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| Iconic Britishness: The country's values have become harder to define as it diversifies. Melanie Stetson Freeman – staff/file |
'Once Great' Britain searches for a national motto
The BBC and Times newspaper have solicited readers' suggestions, drawing telling responses.
from the November 16, 2007 edition
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Even the upsides of Britishness were snubbed by respondents. One, referring to the popular slogan of the '90s, scoffed, "Cool Britannia, yeah, right, whatever ..."
'Shakespeare might to do the trick'
Still, a country like Britain has plenty of cultural landmarks from which to draw, from William Shakespeare to fish and chips. Author Chris Cleave, who writes about contemporary Britain in his fiction, thinks "something from Shakespeare might do the trick."
"I like 'Virtue is bold, and goodness never fearful' (from "Measure for Measure").
But even he can't resist the temptation to ridicule. "How about something that encapsulates one of our most venerable sporting traditions, our national preference for a plucky underdog and our refusal to give up hope even when we are totally outgunned. How about "Come on Tim!" (A reference to Tim Henman, saluted perennially as a tennis hero despite never having got beyond the semifinals at Wimbledon).
Trying their best
Intriguingly, the younger generation may have more time for a new maxim than their more cynical elders. At Kingston University in southwest London, geography student Jeremy Puncher says he supports the government's attempt to instill greater pride in Britishness. Of the motto idea, he says: "It can't hurt. It should have something to do with togetherness, freedom, patience, acceptance of other cultures."
Leon Wright, another student, says that although being British doesn't mean much to him, the right motto could prove inspiring. "It should be something like 'try your best,' or 'be the best that you can be,' as opposed to 'love the queen."
The government says it has plenty of worthwhile suggestions and it now plans to decide on the motto and how it should be used. But clearly Brown will have to "try his utmost" to convince his nation that it's a worthwhile exercise. As one contributor put it this week, "We're British; we don't do mottos."
Britishness, in short
Readers of the Times newspaper (London) offered more than 1,000 suggestions for a new national motto. Here is a sampling:
Best before nineteen-thirty-nine
May contain nuts
God Save Our Gracious Queen!
Wallowing in a postcolonial miasma
We made other countries great!
One nation under the thumb
Dentistry is not our forte
I WANT MY COUNTRY BACK
No problem left untaxed
Land of the ... everyone, really
Over-priced, over-weight, over
crowded... over
To thine own self be true
Hanging on in quiet desperation
Stout hearts through troubled times
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