Use in The United Kingdom
In the United Kingdom, the Continent is used to refer to the mainland of Europe. It is widespread practice in the media in the UK (and elsewhere) to use the word Europe to mean continental Europe; that is, "Europe" excludes Britain, Iceland and Ireland (though the term is sometimes used to refer to the European Union). Occasionally, the term mainland Europe is used. A famous British newspaper headline once read, "Fog in Channel; Continent Cut Off". It has also been claimed that this was a regular weather forecast in Britain in the 1930s.
Derivatively, the adjective continental refers to the social practices or fashion of continental Europe, as opposed to those in Britain. Examples include breakfast, topless sunbathing and, historically, long-range driving before Britain had motorways. The Continent, when compared exclusively to Britain, has different electrical plugs, different timezone, different currency, drives on the right, and uses the Metric system exclusively, etc.
Read more about this topic: Continental Europe
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