A New Name for Czech Republic

[Markxxx]

Why is there no short form? I mean we call it's former partner Slovakia, not the Slovak Republic. Why not Czechia or Czechland?

Or Czechnoslovakia.

[C K Dexter Haven]

I have heard it referred to as Czechia by some Europeans.

[NicePete]

How about "Kafkaland" or in the same vein, "The Country".

[According to Pliny]

How about Bohiemia?

[Rodd Hill]

Friends of mine who have relatives there (near Brno) usually just say "Czech," as in "we're going to Czech next month."

[Jophiel]

My first guess would be "Because it's a republic" same as we call the monarchy of the UK the United Kingdom and not UnitedLand or something.
From what I recall, "Bohemian" is Czech slang for, more or less, some big dumb guy or something so it's not really what you'd want to call your country. I might be 100% wrong on this, it's a vague memory of a newspaper article way back wehn Czechoslovokia broke up.

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"I guess it is possible for one person to make a difference, although most of the time they probably shouldn't."

[According to Pliny]

My dictionary says "Bohemian" is an archaic word for the Czech language. IIRC the Czech republic is made up of Bohemia and Moravia. You could call the country Bohemia and Moravia in the same way that people refer to Trinidad and Tobago.

[eggo]

while we are on the topic (kind of) does anyone else think "The United States of America" is a dumb name for a country? (don't get me wrong, I LOVE the USA) i mean, it's more of a discription than a name. think if england was called "island in the atlantic"

eggo

[Boris B]

A friend of mine calls it Czecho. Not a new thing; he says everyone in Rhodesia, where he grew up, called Czechoslovakia that, only now it is more appropriate. I call it Czecho sometimes, but people look at me funny. I think Bohemia-Moravia might be okay, but it might remind the locals too much of Austria-Hungary or Bosnia-Hercegovina.

How about Boravia?

As to the United States of America, it is kind a bland name, but I thought of a new problem. Sometimes Latin Americans don't like it when Yanquis refer to their country as America, but calling it the United States is also kind of problematic, since there is at least one other "United States" in the Americas (namely, the United States of Mexico).

Plus, what do you call a U.S. citizen? "American" has the same problems as above, although I think it's just fine, since everybody knows what an American is despite their political objections. Plus, "Unitedstatesian" just doesn't sound right. Although I use "Unitedstatesian" sometimes just to be funny.

[Markxxx]

Isn't the USA the only country to OFFICIALLY use the word American in it's offical name?

[jayron 32]

What's wrong with the Czech Republic. We already have:

The Central African Republic
The United States of America
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
The Netherlands (which literally means: "All that land over there"), which was formerly known as "The United Provinces"
The Holy See (official name of the Vatican)
The Republic of the Congo
The Democratic Republic of the Congo (different than above)
The United Arab Emirates

We have several nations that are already not just "-ia" or "-land" or whatever, and for which there is no equivalent for (beyond an abbreviation). Chances are you live in one of them. I personally don't see what's wrong with calling it "The Czech Republic."

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Jason R Remy

"No amount of legislation can solve America's problems."
-- Jimmy Carter (1980)

[AHunter3]

I'll definitely Czech into this further.



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Designated Optional Signature at Bottom of Post

The Rubber Czechs!

Cause they gonna bounce back, people!

[matt_mcl]

It is a misconception that Canadians balk at the use of the word "American" to describe a citizen of the United States. According to The Globe and Mail Style Book, we do use American to mean "of the United States", although we do not use America to mean the United States.

If it interests anyone, the Esperanto word "Usono" means the US, the adjective is "usona" and an inhabitant is "usonano". The same for the Czech Rep. are "C^eh^io", "c^eh^a", and "c^eh^o". (Where you see a circumflex, it is placed over the preceding consonant.)

[Markxxx]

I can see Czech Republic, but then let me ask - Why not the Slovak Republic? (instead of Slovakia). The UAE, The USA, The CAR, don't have a unique qualifier as does the Czech Republic.

By the way is the word "The" capitalized in the above mentioned countries.

[DSYoungEsq]

Why is there no short form? I mean we call it's former partner Slovakia, not the Slovak Republic. Why not Czechia or Czechland?

The simple answer is: That is what they want us to call them. The official name of the country, translated to English is: The Czech Republic.

That, however, alone, is not enough. We call England England, not the Kingdom of England and North Ireland. We call France France, not the Republic of France or The French Republic.

