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'Hello!' Says the Human. 'Hello!' Pipes the Orca Right Back. (theguardian.com)

A human greets an orca with a "Hello!" "Hello!" responds the orca. A new research shows, the orcas have been able to imitate human speech, in some cases at the first attempt, saying words such as "hello", "one, two," "Amy", and "bye bye." From a report: The study also shows that the creatures are able to copy unfamiliar sounds produced by other orcas -- including a sound similar to blowing a raspberry. Scientists say the discovery helps to shed light on how different pods of wild killer whales have ended up with distinct dialects, adding weight to the idea that they are the result of imitation between orcas. The creatures are already known for their ability to copy the movements of other orcas, with some reports suggesting they can also mimic the sounds of bottlenose dolphins and sea lions. [...] Wikie is not the first animal to have managed the feat of producing human sounds: dolphins, elephants, parrots, orangutans and even beluga whales have all been captured mimicking our utterances, although they use a range of physical mechanisms to us to do so.

83 comments

  1. So long and thanks for all the fish. by jellomizer · · Score: 5, Funny

    I am good with this just as long as they don't do a "surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double-backwards-somersault through a hoop whilst whistling the 'Star Spangled Banner'"

    --
    If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
    1. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 4, Funny

      I am good with this just as long as they don't do a "surprisingly sophisticated attempt to do a double-backwards-somersault through a hoop whilst whistling the 'Star Spangled Banner'"

      Surely they wouldn't be whistling the "Star Spangled Banner" they would be singing "Hen Wlad Fy Nhadau", the national anthem of Wales.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      FYI... yes I know an Orca is a dolphin not a whale (before the Linneaus Nazis arrive)

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    3. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      There is a book, it is called The Hitch Hikers guide to the Galaxy.
      There is a also an old TV Series, and a Radio Broadcast.
      There was a movie Created somewhat recently (While doesn't give the original material justice in my Opinion).
      All of them explain this statement.

    4. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by CrimsonAvenger · · Score: 1

      FYI... yes I know an Orca is a dolphin not a whale

      It would never have occurred to me that you didn't know an orca is a dolphin.

      Nonetheless, that joke was really terrible...

      On the plus side, I now know that there is a Welsh national anthem....

      --

      "I do not agree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it"
    5. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      FYI... yes I know an Orca is a dolphin not a whale

      It would never have occurred to me that you didn't know an orca is a dolphin.

      Nonetheless, that joke was really terrible...

      On the plus side, I now know that there is a Welsh national anthem....

      Granted the joke was terrible.
      / I'm a father, I'm allowed to make bad jokes

      Technically the Welsh national anthem is God Save the Queen (same as all countries within the United Kingdom) but the Welsh and the Scottish have their own pseudo-national anthems too. Only the English don't have their own national anthem within the countries of the UK.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    6. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 1

      ...before the Linneaus Nazis arrive)

      Taxosaurus allemanicus dexter...

    7. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm a father, I'm allowed to make bad jokes

      You're still also a kid, so shut the fuck up.

    8. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Aighearach · · Score: 1

      FYI... yes I know an Orca is a dolphin not a whale

      It would never have occurred to me that you didn't know an orca is a dolphin.

      Nonetheless, that joke was really terrible...

      On the plus side, I now know that there is a Welsh national anthem....

      I always sing Bonnie Charlie as the Welsh anthem.

    9. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WHOOOOOOSH!

    10. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      Well, belgium...

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
    11. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by quenda · · Score: 1

      On the plus side, I now know that there is a Welsh national anthem....

      It's Not Unusual ...

    12. Re:So long and thanks for all the fish. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Good one. Hilarious.

      What I get from this is that these animals are communicating often that they are suffering, at our hands, and want to be free. How adorable, these brilliant researchers think it is merely mimicry.

      Out.

      Saddest thing I have ever heard. We are such a fucked up species. I wonder how conscious the smart one's are that we are the ones that have poisoned, and continue to obliterate most of their habitat.

      Seriously good joke, tho. Thanks for the laugh.

  2. Great tits! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Informative

    The tits know what really matters in the society of today: they mimic our smartphones.

    1. Re:Great tits! by dryeo · · Score: 1

      The tits know what really matters in the society of today: they mimic our smartphones.

      For whoever modded this down, a Tit is a type of small song bird (tit originally meant small rather then being a synonym for teat) and I wouldn't be surprised if they did mimic smartphones.
      I have one Stellars Jay living here that mimics a hawk and Ravens used to be known for killing loggers by imitating the whistles that the high lead loggers used to use to communicate.

