the.com/guernsey
A tiny island that gave its name to a sweater and a cow, and outranks both.
means A guernsey is a close-knit, hard-wearing wool sweater (and, in Australian/NZ slang, a sports jersey or team uniform) — named after the Channel Island where that style of knit originated.
from From Guernsey, one of the Channel Islands between England and France, long known for a tight, weatherproof style of knitted wool sweater worn by local fishermen and sailors — knit dense enough to shrug off sea spray. The island lent its name to the garment, and separately to a breed of dairy cattle bred there. In Australian and New Zealand English, 'guernsey' stretched further to mean any sporting jersey, and 'getting a guernsey' came to mean being selected for the team — a sweater's name quietly becoming a metaphor for making the cut.
- tax status
- Not part of the UK or EU, keeps its own laws
- the cattle
- Guernsey cows produce golden, extra-creamy milk
- the jumper
- Fishermen's tight-knit wool sweater, name predates the cow's fame
- size check
- Roughly 24 square miles, smaller than most cities