Likely, we call it the Czech Republic because there is no prior name in common usage to attach to it. The country comprises what used to be provinces known as Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia. In the late first millenium, there was a kingdom called Moravia in that area, ended by the Magyars during the early 900's. In the early second millenium, there was a kingdom called Bohemia there, quite a powerful one at times. Eventually, the area was absorbed into the Austrian-Hungarian Empire, then 'liberated' into the country Czechoslovakia (land of the Czechs and Slovaks). Fortunately, the Czechs and Slovaks seem a bit better able to divorce themselves than the Southern Slavs.

Therefore, there never having been a name equating to 'Land of the Czechs' we appear ready to adopt the formal name. With time, usage may cause us to adopt something else, though please note that, even after 200 plus years, very few call this country just America, prefering the name we have attached to it: The United States (of America). Beats being called the Evil Empire.

[jayron 32]

We call England England, not the Kingdom of
England and North Ireland.

Actually, we call England "England", but we call the whole country "The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland", or "The U.K." for short. It is incorrect, both officially and colloquially, to call the whole country "England" or "Britain" Both refer to a subset of the sovereign state which is The United Kingdom. (Incedentally, The United Kingdom covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the Isle of Man, and the Isles of Jersey and Guernsey. Britain ONLY refers to England Scotland and Wales, three of the semi-autonomous parts of the sovereign state "The U.K." All of the other parts of the U.K are not part of Britain. Likewise "England" refers only to the part of the Isle of Britain "roughly" south of the river Clyde and east of the river Severn (this is very aproximate boundries). Calling the U.K. "England" is like calling the Czech Republic "Bohemia", it is entirely incorrect.

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Jason R Remy

"No amount of legislation can solve America's problems."
-- Jimmy Carter (1980)

[VileOrb]

I think a native of the United States should be an "Usan" pronounced with a short "u". Then non-US citizens could be called you'uns.

[DSYoungEsq]

Calling the U.K. "England" is like calling the Czech Republic "Bohemia", it is entirely incorrect.

Absolutely correct.

As far as it goes.

UNFORTUNATELY, there IS an England. The 'United Kingdom' is a union of the Kingdoms of England, Scotland, Wales, etc. However, England is still a political entity separate and distinct from, say, Scotland, where, incidently, they just set up their new Parliament (legislature). And England does not have boundaries 'roughly south of the River Clyde and east of the River Severn,' it has a very specific boundary from Scotland as well as a very specific boundary from Wales.

However, the point about England being a subset of a country called The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is correct, and I accept that there is no specific Kingdom of England since the Act of Union.

[Markxxx]

I hate to harp (well actually...) but again let me ask. Why don't we call it Czechland? Or Czechia? We seem comfortable enough calling it Slovakia not Slovak Republic. So why not Czechia ( or Czechland)

[NanoByte]

As to the Czech Republic, I say call it 'CzechIn'. . .and call Slovakia 'CzechOut' -- because the latter decided to check out of Czechoslovakia. This would also extend the horrible practice of capital letters in the middle of names, begun apparently by the InTerNeT, I believe.

As to a name for the US and its citizens/residents/nonethnics/whatever, 'Usan' would present the problem of establishing the short-'U' pronunciation, thus confusing it with 'Youse'un' or whatever. I doubt if 'South Canada' or 'Lower Canada' would go over very well. Apparently 'Columbia' bit the dust when 'Colombia' came about. 'Ex-England' maybe? 'Greater New England'? Maybe 'Hyperland', or just 'Hypeland'. 'Quinquegenaria'? 'Sublacia' (below the Great Lakes)? Mississippia? 'New Europe' wouldn't be politically correct these days, I suppose. Besides Mexico, in the Americas, Brazil is also a "United States".

Some Spanish or Spanish-American names for Statesiders are: norteamericanos, estadounidenses, usanos, anglos, gringos. Just call 'em 'Yankee-Dollarans'.

Is 'England' that great a name? It just means 'Land of Angles', doesn't it? (Don't know why all the other factions of the time and place lost out.) I always thought the US had more "angles" than anyplace, though.

Maybe all the problems with European country names can be solved by the European Union. . .it says here. So why does Switzerland like to call itself 'Helvetia' when other nationalities don't call it that? Well, at least Russia got off that inflated-name business, after the USSR, and now just calls itself 'Rossiya'/Russia'. Hasn't brought it very good luck though.