      --
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inverted_totalitarianism
    2. Re:Great tits! by Applehu+Akbar · · Score: 3, Funny

      The tits know what really matters in the society of today: they mimic our smartphones.

      I went to Google Image for these, and all I got was this bunch of birds.

    3. Re:Great tits! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Those song birds grow up near people and machines and accompany the sounds of the machines as part of their sound environment to their songs. I'b bet that given enough time, those ravens find away to cause traffic accidents in cities just to get their peaks on some tasty eyeballs from the victims.

    4. Re:Great tits! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I love the English name of these birds (Parus major), which are probably the most ordinary and easy to spot songbirds there are here. The moderation reveals the delicious confusion.

    5. Re:Great tits! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      It's far more shocking when they imitate the reverse-gear beeps of a truck. I've rarely been so confused in my life, looking for a truck in/behind the bushes, just to realize it's a tiny bird!

  3. But what does the fox say? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I want to know

    1. Re:But what does the fox say? by PopeRatzo · · Score: 0

      According to my neighbor, who is a zoologist, the fox says, "hatee hatee hatee ho".

      Now I'm wondering if he was pulling my leg.

      --
      You are welcome on my lawn.
  4. including a sound similar to blowing a raspberry by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    "Fart" is the word you're looking for.

  5. Hey Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    How about a new poll?

    1. Re:Hey Slashdot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Whoa. There's a new poll.

      Thanks!

  6. "Amy?" by beckett · · Score: 1

    Perhaps the researchers would prefer to interpret the communication attempt in captivity as "Amy" rather than "Kill Me", just so they can sleep at night.

    1. Re:"Amy?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Orca's would much rather trick Amy into getting into the pool so they can hold her down until she drowns than ask for death.

    2. Re:"Amy?" by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      Perhaps the researchers would prefer to interpret the communication attempt in captivity as "Amy" rather than "Kill Me", just so they can sleep at night.

      I don't know who Amy is, but she sounds hot if even Orcas are asking for her by name.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    3. Re: "Amy?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      she's not calling "Amy" she's crying "Save me" from those tuna nets.

    4. Re: "Amy?" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Hot? More likely she's a whale.

    5. Re:"Amy?" by dgatwood · · Score: 2

      Or at least swallow the watch that Kif gave her.

      --

      Check out my sci-fi/humor trilogy at PatriotsBooks.

  7. While you're there.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Cool but.. While you're reaching for this article, mind reaching around and cupping my balls seeing as you're down there anyway.

  8. Um, those are *killer* whales by iMadeGhostzilla · · Score: 2

    Of course they'll do whatever they can do put their prey at ease. ;-)

    1. Re:Um, those are *killer* whales by Ungrounded+Lightning · · Score: 1

      Of course they'll do whatever they can do put their prey at ease. ;-)

      Or bait them to their doom. (Of course the skill is handy for having fun with the handlrs, too.)

      Walruses do this, too. And they regularly eat people if they can get hold of them one-on-one, (to the point that the walrus is the symbol of death for some Inuits).

      (I hear that, a couple decades back, there was one in New York City's Central Park Zoo that started talking like a drunk, with lines like "Hiya, Buddy" in a very slurred form. Apparently a drunk had been hanging out near the walrus display after-hours and talking to it, and it had started mimicing the commoner phrases. No evidence that it had lured the drunk in for a late snack, though.)

      --
      Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
  9. Dolphinese by gamelaner · · Score: 2

    "It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English, up to fifty words used in correct context, no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese." - Carl Sagan

    1. Re:Dolphinese by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

      "It is of interest to note that while some dolphins are reported to have learned English, up to fifty words used in correct context, no human being has been reported to have learned dolphinese." - Carl Sagan

      Whereas a dolphin may have received fish from humans to train them to learn English. No human has ever received a large lump sum bonus from a dolphin for a dolphin teaching him dolphinese.

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
    2. Re:Dolphinese by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      Their brains are simultaneously similar and very different from our own. In addition to this, their world, and thus their worldview, is very, very different from ours.

    3. Re:Dolphinese by BlueStrat · · Score: 1

      No human has ever received a large lump sum bonus from a dolphin for a dolphin teaching him dolphinese.

      Because dolphins have a saying; "Never try to teach a human to speak Dolphin. It only wastes your time and annoys the human."

      Strat

      --
      Progressivism (aka US 'Liberalism'): Ideas so good they need a police/surveillance-state to enforce.
    4. Re:Dolphinese by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

      No human has ever received a large lump sum bonus from a dolphin for a dolphin teaching him dolphinese.

