# Non-English Teams in English **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 28, 2000, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907 "2000-09-28T18:37:34Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/1 "2000-09-28T18:37:34Z")
Why do foreign countries identify themselved in English? Why do Chinese divers wear bathing suits that say “China” (in English) instead of writing it in Chinese? Why does the Romanian gymnastics coach wear a jacket that says “Romania” in English instead of Romanian? ---
**Author:** ![A\_girl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/c68b51/32.png) [@A\_girl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A_girl)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 6:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/2 "2000-09-28T18:48:01Z")
What’s worse, why do the teams have to use the English names for their countries! Japan is called Nippon in Japanese! But they have to use JPN in the Olympics, and I bet China calls itself something else too, as well as Korea. A girl ---
**Author:** ![Munch](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/munch/32/5281_2.png) [@Munch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Munch)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 6:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/3 "2000-09-28T18:54:23Z")
I want to throw out a WAG, and say that it has to do with more with the french word for these countries than english, as french is the official language of the olympics. ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/4 "2000-09-28T18:58:29Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Connor \* > \*\*…as french is the official language of the olympics. \*\* Really? You learn something new every day. I would have WAG’d that it was Greek. Aren’t the Olympics of Greek origin? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 7:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/5 "2000-09-28T19:03:00Z")
Close sdimbert. The country names are usually written in the language of the host nation. I suspect that the Olympic organizing committee can specify a language, since I don’t recall the names being in Korean when it was held in Seoel (man I can’t spell that 🙂 )). When the Olympics were in Montreal, they did use French. That cause a lot of confusion in the opening ceremony; a lot of African countries were boycotting and the announcers weren’t sure if a country was missing or just in French. (“Looks like Chad is missing.” “No, Jim, it’s spelled Tchad in French.”) ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 7:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/6 "2000-09-28T19:06:02Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sdimbert \* > \*\*I would have WAG’d that it was Greek. Aren’t the Olympics of Greek origin? \*\* Greek and (I think, maybe) continued by Romans . . . but outlawed somewhere along the line. Restarted by someone French whose name I have conveniently forgotten back in 1896. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 7:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/7 "2000-09-28T19:08:05Z")
iampunha: You forgot a name in 1896? How old are you Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. ---
**Author:** ![BobT](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/8e8cbc/32.png) [@BobT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobT)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 7:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/8 "2000-09-28T19:47:45Z")
Most likely the Japanese compete under the name Japan because they figure that most of the people watching know where and what Japan is. It’s marketing more than anything else. If you’re not going to be writing your country’s name in your own alphabet, you might as well make it easy for the largest number of people to read. The USSR used to compete under CCCP which was the abbreviation for the country in Cyrillic. The Soviet Union didn’t really care about marketing their apparel and logos, so they went with their own name written their own way. The USA has fairly recognizable initials so it doesn’t need to change. I don’t think the German uniforms say “Germany” on them. Brazil’s uniforms say “Brasil.” Korean uniforms say “Korea”, at least the ones in baseball did. ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/9 "2000-09-28T20:03:09Z")
When I was at the Olympics in Atlanta, all announcements were made in three languages: The language of the host country (in this case English), the language of the Olympics (French) and (at least in cases where athletes competed one at a time) the language of the current competitor. If there were multiple nationalities/languages involved in the contest, sometimes no third language was used. I’ve been told that in the latter case, English is frequently used for announcements as a sort of lingua france, but I’ve been unable to find the “official” word on this. BTW, I highly recommend going to the Olympics in person rather than watching on TV. The atmosphere is far, far, less ethnocentric and there’s more focus on the thrill of competing, and less on actually winning. (It’s really cool to see people compete who are lucky to just be there, and be happy with their results, irrespective of medal contention). ---
**Author:** ![ren](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ed655f/32.png) [@ren](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ren)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 8:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/10 "2000-09-28T20:12:58Z")
umm, that’s _lingua franca_. Doh! ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/11 "2000-09-28T20:19:39Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by ren \* > … English is frequently used for announcements as a sort of lingua france, … Great typo, but somehow I don’t think the French will be terribly amused… ---