Ray (from the US Protectorate City-State of Berkeley, formerly known as the People's Republic of Berkeley)

[jayron 32]

UNFORTUNATELY, there IS an England. The 'United Kingdom' is a union of the Kingdoms of
England, Scotland, Wales, etc. However, England is still a political entity separate and distinct from,
say, Scotland, where, incidently, they just set up their new Parliament (legislature). And England
does not have boundaries 'roughly south of the River Clyde and east of the River Severn,' it has a very
specific boundary from Scotland as well as a very specific boundary from Wales.

Apparently, though I made that abundantly clear in my earlier post, you sir have chosen to quote a point out of context mainly to make yourself appear smarter, but in the process only stand to show your own ignorance on teh subject.

1) I never said that England didn;t have specific boundaries that were thousands of years old. It does, in fact, have very specific boundaries which were 1000 years old. I merely said that those boundries (which, apparently for YOUR sake I have to spell it out) which are 1000 years old, and have not changed in all that time, lie roughly to the west of the Severn and south of the Clyde. Lacking the capacity to draw a map in this message board, I though it best to give a general idea.

2) England and Scotland are kingdoms, but Wales is not, nor has ever been a kingdom. It is a principality. There were, until the time of Edward I, native welshmen who served as Prince of Wales. Lots of guys named Griffith (Gryffydd), Llewellyn and David (Dafydd). When Edward subjugated the Welsh, as a final "Up Yours" he named his heir to the throne "The Prince of Wales". Since then it has become tradtional for the heir apparent to be named the Prince of Wales (but it is not an inherited title; it is a purely granted one). And since the Act of Union of 1707, England and Scotland are official a single kingdom, not merely a kingdom united by coincidence under one Monarch.

3) Apparently your tiny little confused mind hasn't bothered to look up the phrase "semi-autonomous" and "sovereign state" For the purposes of foreign relations, The United Kingdom operates as a single entity, but in matters of domestic affairs, its major divisions (England, Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, Man, Jersey, and Guernsey) operate to some degree independantly. They have seperate internal currencies, sepreate codes of law, and most recently in the case of Scotland, seperate Parliaments.

Before you decide to correct someone, 1) Assume that they know what they are talking about. People are usually far smarter than you give them credit for. 2) Sometimes, for teh sake of brevity, it is common to assume a certain level of knowledge among ones audience, and to simplify matters. Merely because I didn;t publish the entire history of the british peoples from the Romans to Tony Blair does not mean I don't know a thing or two about History. Nothing I said was remotely wrong or inaccurate. Merely shortened for the sake of brevity. 2) Make sure you get the facts rights yourself. Kingdom of Wales. Jeesh.

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Jason R Remy

"No amount of legislation can solve America's problems."
-- Jimmy Carter (1980)

[Montfort]

Actually, the "Velvet Divorce" between the Czech Republic and Slovakia (formerly, "Czechoslovakia") was as much as the Czechs wanting to rid themselves of the Slovaks as vice versa. The two nations were fairly opposed in their thoughts on how to proceed in post-USSR Europe. The Czechs wanted to Westernize their economy, the Slovaks didn't. Seemed like a simple solution at the time.

The Czech Republic consists of two regions, Bohemia and Moravia. This is analogous to the USA consisting of 50 states. You wouldn't just call the USA "Montana" because that is one of its parts, would you? Ditto calling the Czech Republic "Bohemia."

FYI, my Czech coins from my trip there last year refer to the nation as "Ceska Republika" (with appropriate accents on the "C" and "a" of "Ceska"). So, why change what they already decided upon.

[Markxxx]

It used to be United States of Brazil. It is now the Ferderative Republic of Brazil.

Mexico is closer its offically United Mexican States.

But still, despite what the Czechs call themselves, there are many cases where the translation isn't used. For instance in Albania the name for that country translates loosley into land of the Eagle. But we don't call it by its translation.

[Polycarp]

Couple of points:

1. The name for the land area incorporating Bohemia and Moravia is, in Czech, Cesky, with the circumflex over the C. "Czech Republic" is the Anglicization for the name of the nation that governs that land area. (Somebody posted the Czech for that already and I don't have it handy.)