      Because dolphins have a saying; "Never try to teach a human to speak Dolphin. It only wastes your time and annoys the human."

      Strat

      Dolphins are bastards!

      --
      "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  10. Blowing a raspberry? by m2shariy · · Score: 1

    Good grief!

  11. um, you're a fucking idiot by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    their ability to copy the movements of other orcas

    yeah pretending that there are more killers is how you put your prey at ease

  12. Re:including a sound similar to blowing a raspberr by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 1

    "Fart" is the word you're looking for.

    I was going to say, I have a Raspberry Pi Zero, and it doesn't have an apparatus to blow.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch
  13. ...polly by kiviQr · · Score: 1

    Polly want a cracker?

    1. Re:...polly by Walter+White · · Score: 1

      I think Mynahs are easier to teach to speak than parrots. I worked at a pet shop that had a Mynah that could talk. It could also imitate a squeaking hamster wheel with unerring fidelity.

  14. Clams... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Clams got legs.

    1. Re:Clams... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Now they have to kill you ...

    2. Re:Clams... by Scarletdown · · Score: 1

      Grog!!!

      --
      This space unintentionally left blank.
  15. "Presentient" by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

    ..is the word that comes to mind. Or perhaps they're already sentient, but in ways we don't quite understand yet. Who knows?

    1. Re:"Presentient" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I know that we don't even understand the ways humans are sentient.

    2. Re:"Presentient" by Jason+Levine · · Score: 4, Interesting

      Koko the gorilla learned quite a bit of sign language and is able to communicate quite well. If I recall correctly, she has the mental capacity of a young human (probably around 6 years old). So she'll understand simple, real-world concepts and has a sense of self, but you wouldn't expect her to be able to, say, calculate complex mathematical equations. I have a feeling that a lot of higher intelligence animals (whales, dolphins, octopii, chimps, etc) have this kind of sentience, but we just don't have a decent method of recognizing it since they're not talking a human language to us the way a human child would.

      --
      My sci-fi novel, Ghost Thief, is now available from Amazon.com.
    3. Re:"Presentient" by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      You are 100% correct, and you get a Gold Star for the day for pointing that out. :-)

    4. Re:"Presentient" by Rick+Schumann · · Score: 1

      Right. Like I said elsewhere on this subject: brains both very similar and very different at the same time, and a totally different worldview being a cetacean, since their world is so different from ours (being land-dwellers).

    5. Re:"Presentient" by mark-t · · Score: 4, Informative

      Koko the gorilla understood a spoken vocabulary of about 2000 words, being able to express a little over half of them in sign. While this certainly sounds impressive, and in truth is impressive for any non-human, a normal 6-year old will typically be able to express 2500 words or more, and has a total receptive vocabulary of usually no fewer than 20,000 words.

      In terms of vocabulary, Koko was more roughly the equivalent of a 3 or 4 year old human child, not a 6-year old one.

    6. Re:"Presentient" by MangoCats · · Score: 1

      And they may be saying the exact same thing about us, but in ways we're not likely to understand for a long long time.

    7. Re:"Presentient" by mcswell · · Score: 3, Informative

      Also, a 6 year old kid has a grammar (in English, that includes both morphology--a relatively small amount, as languages go--and recursive syntax), and knows how to use it in both speaking and listening. Koko never had a grammar, and in that respect was no more than a two year old. Also, most six year olds in literate countries are well on their way to learning to read and write, and do arithmetic.

    8. Re:"Presentient" by pots · · Score: 2

      The parent said that she had a mental capacity of six year old human. Not that she had the same vocabulary as a six year old human.

      Setting aside the fact that this is a stupid way of measuring things, one of the characteristics of human brains is our extremely large language processing centers. This is kinda our stand-out feature, mentally. We like to make much ado about "self-awareness" and our large neo-cortexes, and they are big, but dolphins are comparable. It's vocabulary that we do better than any other animal.

      So saying, "Haw haw, that gorilla is dumb because she's not as good as us at the one thing we are best at." is a pretty self-serving measurement. It's not surprising - we tend to evaluate other humans based on how good they are with language, we're an extremely language-focused species, but there are other ways to evaluate mental capacity. Chimpanzees seem to have better visual memory than we do, there are lots of species which have better noses than we do (this is another function of the brain), etc.

    9. Re:"Presentient" by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's vocabulary that we do better than any other animal.

      I'd contest that. Language sucks, and isn't really all that important in our evolution. As an example of how much language sucks: there are many things that can't be taught without demonstration, thus we have internships and apprenticeships. Animals learn the same way.

