# US, UK



## Language Translator

I'm looking to include the words UK and US i.e. English(UK) English(US). In all languages, do you take the abbreviation as the first letter of each word i.e. *U*nited *K*ingdom = *UK*

Am I correct that in each country, the abbreviation would be:

*French *

Anglais(*RU*) -- correct abbreviation of *R*oyaume-*U*ni?
Anglais(*ÉU*) -- correct abbreviation of *É*tats *U*nis?
*
Italian*

Inglese(*RU*) -- correct abbreviation of *R*egno *U*nitoi?
Inglese(*SU*) -- correct abbreviation of *S*tati *U*niti?

*Spanish*

Inglés(*RU*) -- correct abbreviation of *R*eino *U*nido?
Inglés(*EU*) -- correct abbreviation of *E*stados *U*nidos?

*German*

Englisch(*GB*) -- correct abbreviation of *G*roßbritannien?
Englisch(*VS*) -- correct abbreviation of *V*ereinigte *S*taaten?


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## Penyafort

The correct ones in *Spanish *are:

*EE. UU.* (for the USA)
*RU* (for the UK)

_^ Writing EE.UU, EE UU, etc., is not correct, although you may often see it that way._

In *Catalan*:

*EUA *(for the USA)
*RU *(for the UK)


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## ger4

English - German:
*
USA - USA* - _Vereinigte Staaten._ We use the English abbreviation (never VS). The letter A is often dropped in compounds such as _US-Präsident._ A short version is_ Staaten _("States").
*GB - GB* - _Großbritannien_ (as you said).
*UK - UK* - _Vereinigtes Königreich. _

English - Estonian:

*USA - USA* - _Ameerika Ühendriigid_, literally "America's United States".  The letter A is used even in expressions such as US President: _ USA president. _
*GB*_ - Suurbritannia_, not abbreviated (_suur_ = "big, great, large", compare #5  Norwegian _stor_).
*UK - ÜK* - _Ühendkuningriik,_ lit. "United King State".


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## Perseas

In Greek:

*ΗΠΑ* = Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες Αμερικής (USA) --- inom*e*nes polit*i*es amerik*i*s
*ΗΒ* = Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο (UK) --- inom*e*no vas*i*lio
*ΕΕ *= Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση (EU) --- evropaik*i e*nosi


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## basslop

In Norwegian it is a bit inconsistent:

United States of America = "Amerikas forente stater", "De forente stater" or "Sambandsstatene".
USA = USA. Don't ask me why it isn't AFS. Why we don't use the last one on the other hand, SS, should be obvious .

Great Britain = Storbritania (Stor = large, great, big)
United Kingdom = Actually it is "Det forente kongerike". Since many Norwegians are not aware of the difference between UK and Great Britain or even that there is a difference, Storbritania is used for both. To all UK-ers not from England I am sorry to say that in daily speech many Norwegians carelessly say just England .
In Norwegian we do not have any abbreviation for our neighbours across the North Sea..


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## M Mira

Penyafort said:


> *EE. UU.* (for the USA)


Does it mean plural?

There's no such usage in Chinese. The government form (United Kingdom of…, United States of…) of these two countries are only used in rather official circumstances and are hence not abbreviated. Their abbreviations are 英 ying from *Eng*land and 美 mei from A*me*rica.


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## MyriadLeaves

Danish:
USA - De Forenede Stater ("The United States"), as in German we never use the abbreviation DFS.
We rarely use UK, but rather Storbritanien as an abbreviation for _Det Forenede Kongerige Storbritannien og Nordirland_ ("United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland").


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## Penyafort

M Mira said:


> Does it mean plural?



