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Is it really "impolite" that some peoples and countries have different names in different languages?

Is it really "impolite" that some peoples and countries have different names in different languages?

  • yes, it is impolite

    Votes: 2 7.7%
  • yes, it is insulting

    Votes: 2 7.7%
  • no, it is not impolite

    Votes: 12 46.2%
  • no, it is not insulting

    Votes: 11 42.3%
  • it is just the way that languages work

    Votes: 14 53.8%
  • i find it interesting that there are different names in different languages for the same country

    Votes: 12 46.2%

  • Total voters
    26
BTW, the Basque are a people not a country, although there is a movement...
Sorry to contradict you.
But the Basque Country is an autonomous region in Spain.
Not an independent state - but a country.

I have been there several times. :)
 
The short form in German is often just "Amerika".
Now I hope nobody is insulted or offended by the use of the k instead of the c. :)
"We're all living in Amerika, Amerika Amerika....We're all living in Amerika....it's wunderbar, Amerika..."


Latin Americans actually do get testy , they refer to us gringos as norteamericanos...as there is more to Amerika than los Estados Unidos

Most Mexicans (maybe all latinos, but I know for sure Mexicans learn english phonetically and K (in spanish) doesn't occur naturally, but for those that know a little english it's a godsend
...
 
Sorry to contradict you.
But the Basque Country is an autonomous region in Spain.
Not an independent state - but a country.

I have been there several times. :)
Um, no. While it's called Basque Country it is:
Basque Country, French Pays Basque, cultural region within the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, extreme southwestern France, bordering the western Pyrenees Mountains where they adjoin the Basque provincias of Spain, along the Bay of Biscay.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Basque-Country-region-France


I do envy you for having been there.
 
While it's called Basque Country it is:
Basque Country, French Pays Basque, cultural region within the département of Pyrénées-Atlantiques, extreme southwestern France, bordering the western Pyrenees Mountains where they adjoin the Basque provincias of Spain, along the Bay of Biscay.
https://www.britannica.com/place/Basque-Country-region-France
I know all those details. :)
I have been both to the French and the Spanish part of the "Baskenland" - to use its neutral German name. :)
 
Of course, it is NOT "impolite."

In fact, it may actually be impolite or even offensive to use the word that the people in the target language use.

For example, I think (maybe an expert can correct me if I am mistaken), the Japanese people refer to their country as "Nippon."

But if an American were to say, "The Olympics start next month in Nippon," that might be considered to be sarcastic or offensive or even belittling.

So I would stick with "Japan."
 
I do envy you for having been there.
I understand. :)
It is a fine region.
And I have learned to say "Thank you" in the Basque language there.
Which goes like: "Eskerrik asko!" :)
 
Of course, it is NOT "impolite."

In fact, it may actually be impolite or even offensive to use the word that the people in the target language use.

For example, I think (maybe an expert can correct me if I am mistaken), the Japanese people refer to their country as "Nippon."

But if an American were to say, "The Olympics start next month in Nippon," that might be considered to be sarcastic or offensive or even belittling.

So I would stick with "Japan."
You are absolutely right! :)
 
Of course, it is NOT "impolite."

In fact, it may actually be impolite or even offensive to use the word that the people in the target language use.

For example, I think (maybe an expert can correct me if I am mistaken), the Japanese people refer to their country as "Nippon."

But if an American were to say, "The Olympics start next month in Nippon," that might be considered to be sarcastic or offensive or even belittling.

So I would stick with "Japan."
Good point! (y) (y) (y)

But again and again one can read comments that go like this:
"For me it is a point of honour and politeness to call every country and every people by exactly the same name that it calls itself."

Now what would you answer those people, who are so proud of themselves and convinced of their own goodness? :)
 
But again and again one can read comments that go like this:
"For me it is a point of honour and politeness to call every country and every people by exactly the same name that it calls itself."

Now what would you answer those people, who are so proud of themselves and convinced of their own goodness? :)
Maybe conceited?

Maybe someone who wants to show off his/her knowledge of foreign languages?

Maybe someone who wants to make a fool of him-, herself?
 
Maybe conceited?

Maybe someone who wants to show off his/her knowledge of foreign languages?

Maybe someone who wants to make a fool of him-. herself?
Maybe all 3 of those reasons! :) :cool: :D
 
I’d use the name for the country in tbe language I was speaking. If I were speaking to a native Japanese in English I’d use Japan. In Japanese “Nihon”. There is native Japanese word for America - “Beikoku” - but my limited experience is that people mostly just say “America” regardless of language.
 
Maybe conceited?

Maybe someone who wants to show off his/her knowledge of foreign languages?

Maybe someone who wants to make a fool of him-, herself?
As a 4th possibility I might add:
Maybe someone with zero understanding of the way how languages work. :(
 
Mexicans call us Americans "Cuidados de Estados Unidos."