2. Both Bohemia and Moravia have been nations that incorporated what is now Cesky/ Cz. Rep., sometimes with additional areas. Moravia's day of glory was back in the 9th Century, and was ended by Arpad and the Magyars (nice name for a rock group, what?).

Bohemia was around in the late Middle Ages and hung in there until 1918. (Little known fact.) Before somebody jumps me on that date, let me clarify:

When the last of the native dynasty died off (and the Polish royal house figures into this somehow in a way too complex for me to sort out, much less post), the Hapsburgs, who were conquering Europe by marriage at the time, got involved. But Bohemia, which included Moravia as a province, was officially a separate kingdom (though usually governed as though a conquered province from Vienna the last couple of centuries). The Hapsburg claim to vote for and be elected Holy Roman Emperor, which they were for the last 300+ years of its existence, came from the right of the King of Bohemia to be one of the seven electors to choose the Emp.

So if you want to call it Bohemia, it's justifiable.

[Konrad]

As far as I know, we do not called it Czechia because there is no name for the country. It is correct to say it is two regions, Bohemia and Moravia, and that is all that can be really said. Their own name, Ceska Republika means the Czech Republic where "Czech" is an adjective, not the name of the country. Sort of like calling it the land of the Czech's.

Even in Polish we call it Czechy. The letter y at the end indicates it is not the name of the country but a region. Kind of like like saying "The Alps" in English. We don't call it Alpland. So Czechy would be the Czech region or lands belonging to the Czechs.

So if we wanted to give it a shorter name (which I am definately in favour of) we could call it "The Czechs".

Of course Czechia sounds a lot less silly.

[Northern Piper]

jayron said:

I never said that England didn;t have specific boundaries that were thousands of years old. It does, in fact, have very specific boundaries which were 1000 years old. I merely said that those boundries (which, apparently for YOUR sake I have to spell it out) which are 1000 years old, and have not changed in all that time, lie roughly to the west of the Severn and south of the Clyde.

Respectfully disagree. The boundary between England and Scotland was the subject of dispute for many years, and there were changes to it within the past 1000 years.

For example, Cumbria was part of Scotland until 1092, when King William II of England (William Rufus) captured it. King Malcom Canmore (literally, "Malcom Big-Head") of Scotland tried to recover it the next year, and died. Since then, Cumbria has been part of England.

Similarly, the city of Berwick was originally part of Scotland, but the English captured it during the reign of James III of Scotland (1460 to 1488). By a treaty between England and Scotland in 1551, the boundary over the "Debatable Lands" was settled, and Berwick ceased to be part of Scotland. I believe that there has not been any further boundary dispute since 1551.

I believe that there were similar disputes over the boundary between England and Wales, but they were ulitmately settled when Edward I conquered Wales in the 13th century.

[Northern Piper]

the fourth Channel island is Alderney - always comes back to me eventually.

[tomndebb]

the fourth Channel island is Alderney
"I only want a little bit of butter for my bread."

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Tom~

[Northern Piper]

so the king said "bother" and went back to bed

[JRDelirious]

Regarding countries with descriptions rather than names:

There is also in the Americas the Dominican Republic (not to be confused w. Dominica).

I was sort of surprised some time back when I learned the legal name for the big political entity north of the USA has for some time been just "Canada" and not any variation of "The [dominion/state/commonwealth/company/MLMscheme/jellydonut] of Canada"


JRD

[Northern Piper]

I seem to recall, from about the time of the dissolution of Czechoslovakia, that the name "The Czech Republic" was chosen because when Nazi Germany occupied Czechoslovakia it set up a puppet fascist state called "Czechia." The new Czech government did not want to carry any of the baggage of that name, so chose "The Czech Republic" instead.

Anyone else remebmer seeing this?

[Northern Piper]

The United Kingdom covers England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, as well as the Isle of Man, and the Isles of Jersey and Guernsey.

Respectfully disagree. Man, Jersey, Guernsey, Sark (and the fourth island whose name I always forget) are not part of the United Kingdom. The Channel Islands are possessions of the Crown, the only remnants of the old Duchy of Normandy still under the Crown's control. The Isle of Man has never been part of the United Kingdom, as it was a hereditary possession of various magnates, English and Scottish (notably various Douglases, I believe), until finally passing to the Crown (I believe around the mid-18th century).

The British Parliament can legislate for these possesions, in the same way as it can legislate for other British dependencies, but that does not mean they are part of the United Kingdom.