      Where we do have an advantage is our predictive capability. Not just planning things, as in choreography, but actually involving prediction in our decision making. We can case the joint, play our in our minds 1000 different scenarios of how it might go down, and choose the best plan out of the bunch to try for real. AFAIK no other animal is able to do this, but every other thing humans can do, some other animal can do. Again, language being about as useless as a human tail.

    10. Re:"Presentient" by mark-t · · Score: 2

      but every other thing humans can do, some other animal can do

      No animal has ever been successfully taught to read (specifically, to comprehend what is written), which neither requires the capability of speech, nor any of the predictive capability you suggest may be our only mental advantage.

    11. Re:"Presentient" by dinfinity · · Score: 2

      Koko the gorilla learned quite a bit of sign language and is able to communicate quite well.

      This is not a fact and is actually highly disputed. See: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

      People think that anybody who can use ASL could simply have a conversation with Koko. This is false. Koko's conversations are with her handler and subject to significant interpretation.

  16. Day of the Orca? by Macdude · · Score: 1

    Is this real, or the plot to the new movie Day of the Orca?

    --
    "Grab them by the pussy" -- President of the United States of America
    1. Re:Day of the Orca? by slacktide · · Score: 1

      The movie was "ORCA: The Killer Whale". It came out about 6 months after Jaws, and it was awful. Who knew that whales could commit arson?

      Orca - the killer whale, is one of the most intelligent creatures in the universe. Incredibly, he is the only animal other than man who kills for revenge. He has one mate, and if she is harmed by man, he will hunt down that person with a relentless, terrible vengeance - across seas, across time, across all obstacles

  17. I used to talk with my brothers cat by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I was opening a can of tuna and of course the cat (a very talkative Siamese) heard/smelled it and ran all the way downstairs. I was making a tuna fish sandwich and she wanted some. I always drained the water out and put it in a small bowl, which she appreciated but she wanted more.

    Cat: Roww
    Me: You can't have it.
    Cat: (louder and more forcefully) ROWW!
    Me: Because I said so, that's why.

    My sister was standing nearby and she started laughing her ass off.

    My sister: You think she's a little person.
    Me: Well, she thinks we're just big cats.

    My sister had trouble breathing because she was laughing so hard.

  18. Re:including a sound similar to blowing a raspberr by DontBeAMoran · · Score: 1

    Blowing a raspberry: when you have to install a small fan to blow air on top of your overheating Raspberry Pi CPU.

    --
    #DeleteFacebook
  19. Hello! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I am an orca.

  20. Re:Orca on INVASION of the JUDENoidz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why do you hate yourself so much? No one believes your babble, it's all garbage. Is spreading lies really the best way to spend your time?

  21. Cats? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    We've all known animals (cats specifically) that can make strangely human utterances. I reckon we'll discover this isn't as uncommon as we think in the near future (just like we did with animals using tools). I'm fascinated by the idea that another species (like octopi or dolphins) have consciousness, but humans aren't yet able to communicate with them. Aliens among us. Would be pretty cool.

  22. Japan was quoted by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Japan was quoted as saying "Fuck yoo dolphin!!!!!!!""

  23. Checks map... nope... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    On the plus side, I now know that there is a Welsh national anthem....

    I didn't even know there was a Welsh nation... what is it, Welshland?

    Or is this like "The Montana National Anthem" where they sing about the Glory of Herr Trump?

  24. Oh hey, a Star Trek NG reference by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Their brains are simultaneously similar and very different from our own. In addition to this, their world, and thus their worldview, is very, very different from ours.

    So... you're saying Republicans are like Klingons, is it?

    Seems somewhat reasonable. Except Klingons have honor, so perhaps not.

  25. Do they by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Are they trying to sing: if you seek Amy?

  26. What we sound like to orcas by Headw1nd · · Score: 2

    So listening to some of the raw data, it seems like the orca frequently uses fart sounds to try and imitate human speech. I can only imagine that this means we sound like fart noises to them.

