And now we have the following problem: Should Turkey change its Turkish word for turkey? Hindi it means Indian from India (Hindistan). Or Hindu.
Although this Hindi really means American (it comes from the Spanish misconception of the travel to "Indias" when they travelled to the Americas, and other languages also call turkey as "Rooster from Indias").
Very interesting! One quibble from this Dutchman: Holland was never the official name of the entire country (except from 1806-1810, when the French occupiers called it Kingdom Holland with Napoleon’s brother Louis as king). Holland was and is only a part of it.
I thought it was because Holland was always Raadpensionaris so when foreign dignitaries came to speak with the provinces they spoke primarily with Holland.
Macedonia was bullied and forced to change its name against its will! No sane Macedonian uses that fasistic adjective, unless they are brainwashed liberals!
It'd be funny to see what happened if Hungary decided that they wanted everyone around the world to learn to learn to say Magyarország with the right pronunciation
‘Of course the name of our countries is important to us. I notice my eyes dart across pages as I read anything political, looking for that capital “T.” Hearing my country’s name is a bit like hearing my own.’ - I would do this when I moved to the US from India in the 80s. Except I was disappointed almost all the time because Native Americans hadn’t been given that designation yet.
" The 1914-1917 Türkieish genocide of the Hayer is taught in Svenska schools, while no Türkieish children learn about it. In Deutsche schools it, this important event in world history is often omitted, while in the Elliniká school system it is an obligatory part of the curriculum."
Why should the rest of the world be obliged to spell Turkey according to Turkush spelling when the Turks refuse to spell the names of our countries in accordance with official spelling?
And now we have the following problem: Should Turkey change its Turkish word for turkey? Hindi it means Indian from India (Hindistan). Or Hindu.
Although this Hindi really means American (it comes from the Spanish misconception of the travel to "Indias" when they travelled to the Americas, and other languages also call turkey as "Rooster from Indias").
A complete mess ;)
Very interesting! One quibble from this Dutchman: Holland was never the official name of the entire country (except from 1806-1810, when the French occupiers called it Kingdom Holland with Napoleon’s brother Louis as king). Holland was and is only a part of it.
I thought it was because Holland was always Raadpensionaris so when foreign dignitaries came to speak with the provinces they spoke primarily with Holland.
Well done
Another quibble: turkeys aren't flightless. Wild ones, anyway.
My family originated in Friesland, and never considered themselves Dutch from what we can tell.
Indeed. I’ve seen one fly over an interstate highway. They have limited flight ability.
I won’t quit calling Turkey ‘Turkey’ cold turkey.
Macedonia was bullied and forced to change its name against its will! No sane Macedonian uses that fasistic adjective, unless they are brainwashed liberals!
It'd be funny to see what happened if Hungary decided that they wanted everyone around the world to learn to learn to say Magyarország with the right pronunciation
‘Of course the name of our countries is important to us. I notice my eyes dart across pages as I read anything political, looking for that capital “T.” Hearing my country’s name is a bit like hearing my own.’ - I would do this when I moved to the US from India in the 80s. Except I was disappointed almost all the time because Native Americans hadn’t been given that designation yet.
Ha, I love that. I'm guessing you stopped beyond some unmarked point of assimilation.
Nah, I still do it. I’m rewarded with more relevant pieces but now they elicit more complicated feelings that fall into the eye rolling category.
This is the sort of nerdy, slightly snarky take on real world events that I love so much. Thank you.
Let me give it a try:
" The 1914-1917 Türkieish genocide of the Hayer is taught in Svenska schools, while no Türkieish children learn about it. In Deutsche schools it, this important event in world history is often omitted, while in the Elliniká school system it is an obligatory part of the curriculum."
And how many foreign schools teach about the ethnic cleansing of Turks from Bulgaria?
Add Greek, Russian, Moldovan, Romanian and Armenian textbooks to the list of suspect, genocide-free sources.
You mean Türks in България?
Yes
The Türkler who were ethnically cleansed from българия
I have no idea.
This is an appalling double standard.
Why should the rest of the world be obliged to spell Turkey according to Turkush spelling when the Turks refuse to spell the names of our countries in accordance with official spelling?
Australia or Avustralya
England or İngiltere
Deutchland or Almanya
France or Fransa
Italia or İtalya
Canada or Kanada
America or Amerika
There is an alternative: Instead of spelling the name out, you can just use the emoji: 🦃
"because in the global lingua franca, there is an association with the bird"
This is especially hilarious because turkey in Turkish is... Hindi.
I like Usman Empire, but British killed it with Ottoman Empire. And it was Osmania Sultunate. More accurately Osmaniye.
Greatly enjoyed your writing style (and expose into the hallowed chambers of Turkish politics)!
Thanks Stanislav, glad to hear you liked it. You might also be interested in my follow-up post on the subject here: https://kulturkampftr.substack.com/p/revisiting-turkey-vs-turkiye
“Ankara has asked everyone to reign in” — surely you mean “rein in”?
That’s it, I’m firing my copy editor.
I had no idea Dave Barry had a Turkish cousin.
The NY Times is not adopting the new spelling.