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Palace of Westminster, London, England
Clock talk
Somewhat like the distinction between England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, the naming of London's most famous landmark can be a bit befuddling if you're not in the know. Well, here's the high tea – 'Big Ben' refers specifically to the 11.8-tonne Great Bell housed in what's been officially called Elizabeth Tower since 2012 (the Diamond Jubilee year of Queen Elizabeth II). Before that, in no-nonsense British fashion, the tower was simply titled the Clock Tower. Still, perhaps since its first chime in 1859, Londoners have referred to the bell, clock and tower alike as Big Ben. But not the rest of the building, which comes with its own naming ambiguity – you can call it either the Palace of Westminster or Houses of Parliament.
Clock talk
Somewhat like the distinction between England, Great Britain and the United Kingdom, the naming of London's most famous landmark can be a bit befuddling if you're not in the know. Well, here's the high tea – 'Big Ben' refers specifically to the 11.8-tonne Great Bell housed in what's been officially called Elizabeth Tower since 2012 (the Diamond Jubilee year of Queen Elizabeth II). Before that, in no-nonsense British fashion, the tower was simply titled the Clock Tower. Still, perhaps since its first chime in 1859, Londoners have referred to the bell, clock and tower alike as Big Ben. But not the rest of the building, which comes with its own naming ambiguity – you can call it either the Palace of Westminster or Houses of Parliament.
Like the distinction between 'England' and 'Britain', the naming of this landmark can be befuddling if you're not in the know.
© CHUNYIP WONG / E+ / Getty Images 2026-09-11 08:45:51 :