Great Britain's people and news media had more than enough on their minds Wednesday: The world's most powerful leaders gathered in London to strategize about reversing the global economic spiral; protesters clashed with police in the streets outside the G-20 meeting; and old royalty met new, as Queen Elizabeth II entertained President Barack Obama and the first lady in Buckingham Palace.

So why did the mere mention of Oregon in the news twist the Brits' knickers into a proverbial knot? Had their corgis turned nippy?

Had their tea gone tepid?

No, our friends across the pond were peeved over a briefing booklet given to journalists accompanying Obama to London. Not only did it describe the United Kingdom in terms suitable for a kindergarten geography lesson -- as "a group of islands close to continental Europe" -- but it also proffered the sort of size comparison that can make even the stiffest of upper lips quiver. The briefing dubbed the United Kingdom "slightly smaller than Oregon."

London's Daily Telegraph blurted the comparison online and readers responded with the equivalent of "Rubbish!"

"Would that be the Oregon basically grabbed from the British in 1846 by a bunch of sabre-rattling Yanks during their big 'Land Grab' known as Manifest Destiny?" roared a commenter calling himself Nick R.

(Note to Nick: Let it go, pal.)

"Typical," wrote another, going by the name pewkatchoo. "The U.S. sees the rest of the world in terms of the size of its own states. That is a pretty blinkered view right from the off because it implies that, whatever these other countries are, they are still pipsqueeks (sic) compared to us."

"The U.K.," a commenter named Cherokee Kid blasted, "is about a quarter the size of Obama's ego. ..."

Blame the dust-up on the CIA, or at least whichever diligent State Department flunky apparently compiled the briefing from information in the CIA's World Factbook. It compares nations by their size relative to U.S. states.

Germany, for instance, is about as big as Montana. The Czech Republic? Think Virginia.

Oregon: about 98,466 square miles with a population estimated at nearly 3.8 million.

The United Kingdom: about 93,278 square miles bearing more than 61 million good eggs.

Imagine if, instead, that briefing author had used other comparisons:

The weather ... the United Kingdom's climate is drizzlingly similar to Oregon's.

The landscape ... a country as lovingly cultivated as an Oregonian's garden.

The beer ... as tasty as Oregon's, without the benefit of that deliciously modern convenience, refrigeration.

Here's hoping our friends hoist a pint and forget the whole thing.

-- Katy Muldoon; katymuldoon@news.oregonian.com