renowned Martin Ambuhl
<mambuhl@earthlink.net> wrote:
| Quote: | Michael DeBusk wrote:
On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:22:59 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:
In countries that are English-speaking:
USA: States and one District
I believe both Pennsylvania and Virginia are called "Commonwealths".
Don't forget Kentucky and Massachusetts.
The Northern Marianas Islands and Puerto Rico are also commonwealths.
|
So there are actually only 44 states in the "lower 48"?
Google:
"Commonwealth of Massachusetts" 335,000
"State of Massachusetts" 138,000
"State of Texas" 1,340,000
"Republic of Texas" 77,600
"Commonwealth of Kentucky" 109,000
"State of Kentucky" 82,800
Best regards,
Spehro Pefhany
--
"it's the network..." "The Journey is the reward"
speff@interlog.com Info for manufacturers: http://www.trexon.com
Embedded software/hardware/analog Info for designers: http://www.speff.com |
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Christopher Green
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 9:40 am
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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Martin Ambuhl <mambuhl@earthlink.net> wrote in message news:<2std2fF1p4nfdU1@uni-berlin.de>...
| Quote: | Michael DeBusk wrote:
On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:22:59 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:
In countries that are English-speaking:
USA: States and one District
I believe both Pennsylvania and Virginia are called "Commonwealths".
Don't forget Kentucky and Massachusetts.
The Northern Marianas Islands and Puerto Rico are also commonwealths.
|
In the case of the four states that are called Commonwealths, the name
is a distinction without a difference: it is an old word for
"republic" that was fashionable at the time these states were formed.
In the case of the Northern Marianas and Puerto Rico, "Commonwealth"
denotes a dependent nation, with somewhat closer ties to the dominant
power than the British "Dominion".
--
Chris Green |
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raymond o'hara
Guest
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| Posted: Tue Oct 12, 2004 10:53 pm
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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"Christopher Green" <cj.green@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:c31fa7b1.0410111940.33f00e21@posting.google.com...
| Quote: | Martin Ambuhl <mambuhl@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:<2std2fF1p4nfdU1@uni-berlin.de>...
Michael DeBusk wrote:
On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:22:59 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:
In countries that are English-speaking:
USA: States and one District
I believe both Pennsylvania and Virginia are called "Commonwealths".
Don't forget Kentucky and Massachusetts.
The Northern Marianas Islands and Puerto Rico are also commonwealths.
In the case of the four states that are called Commonwealths, the name
is a distinction without a difference: it is an old word for
"republic" that was fashionable at the time these states were formed.
In the case of the Northern Marianas and Puerto Rico, "Commonwealth"
denotes a dependent nation, with somewhat closer ties to the dominant
power than the British "Dominion".
--
Chris Green
|
The early American colonies Massachusetts and Virginia were called
commonwealths because they were belonged to the residents and not to a rich
propriortary family such as the Penns or Oglethorpe and so the were
administered for the commonwealth |
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Christopher Green
Guest
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| Posted: Wed Oct 13, 2004 9:43 am
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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"raymond o'hara" <reoh@comcast.net> wrote in message news:<d_Tad.227168$MQ5.206749@attbi_s52>...
| Quote: | "Christopher Green" <cj.green@worldnet.att.net> wrote in message
news:c31fa7b1.0410111940.33f00e21@posting.google.com...
Martin Ambuhl <mambuhl@earthlink.net> wrote in message
news:<2std2fF1p4nfdU1@uni-berlin.de>...
Michael DeBusk wrote:
On Sun, 10 Oct 2004 13:22:59 -0400, Spehro Pefhany
speffSNIP@interlogDOTyou.knowwhat> wrote:
In countries that are English-speaking:
USA: States and one District
I believe both Pennsylvania and Virginia are called "Commonwealths".
Don't forget Kentucky and Massachusetts.
The Northern Marianas Islands and Puerto Rico are also commonwealths.
In the case of the four states that are called Commonwealths, the name
is a distinction without a difference: it is an old word for
"republic" that was fashionable at the time these states were formed.
In the case of the Northern Marianas and Puerto Rico, "Commonwealth"
denotes a dependent nation, with somewhat closer ties to the dominant
power than the British "Dominion".
--
Chris Green
The early American colonies Massachusetts and Virginia were called
commonwealths because they were belonged to the residents and not to a rich
propriortary family such as the Penns or Oglethorpe and so the were
administered for the commonwealth
|
That is a fine definition, but I don't think it follows the origin and
usage of the term, particularly as it applies to the states that use
it.
The term "Commonwealth" as understood by writers of the day was
Cromwellian, and it was coined to describe the republic of sorts that
existed from 1649 to 1660, in contrast to the monarchy. (The
Commonwealth was far more a military dictatorship than a
representative democracy, but no matter.)
Mass. did not style itself "Commonwealth" until John Adams's second
draft of the state constitution (ratified 1780), after the former name
"State of Massachusetts Bay" was (fortunately) rejected. Adams was
clear about its meaning: "There is, however, a peculiar sense in which
the words republic, commonwealth, popular state, are used by English
and French writers, who mean by them a democracy, a government in one
centre, and that centre a single assembly, chosen at stated periods by
the people and invested with the whole sovereignty, the whole
legislative, executive and judicial power to be included in a body or
by committees as they shall think proper." [Life and Works].
--
Chris Green |
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Richard R. Hershberger
Guest
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| Posted: Thu Oct 14, 2004 3:14 am
Post subject: Re: generic English word needed for subdivision of Country |
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"Don Phillipson" <d.phillipson@ttrryytteell.com> wrote in message news:<A1fad.2932$Cb5.21704@newscontent-01.sprint.ca>...
| Quote: | "Chick Loser" <chickloser@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:e0ea39c8.0410100854.707fc84a@posting.google.com...
I need an English word which stands for any of the following, with the
meaning of being a political geographical region large enough such that
anything larger should be considered a country. The word should be
generic.
There are no uniform or generic words because the
same English word means different things in different
political environments, e.g. US states and Australian
states, British counties and Canadian counties etc.
Size has nothing to do with it. Several recognized countries
are much smaller than US states, Australian states etc.
|
And, to carry the "size has nothing to do with it" theme a bit
further, some counties in some western US states are larger than some
eastern US states. San Bernardino County in California is larger than
several New England states combined.
Richard R. Hershberger |
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