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Nonsense, there is no legitimate way another language can tell English (or another language FWIW) what its name for a place must be. Examples: Deutchland - Ge

Nonsense, there is no legitimate way another language can tell English (or another language FWIW) what its name for a place must be. Examples: Deutchland - Germany, Allemagne, Doitsu Nederland - Niederland, Pays-Bas, Netherlands Zhōngguó - China, Nippon - Japan, Iapana Munchen - Munich, Monaco I can go on, but this phenomenon of prescribing the English word for a proper noun is very recent, and disrespectful of the long, native English (and very much world-wide) culture. English is not common property any more than Persian is. So, no: its Kiev [ and Ayers Rock :) ] when speaking English- that's if other people's cultures matter.

k_ 5y ago
> Munchen - Munich, Monaco As a french, this one caught me off guard. Didn't help that you used the french word as second alternative on first ones, but til that in italian Munich is called "Monaco di Baviera". Now I wonder what's in common between those two cities..
- vaccarium 5y ago
  This is mostly but not entirely coincidental. The name München is derived from the word for monk, which would be "monaco" in Italian. Both "monaco" (monk) and "Monaco" (city) ultimately descend from μόνος (Greek for "solitary").
helge9210 5y ago
> when speaking English I guess, when not speaking English, you speak Russian, "tovarisch major".
tomc1985 5y ago
Coincidentally I was just reading that the variation in other language's names for Germany is because the country originally federated a bunch of nation-states together, and its neighbors simply called the new country the name of whoever they had been dealing with prior In any case it seems more respectful IMO to call a place the name by which it would be most recognized by that place's inhabitants. Practically, however, I learned the word 'Kiev' first, and 'Kyiv' just now, so Kiev it is. Framing the differences here as disrespecting other people's culture is a bit of a stretch, though.
- throwaway210222 5y ago
  > Framing the differences here as disrespecting other people's culture is a bit of a stretch, though. What would you call the insulting hysteria that occurs when an English speaker doesn't change his language and culture to use some foreign-language word for a place? You'll notice no one goes around demanding a billion Chinese change from 'Měiguó' to the 'USA'. Hell, even the Germans get away with calling 'Beijing' Peking. Its just the poor, down-drodden Anglos. :)
  - tomc1985 5y ago
    We do it all the time in the USA too... "This is America! Here we speak English!" There is no "poor Anglos", we are cultural assholes too

k_ 5y ago

> Munchen - Munich, Monaco As a french, this one caught me off guard. Didn't help that you used the french word as second alternative on first ones, but til that in italian Munich is called "Monaco di Baviera". Now I wonder what's in common between those two cities..

vaccarium 5y ago
This is mostly but not entirely coincidental. The name München is derived from the word for monk, which would be "monaco" in Italian. Both "monaco" (monk) and "Monaco" (city) ultimately descend from μόνος (Greek for "solitary").

helge9210 5y ago

> when speaking English I guess, when not speaking English, you speak Russian, "tovarisch major".

tomc1985 5y ago

Coincidentally I was just reading that the variation in other language's names for Germany is because the country originally federated a bunch of nation-states together, and its neighbors simply called the new country the name of whoever they had been dealing with prior In any case it seems more respectful IMO to call a place the name by which it would be most recognized by that place's inhabitants. Practically, however, I learned the word 'Kiev' first, and 'Kyiv' just now, so Kiev it is. Framing the differences here as disrespecting other people's culture is a bit of a stretch, though.

throwaway210222 5y ago
> Framing the differences here as disrespecting other people's culture is a bit of a stretch, though. What would you call the insulting hysteria that occurs when an English speaker doesn't change his language and culture to use some foreign-language word for a place? You'll notice no one goes around demanding a billion Chinese change from 'Měiguó' to the 'USA'. Hell, even the Germans get away with calling 'Beijing' Peking. Its just the poor, down-drodden Anglos. :)
- tomc1985 5y ago
  We do it all the time in the USA too... "This is America! Here we speak English!" There is no "poor Anglos", we are cultural assholes too