Exactly. One-letter abbreviations in Spanish are doubled when in the plural:

*ss. *(siglos, 'centuries' / siguientes, 'following'), *vv. aa. *(varios autores, 'several authors'), etc.
*FF. AA.* (Fuerzas Armadas_, _'Armed Forces'), *JJ. OO. *(Juegos Olímpicos, 'Olympic Games'), etc.​


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## apmoy70

Perseas said:


> In Greek:
> 
> *ΗΠΑ* = Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες Αμερικής (USA) --- inom*e*nes polit*i*es amerik*i*s
> *ΗΒ* = Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο (UK) --- inom*e*no vas*i*lio
> *ΕΕ *= Ευρωπαϊκή Ένωση (EU) --- evropaik*i e*nosi


Just wanted to add to Perseas' accurate post that in the vernacular we prefer *«Ηνωμένες Πολιτείες»* [inoˈmenes poliˈti.es] (both fem.) --> _United States_, omitting the genitive *«Αμερικής»* [ameɾiˈcis] (fem.) --> _of-America_, for the USA. Yet abbreviated is strictly *«ΗΠΑ»* [ˈipa] (fem. nom. pl.).
Also *«Αμερική»* [ameɾiˈci] (fem. nom. sing.) --> _America_, often suffices.
Likewise instead of *«Ηνωμένο Βασίλειο»* [inoˈmeno vaˈsili.o] (both neut.) --> _United Kingdom_, we often use *«Μεγάλη Βρετανία»* [meˈɣali vretaˈni.a] (both fem.) --> _Great Britain_, or the blanket name (apologies to the Scots, Welsh, and Northern Irish) *«Αγγλία»* [aŋgˈli.a] (fem.) --> _England_.


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## Encolpius

*Hungarian *USA is USA but we seldom if ever abbreviate the UK.


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## Panceltic

In Slovenian:

USA = ZDA (*Z*družene *d*ržave *A*merike) [ze:de:a:]
EU = EU (*E*vropska *u*nija) [e:u:]
GB = VB (*V*elika *B*ritanija) (always pronounced in full)
UK = ZK (*Z*druženo *k*raljestvo) (same as above)


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## Language Translator

Some interesting replies, thank you to those who helped me out. I am using google but wasn't sure their translations were accurate enough


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## Pugnator

Language Translator said:


> *Italian*
> 
> Inglese(*RU*) -- correct abbreviation of *R*egno *U*nitoi?
> Inglese(*SU*) -- correct abbreviation of *S*tati *U*niti?


RU on Italy is used for Russia. For United Kingdom we use or GBR (It stand for "Gran Bretagna" (Great Britain) ) or the native UK.
Regarding united state now is very rare the form SU and SUA (United State and United State of America) now in Italian are very rare and most people doesn't recognize it, it's a lot more used USA and US.


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## Red Arrow

In Dutch:

United States (of America) =* Verenigde Staten (van Amerika)*
United Kingdom = *Verenigd Konkrijk*
Great Britain = *Groot-Brittannië*

abbreviations in speech:
Unlike the Germans, we do say *VS*. No one says US or USA, at least not in Flanders. Dutchmen are more into English words, so they might say it. VSA isn't used.
We don't say UK, VK or GB either. (GB is the name of an old super market chain) We just say Verenigd Koninkrijk or Groot-Brittannië.

abbreviations in texts:
*VS, VSA, US* and *USA* are all in use, but VS sounds the most natural since it's also used in speech.
*UK* is mostly used for the United Kingdom. Some might write VK. No one writes GB as far as I know.

I didn't look anything up, so I _might_ be wrong about which abbreviations are the most common.


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## ger4

basslop said:


> To all UK-ers not from England I am sorry to say that in daily speech many Norwegians carelessly say just England .


Same tendency in German. People from Scotland or Wales aren't always amused ...


Red Arrow :D said:


> abbreviations in speech:
> [...]
> We don't say UK, VK or GB either


Same here. We only say UK reading out a text, for instance. In that case, we follow the English pronunciation, not the German one.


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## Red Arrow

Holger2014 said:


> Same tendency in German. People from Scotland or Wales aren't always amused ...


We also say England a lot. Same with ''Asians'', which are generally called _Chinezen_ (=Chinese people). Too bad for those Asians who don't live in China.


Holger2014 said:


> Same here. We only say UK reading out a text, for instance. In that case, we follow the English pronunciation, not the German one.