    1. Re: What we sound like to orcas by Atomic+Fro · · Score: 1

      I believe you are correct, though I believe they think we all sound like motor boats

      --

      ==================
      Hippie Logger Jock
      ==================
  27. Orca on InVaSiOn oF tHe JuDeNoiDz! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Jews believe this of all they call goyim/gentiles (any non-jew): Jews = biggest racists of all (for which they "jew guilt" you for no less! They're hypocrites known as thieves all thru history or were Argentines in the 1940 under Perrone, Spanish inquistion & Spain 1492 (Christopher Columbus the jew https://duckduckgo.com/?q=%22C... sailed to the US for them to create it), France (1306), Egypt (despoiled/robbed by jews), Arabs (pre & post 1948), England (1330 Edward longshanks), Romans under titus, Russia pogroms and Germany who got rid of them from their nations nazi german's too? No. Driven into DESERTS ages ago! Don't wonder why after all those exilings above. Should anyone doubt any of this see Jacob Javits' crony Rosenthal spill the beans on it https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D4zMVZ8HnFI/ where he called all Christianity fools for helping Israel and the biggest scam of all time per their beliefs below from their Talmud. This is the province of the synagogue of Satan (Khazar/Pharisees whom Jesus Christ himself kicked to the curb out of the temple & they killed him for it. Jeremiah did the same to them also + the Essenes could not stand them either breaking away from the pharisee corruption):

    Maria Abramovic satanist spirit cooker pal of Hillary Clinton the Voodoo queen is a jew https://www.google.com/search?...

    Just like Hillary Clinton's mentor Saul Alinsky author of rules for radicals book dedicated to Lucifer

    "Most Jews do not like to admit it, but our god is Lucifer â" so I wasnâ(TM)t lying â" and we are his chosen people. Lucifer is very much aliveâ Harold Rosenthal http://www.thetruthseeker.co.u...

    Jewish rabbi openly admits to satan worship use white children's blood they kill for passover bread, infiltrating and subverting the catholic church, creating the Jesuit order https://www.youtube.com/watch?... and https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Barbara Spectre, a jew, tells everyone it's jews orchestrating the muslim migrant problem in Europe https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MFE0qAiofMQ/ . No migrant raping of women in Poland. Tons in Sweden. Do the math. Use common-sense. This is to get muslims and other goyim/gentiles to wipe one another out as incompatible cultures that will clash and always have.

    Rabbi A. Finkelstein ADMITS their greatest enemies are ARABS and WHITES (blacks too) whom they wish to kill one another in a 'theater of war' which they find AMUSING https://www.youtube.com/watch?...

    Finkelstein also admits JEWS DID 9/11 https://www.youtube.com/watch?... profiting by it (and that 3,000 jews employed there did not show up for work that day knowing about it beforehand).

    Finkelstein also admits JEWS are going to destroy the U.S. Dollar and dumping it for other world currencies and gold to destroy the United States.

    George Soros who funds groups to create division in the USA?? A jew. One who sold his own jew people into death for the nazis.

    Zucker now FIRED @ CNN is another frying publicly for lying about "russians" and John Bonifield a producer @ CNN said it is bs. Van Jones did also.

    Bernie Madoff (who made off with everyone's money, especially construction union pensions) shows the thieving nature of the JUDEN!

    Eric Schmidt had to step down @ JEWgle (a jew).

  28. Arrogance and hubris. by CyberRacer · · Score: 1

    If we (humans) are so much smarter than they are, why is it we keep trying to force them to learn our languages rather than us learning theirs? Just sayin'....

  29. Re:Checks map... Wales... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Not sure if you're trolling, or really don't know that Wales exists, but here:

    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wales

  30. The girl who talked to dolphin did it first by apetrelli · · Score: 1

    Actually someone did it first:
    https://youtu.be/0xUvhUK8Dv8?t...
    In fact it inspired Ecco the Dolphin game in some way.

  31. Uum, we are *killer* apes! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I think in regard to killing, nothing in the known universe even comes close to us.

    I want to see an orca carpet-bomb Earth with nukes! (Honestly, I do want!)

  32. Re:including a sound similar to blowing a raspberr by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    And I thought blowing a Rasberry, was connecting the 5V port to the mains

  33. Oh, oh, I can top that too! by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Minus one! Minus one was her human kid age!! She was dumber than a 4WD tricycle!!!11eleven[lim (x->0) (sin(x)/x)]

    </sarcasm>

  34. Re:Orca on INVASION of the JUDENoidz by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Wow, you were severely beaten as a child, weren't you?

  35. Re:Checks map... Wales... by Cederic · · Score: 2

    That's not a nation, that's a district of the UK that has stupid rules about road signs.

  36. Re:Checks map... Wales... by Oswald+McWeany · · Score: 2

    That's not a nation, that's a district of the UK that has stupid rules about road signs.

    It's a country within the United Kingdom. UK is made up of three countries England, Scotland and Wales and numerous other territories.

    --
    "That's the way to do it" - Punch