But they eventually give up and call us Americanos. Or "gringos."

Often you hear "Norte Americanos," but that would include Canadians which apparently Mexicans ignore.


.
 
When the Dutch say "Duitsland" for Germany, they come very close to "Deutschland".
Funny that they themselves are called "Dutch", which is very much like "deutsch."
But languages do not work like mathematics, as I often say. :)
 
Mexicans call us Americans "Cuidados de Estados Unidos."

But they eventually give up and call us Americanos. Or "gringos."

Often you hear "Norte Americanos," but that would include Canadians which apparently Mexicans ignore.


.
"Cuidados de Estados Unidos."

Hunh?
 
Mexicans call us Americans "Cuidados de Estados Unidos.

We Germans call the Americans thus: "Amerikaner".
Which is also the name of a fine round baked sweet.
And btw: There are white and black Amerikaner, and they are both quite tasty! :)
 
5 out of 5 now say:

"no, it is not impolite!" :)

 
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It’s not an unreasonable question: why don’t we call Germany Deutschland? It’s not as if Germans are aliens and our tongues can’t replicate the sounds that form their names.
A similar question came up when I was just married. My husband's field was classics and etymology. We were discussing the names of cities. He pointed out that cities like the one where he was born, have names in many different languages because they had longstanding, historic importance in trade. Genova, Italy is Genoa in English and Gênes in French. Not every Italian city has a name change as languages change.

I am guessing that one element in the use of a country's name in a language is that country's historical importance.
 
A similar question came up when I was just married. My husband's field was classics and etymology. We were discussing the names of cities. He pointed out that cities like the one where he was born, have names in many different languages because they had longstanding, historic importance in trade. Genova, Italy is Genoa in English and Gênes in French. Not every Italian city has a name change as languages change.

I am guessing that one element in the use of a country's name in a language is that country's historical importance.
The one benefit of there being different names is I get to annoy my friends by calling it "Firenze" instead of "Florence." If not for that I would need to find something else to make me sound smart.
 
A similar question came up when I was just married. My husband's field was classics and etymology. We were discussing the names of cities. He pointed out that cities like the one where he was born, have names in many different languages because they had longstanding, historic importance in trade. Genova, Italy is Genoa in English and Gênes in French. Not every Italian city has a name change as languages change.

I am guessing that one element in the use of a country's name in a language is that country's historical importance.
Fine topic!
It is especially the Italian cities that have special names in German. :)

Like:

Firenze = Florenz
Milano = Mailand
Genova = Genua
Napoli = Neapel
Venezia = Venedig
Roma = Rom
Torino = Turin
 
We Germans call the Americans thus: "Amerikaner".
Which is also the name of a fine round baked sweet.
And btw: There are white and black Amerikaner, and they are both quite tasty! :)

So? Frankfurters, wieners, and hamburgers are names of some pretty tasty foods here!;)
 

Amerikaner - Cake-Like Cookies Frosted on the Bottom​

Amerikaner is a cake-like cookie commonly featured in German bakeries for after school snacks. Vanilla flavored with icing on the bottom of the cookie and served upside-down, the history of Amerikanern in Germany is an interesting one.​

There are two theories of how they came to be named Amerikaner. Either they were brought to Germany by the GIs after the war, or they were named Ammoniakaner for ammonium hydrogen carbonate, or "Hirschhornsalz", which was used as a leavening agent. This seems like a stretch to many people.

Text with pictures: https://www.thespruceeats.com/amerikaner-cake-like-cookies-frosted-bottom-1446545

I wonder whether there are any edible Amerikaner in America? :)
 
Some fun and interesting facts about Iran and Persia I have learned about: Iranians don't actually call themselves "Persian", they call themselves Iranians. The term "Persia" has been popularized in the west because of the ancient Greeks. It turns out that "Pars" (or later pronounced as "Fars" after the Islamic invasions, because Arabs can't say the letter "P") was just the province that was closest to Greece (it was also where Persepolis, capital of the ancient Persian empire, was located- which Alexander the Great conquered and burned to the ground). But "Pars" was just one province among many in the gargantuan Persian empire of the time- which stretched from China and India out to Egypt and Turkey. It's a little like how "Washington" or "Moscow" get used synonymously for the US or Russia- because that's the seat of power in those countries.

But the Iranians DO still refer to their own language as "Farsi" or "Parsi"- I guess similar to how Americans still refer to their language as English- that was the official language of the court, and therefore of the empire. So to this day, "Farsi" is spoken in countries are far away from the province of Fars as Afghanistan and Tajikistan. If you go to the Taj Mahal in India, there is poetry inscribed on the walls in the language of Farsi- because Farsi was also the official court language of the Mughal dynasty in India.
 
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