When we read a text out loud:
UK, US and USA would be pronounced like the English abbreviations.
GB would be pronounced like Groot-Brittannië.
VK would be pronounced like Verenigd Koninkrijk.
VS and VSA would be pronounced like Dutch abbreviations. /ve: εs a:/ (Belgium) or /feɪ εs a:/ (Netherlands)


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## Hans Molenslag

Red Arrow :D said:


> Same with ''Asians'', which are generally called _Chinezen_ (=Chinese people). Too bad for those Asians who don't live in China.


No, we do not generally call Asian people Chinese. What on earth makes you say that?

Sometimes people over here mix up ethnic Chinese, Japanese and Koreans and automatically assume they're Chinese. I'll grant you that. But you wouldn't call people Chinese on purpose if you knew they were from Japan or Korea. And nobody in their right mind would call people from other parts of Asia Chinese.



Red Arrow :D said:


> /ve: εs a:/ (Belgium) or /feɪ εs a:/ (Netherlands)


That's an inaccurate generalization, and apart from that, regional differences in Dutch pronunciation are totally irrelevant here.


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## Red Arrow

Hans M. said:


> No, we do not generally call Asian people Chinese. What on earth makes you say that?
> 
> Sometimes people over here mix up ethnic Chinese, Japanese and Koreans and automatically assume they're Chinese. I'll grant you that. But you wouldn't call people Chinese on purpose if you knew they were from Japan or Korea. And nobody in their right mind would call people from other parts of Asia Chinese.


I think there is a misunderstanding here. No one will call a Japanese Chinese when they know (s)he from Japan.
But the same can be said about UK / England. No one will say a certain Scot is from England when they know he's Scottish.

That is not what I was trying to say. For example: there are a lot of Asian students at Belgian universities, but everyone calls them Chinese students.
And I've heard people say ''Er zijn wel veel Chinezen in Leuven de laatste tijd...'', but I have never heard people say ''Er zijn wel veel Aziaten in Leuven de laatste tijd...''.
And on my high-school there was someone from Thailand, but people who didn't know her personally called her ''die Chinees''.

This is called pars pro toto.


Hans M. said:


> That's an inaccurate generalization, and apart from that, regional differences in Dutch pronunciation are totally irrelevant here.


I don't know how to type phonetic symbols correctly, but i just wanted to point out that we don't say Vee Kay or something.
But you are right. Many people say /veɪ/, both in Flanders and the Netherlands.


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## ger4

Holger2014 said:


> * Estonian
> UK - ÜK* - _Ühendkuningriik,_ lit. "United King State".


Only used in writing. As I've been told now, in everyday speech Estonians tend to say _Inglismaa_ (England) when referring to the UK.


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## Hans Molenslag

Red Arrow :D said:


> I think there is a misunderstanding here. No one will call a Japanese Chinese when they know (s)he from Japan. But the same can be said about UK / England. No one will say a certain Scot is from England when they know he's Scottish.


The thing is that many people actually do tend to say England to refer to the whole of Britain in Dutch and other languages, even though they know the difference.



Red Arrow :D said:


> That is not what I was trying to say.


Well, I kindly suggest you express yourself more clearly then, instead of posting these kinds of inaccuracies and generalizations.



Red Arrow :D said:


> For example: there are a lot of Asian students at Belgian universities, but everyone calls them Chinese students.


No, that's simply not true. Perhaps _you_ move in circles where it's commonplace to do so, but that doesn't mean everybody else does. Once again, some may mix up people from East Asia, but no one ever refers to people from, say, the Indian subcontinent as Chinese.



Red Arrow :D said:


> And on my high-school there was someone from Thailand, but people who didn't know her personally called her ''die Chinees''.


Smooth... That's not common Dutch usage, that's a racial slur.


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## AutumnOwl

In Swedish it's similar to the Norwegian and Danish above.

United States of America - _*Amerikas förenta stater*_ or United States - *Förenta staterna*, we use *USA* in daily speech.

Great Britain - *Storbritannien* or officially _*Förenade Konungariket Storbritannien och Nordirland*_ (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland), we use _*Storbritannien*_ or *England* in daily speech.