**Author:** ![iampunha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/74df32/32.png) [@iampunha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iampunha)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 8:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/12 "2000-09-28T20:28:22Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by CalMeacham \* > \*\*iampunha: > > You forgot a name in 1896? How old are you > \*\* Serves me right for posting from class . . . ☹ ---
**Author:** ![charizard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/charizard/32/4166_2.png) [@charizard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/charizard)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/13 "2000-09-28T20:37:08Z")
This should get really cool if Beijing wins the bid for the 2008 Olympics. Try finding Chad on THAT list. ---
**Author:** ![Flymaster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/c4cdca/32.png) [@Flymaster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Flymaster)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 8:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/14 "2000-09-28T20:46:32Z")
Actually, I’m pretty sure that there are TWO languages of the olympics, English AND French, plus the language of the host country. I could also be very wrong, but I’m fairly sure it’s both. ---
**Author:** ![Sunshine](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/3ec8ea/32.png) [@Sunshine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunshine)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 9:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/15 "2000-09-28T21:05:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by sdimbert \* > \*\*I would have WAG’d that it was Greek. Aren’t the Olympics of Greek origin? \*\* Um…ever hear of **Olympia** , Greece? That’s why they’re called the Olympics. Olympia is the birthplace of the Olympics, in 776 b.c. (I’ve been there, to the ruins of the Olympic “stadium” and housing facilities, etc. It was pretty awesome.) The ancient Olympic games were originally a religous praise-Zeus thing and they stopped doing it in around 350 b.c. Then the games were brought back as the modern games in 1896 and held in Athens, Greece–but this time to promote peace, diplomacy and to honor the ancient Olympians. Too much Olympic info? 🙂 Ever since I was in Greece in '98 I’ve been interested. ---
**Author:** ![MinkMan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minkman/32/19170_2.png) [@MinkMan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MinkMan)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 9:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/16 "2000-09-28T21:07:13Z")
> [@](#): > > 27 Languages > 1 The official languages of the IOC are French and English. > 2 At all IOC Sessions, simultaneous interpretation into German, Spanish, Russian and Arabic must also be provided. > 3 In the case of divergence between the French and English texts of the Olympic Charter and all other IOC documents, the French text shall prevail unless expressly provided otherwise in writing. [http://www.olympic.org/ioc/e/facts/charter/charter\_games\_e.html](http://www.olympic.org/ioc/e/facts/charter/charter_games_e.html) ---
**Author:** ![sailor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a587f6/32.png) [@sailor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sailor)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 9:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/17 "2000-09-28T21:58:18Z")
Just to add to the trivia I’ll remind everyone the original Greek athletes competed naked. ---
**Author:** ![Greg\_Charles](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/839c29/32.png) [@Greg\_Charles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Greg_Charles)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/18 "2000-09-28T21:59:56Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by iampunha \* > \*\* > Greek and (I think, maybe) continued by Romans . . . but outlawed somewhere along the line. Restarted by someone French whose name I have conveniently forgotten back in 1896. \*\* Wow, I can’t believe an implied question has gone unanswered for this long! The name you’re looking for is Pierre De Coubertin. ---
**Author:** ![sdimbert](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sdimbert/32/20204_2.png) [@sdimbert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sdimbert)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/19 "2000-09-28T22:08:13Z")
This is interesting and all, but it doesn’t really answer the OP’s question. Why do competing countries see fit to write their own nations’s name on their own uniforms in a foreign language? I mean, they’re _not_ using French (the Official Language), they are using English! ---
**Author:** ![Ankh\_Too](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3ab097/32.png) [@Ankh\_Too](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ankh_Too)\ **Post date:** [September 28, 2000, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907/20 "2000-09-28T22:46:24Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by iampunha \* > \*\* > > > [@](#): > > > > \*Originally posted by sdimbert \* > > \*\*I would have WAG’d that it was Greek. Aren’t the Olympics of Greek origin? \*\* > > Greek and (I think, maybe) continued by Romans . . . but outlawed somewhere along the line. Restarted by someone French whose name I have conveniently forgotten back in 1896. \*\* Baron de Coubertin [http://www.museum.olympic.org/e/gallery/permanent/cou\_bio\_e.html](http://www.museum.olympic.org/e/gallery/permanent/cou_bio_e.html) > [@](#): > > **_originally posted by sdimbert_ > Why do competing countries see fit to write their own nations’s name on their own uniforms in a foreign language? I mean, they’re not using French (the Official Language), they are using English!** Although both French and English are the official languages of the Olympics, it may simply be a pragmatic decision on the part of the countries in question. English is the most widely used and understood language internationally. They may have decided to go with the language that will reach the most people. But that’s just a guess. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/non-english-teams-in-english/34907.md?page=2)