Will the word ‘Continental’ make a comeback after Brexit?

Feasting on the remnants of my edible Christmas presents during the otherwise frugal month of January, I experienced a frisson when I opened the box of Thorntons ‘Continental’ chocolates.

For anyone who grew up in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s, the word ‘Continental’ carries with it a waft of balmy air from the Mediterranean, a sense of longed-for glamour, pleasure and breakfast on a balcony, unavailable on this rainy, cut-off island. I’m wondering whether, as we leave the EU and return to being a small country across the water from a many-countried, warmer landmass, the word ‘Continental’, and the concept, will come back into use. Do other small countries across bodies of water from large continents have this concept? Do Madagascans speak of glamorous items from mainland Africa as ‘Continental’? Do Sri Lankans call Indian things ‘Continental’, or perhaps ‘sub-Continental’?

Of all the Thorntons ranges, the ‘Continental’ selection was always the most enticing.