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## Red Arrow

Hans M. said:


> Smooth... That's not common Dutch usage, that's a racial slur.


Yes, in some way it is. And she said it happened all the time. I am pretty sure the roles in this discussion would be switched if _you_ were the one who knew this girl instead of me.

In fact, during our graduation she had to give a speech and she made it very clear she was from Thailand, and the mother of one of my friends said afterwards: ''Dat Chinese meisje zag er erg vriendelijk uit.'' (or something like that)


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## Hans Molenslag

Red Arrow :D said:


> I am pretty sure the roles in this discussion would be switched if _you_ were the one who knew this girl instead of me.


No, they would not. Definitely not.
You really don't get the message, do you?


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## Red Arrow

Hans M. said:


> You really don't get the message, do you?


I am just patiently responding to all your comments. There is no need for any of us to start asking such questions : /

You think I live in some kind of bubble where it is common to say ''Chinese'' instead of ''Asian'', and you want to make it clear how most people outside that bubble wouldn't say that. But you don't really give me any proof. Am I supposed to believe you just like that?


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## Red Arrow

@Hans M.: It turns out a ''frietchinees'' is a chip shop run by someone from Asia. (not just China)

Sources:
Frietchinees is ‘Vlaams Woord van het Jaar'
Frietchinees is Vlaamse Woord van het Jaar
Het Vlaams woordenboek » frietchinees
‘Frietchinees’ is Woord van het Jaar
etc...


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## Nawaq

Language Translator said:


> I'm looking to include the words UK and US i.e. English(UK) English(US). In all languages, do you take the abbreviation as the first letter of each word i.e. *U*nited *K*ingdom = *UK*
> 
> Am I correct that in each country, the abbreviation would be:
> 
> *French *
> 
> Anglais(*RU*) -- correct abbreviation of *R*oyaume-*U*ni?
> Anglais(*ÉU*) -- correct abbreviation of *É*tats *U*nis?



Hello,

Never heard of RU before, I don't think we use any abbreviations for it, I'll let someone more knowledgeable than me answer if I'm wrong but I think that's it, we simply say _le_ _Royaume-Uni_, after that, on some official papers I have no idea but RU looks weird to me. Sorry for not having a definitive answer.

The United States of America is better known with its English abbreviation USA, said /y.ɛs.a/ (and other pronounciations) but again, like RU, I'm sure ÉU is used on some official papers or something but not by the common people. Also commonly said US, _les US_ (with liaison) /y.ɛs/.

Since I don't know if you mean the legal and official abbreviations or the one the common people use and understand, I am not too sure of my answer...


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## SuperXW

In Chinese (P.R.C Simplified Chinese)

Full names:
美利坚合众国 Lit. The United States of America. 美利坚 is the traditional transliteration of "America".
大不列颠和北爱尔兰联合王国 Lit. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. 不列颠 is the traditional transliteration of "Britain", and 爱尔兰 is "Ireland".

Common names:
美国 美 sounds like "me" in America; 国 means "nation".
英国 英 sounds like "En" in England; 国 means "nation".

Abbreviations:
美 sounds like "me" in America.
英 sounds like "En" in England.


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## spindlemoss

In Welsh:

*yr UD *< yr Unol Daleithiau "the United States"

*y DU *< yr Deyrnas Unedig "the United Kingdom"

Both require you to use the article *y(r) *"the" plus we never say them as abbreviations, always in their full form.

Another term for the UK is *y DG* < y Deyrnas Gyfunol "the Combined Kingdom".

If you want to say "the United States of America", then there's no article in front: *UDA *< Unol Daleithiau America.


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## Armas

Finnish:

USA = _Yhdysvallat_, no abbreviation
UK = _Yhdistynyt kuningaskunta_, no abbreviation (besides, _YK_ is already used for _Yhdistyneet kansakunnat_ "United Nations")

The English abbreviations, especially USA, UK more rarely, are used in unofficial and casual texts and speech (pronounced in Finnish). For UK in casual speech and text we use _Englanti._


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