5 ms·

> There's also a town in Yugoslavia with the name Srb and the surname could mean someone from that town. Interesting to see Yugoslavia being mentioned when the

> There's also a town in Yugoslavia with the name Srb and the surname could mean someone from that town. Interesting to see Yugoslavia being mentioned when the town is in present-day Croatia (as per the link in the post).

vmception 5y ago
Right after mentioning Serbia I’m thinking either the author had an old map (very common in the US) and has noticed this town before, or identifies as being from Yugoslavia from growing up there at one point (and adopting some identity politics that still separates Serbia), or thinks its synonymous to call the region yugoslavia like the region of nordics has its own name which would just be wrong
- dmurray 5y ago
  Yugoslavia/Yugoslav/South Slavic is a handy name for the region and the language family. Unfortunately it's no longer a neutral name because there was a country with that name and using it might be seen as calling for reconstituting that country and in particular, uniting several nations under Serbian rule. I think these days we're meant to use "the Balkans" and understand by context that we don't mean Greece. But it's much less precise. That said, in this context "a town in Croatia" would have been correct, uncontroversial and more precise.
  - infiniteL0Op 5y ago
  - ggm 5y ago
    I grew up with a colourful "visit Yugoslavia" poster in my bedroom in the sixties. I still think about it. Happy smiling ethnic/folkloric dressed people. Thirty years later, at each other's throats.
  - BerislavLopac 5y ago
    > understand by context that we don't mean Greece Or Albania. Or Romania. Or possibly Bulgaria.
  - mjd 5y ago
    This explains exactly what I was trying to do. Thanks for understanding. I agree that I should have given up and just gone with “a town in Croatia”. I have corrected the article.
darebak 5y ago
From what I remember from school, both Slovak and Serbo-Croatian (maybe all Slavic languages?) have this thing where "R" is behaving kinda like a vowel but it's not a vowel. Can't remember what it is called though.
- Gare 5y ago
  Syllabic "r" [slogotvorno "r"] American English has it too, for example in pronounciation of "work".
- NikolaNovak 5y ago
  We have lovely words like Krk (name of an island), and Grb (cost of arms). But even in English, my ignorant self feels the I in "Kirk" is pointless and unnecessary :-)
mjd 5y ago
I thought long and hard about that word and almost made up the nonceword "Southslavia" to replace it. What I wanted was a word for the southern Slavic _region_, encompassing former Yugoslavia as well as Bulgaria and other territories in adjacent countries. But I couln't find a word for it, and it was getting late.

vmception 5y ago

Right after mentioning Serbia I’m thinking either the author had an old map (very common in the US) and has noticed this town before, or identifies as being from Yugoslavia from growing up there at one point (and adopting some identity politics that still separates Serbia), or thinks its synonymous to call the region yugoslavia like the region of nordics has its own name which would just be wrong

dmurray 5y ago
Yugoslavia/Yugoslav/South Slavic is a handy name for the region and the language family. Unfortunately it's no longer a neutral name because there was a country with that name and using it might be seen as calling for reconstituting that country and in particular, uniting several nations under Serbian rule. I think these days we're meant to use "the Balkans" and understand by context that we don't mean Greece. But it's much less precise. That said, in this context "a town in Croatia" would have been correct, uncontroversial and more precise.
- infiniteL0Op 5y ago
- ggm 5y ago
  I grew up with a colourful "visit Yugoslavia" poster in my bedroom in the sixties. I still think about it. Happy smiling ethnic/folkloric dressed people. Thirty years later, at each other's throats.
- BerislavLopac 5y ago
  > understand by context that we don't mean Greece Or Albania. Or Romania. Or possibly Bulgaria.
- mjd 5y ago
  This explains exactly what I was trying to do. Thanks for understanding. I agree that I should have given up and just gone with “a town in Croatia”. I have corrected the article.

darebak 5y ago

From what I remember from school, both Slovak and Serbo-Croatian (maybe all Slavic languages?) have this thing where "R" is behaving kinda like a vowel but it's not a vowel. Can't remember what it is called though.

Gare 5y ago
Syllabic "r" [slogotvorno "r"] American English has it too, for example in pronounciation of "work".
NikolaNovak 5y ago
We have lovely words like Krk (name of an island), and Grb (cost of arms). But even in English, my ignorant self feels the I in "Kirk" is pointless and unnecessary :-)

mjd 5y ago

I thought long and hard about that word and almost made up the nonceword "Southslavia" to replace it. What I wanted was a word for the southern Slavic _region_, encompassing former Yugoslavia as well as Bulgaria and other territories in adjacent countries. But I couln't find a word for it, and it was getting late.