4 ms·
Are you on a first name basis with Erdoğan?
by Freak_NL 10y ago
Are you on a first name basis with Erdoğan?
- AnimalMuppet 10y agoI suspect it's a way of showing less respect. Some people in the US referred to President Clinton as "Billy", for another instance of (I suspect) the same thing.
- therein 10y agoYup, it is exactly that.
- kweks 10y agoMost of my turkish friends refer to him as Tayyip. The habit stuck, I guess.
- coldtea 10y agoYou do know that not every country/culture has the same first name/last name etc calling practices, right?
- Freak_NL 10y agoMy comment may have come across as snide, my apologies for that. But I stand by my point; if we want to discuss something we shouldn't stoop to derogatory use of names. In English it is permissible and customary to refer to officials by their last name (e.g., 'Obama', 'Hollande', 'Merkel'). Using their given names, unless done in an obvious tongue-in-cheek fashion, laces your opinion with weasel-speak. It detracts from a sensible exchange of ideas, views, and standpoints. If we all resort to using whatever we feel is most applicable for Erdoğan (or any other demagogue) I would be very surprised if half of the pseudonyms used did not hint at the alleged illegitimate consummation of those of the caprid persuasion — let's not venture there.
- areyousure 10y agoYou're overselling your point. For example, in the 2016 presidential primaries, many of the candidates were using their first names preferentially: Hillary, Bernie, Jeb, Rand, Carly. Of course, some candidates focused on their last names: Trump, O'Malley. And others used their full name: Ted Cruz, Ben Carson, Marco Rubio.