None of the proper nouns you suggested replacing in that press release are common nouns, or likely to become such any time soon. As it is, the content of that sentence depends on distinguishing between the various proper nouns in question; replacing all of them with a single catch-all renders the passage false, as I demonstrated. Moreover, there's already a common noun in play here: phone, which you said we should not replace with "smarty," despite the premise of this thread being that "cellphone" should be replaced by "smarty." Have you lost track of what you were talking about, or are you just being argumentative?
australia split from england more recently, and we've never been at war with england. imo we're more english than yanks, but i wouldn't call aussies english. if there are any scots, irish or maybe even welsh (???) around, what are your feelings about being called english? what are people's perceptions of their 'englishness'?
I'm American, but in my experience Scots bristle if you call them "English," and if they can do so without being enormously rude they will correct you before you finish your sentence. I've never met a Welshman. IIRC Wales was annexed by England long before Scotland was, so perhaps the Welsh are more tolerant of being called "English," but that is purely an uneducated guess. I think the Cornish and Manx people are resigned to it. The distinction is that the English are descended from the Anglo-Saxon occupiers who took over "Angle Land" when the Roman Empire disintegrated, and English is a Germanic language, whereas the Scots, Welsh, Manx and Cornish people carry the bloodlines, languages and culture of the original Celtic tribes who populated Britannia in Roman times. You're quite likely to hear the English referred to as "Saxon invaders" or some such dismissive phrase. As for the people of Ireland, they are also Celts with their own language, and after a stormy history they have retained their political identity as a separate country--the only Celtic nation that has managed to do so. If you call an Irishman "English" you'd better have comprehensive medical insurance. England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland (several counties that Ireland did not get to keep when the conflict was over) together comprise a nation whose official name is The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, known as the U.K. for short. Great Britain is the island also known historically as Britannia, and in ancient days as Albion. Ireland, in addition to being the name of the country, is also, confusingly, the name of the island. Britannia, Ireland and a multitude of little islands, many of which are proudly inhabited by people with long traditions, comprise the British Isles. The universally accepted name for citizens of the United Kingdom (English, Welsh, Scottish or Northern Irish) is Britons and the adjective is British.
