I read an article from the website of BBC radio:
Nowadays the magic of tape recording and the jet plane make it possible to record a talk well ahead of its transmission, so by the time it’s played, the audience can say, ‘Who is this bonehead of a Rip Van Winkle who’s just woken up to tell us that there’s a prospect of war between Transylvania and Costa Manga – when in fact Costa Manga has already surrendered and the armistice talks are under way?’.
(Source: BBC Radio 4 - Letter from America by Alistair Cooke, Haig's shuttle diplomacy over Falklands - Haig's shuttle diplomacy over Falklands)
Made up name, to avoid naming real countries.
I’m going to guess that Costa Manga was made up by Alastair Cooke, as what he’s describing is a hypothetical war, and that, due to delayed broadcasts of a taped report, it had become possible for one of his reports to be rendered woefully out of date – in this hypothetical case, that the war was already over – by the time some listeners finally heard it. (Google Translate says that “Costa Manga” translates to “Sleeve coast” in English.)
It’s probably confusing because he made up one of the countries in that quote, but not the other. Transylvania is, of course, an actual region, but it hasn’t been an independent country under that name since 1867. However, it’s a well-known name to Western listeners/readers, due to the role it plays in Bram Stoker’s novel Dracula, and the many adaptations of that story.
Also, as I think I remember that you aren’t from the U.S., you may not be familiar with the Rip Van Winkle reference; he was the main character in a story by Washington Irving, who fell asleep for 20 years, and completely slept through the American Revolutionary War. His name is sometimes used for someone who has, literally or figuratively, “slept through” a major event, or is otherwise cluelessly out-of-date.
Kurt Vonnegut wrote a story that was largely set on a fictional Caribbean island nation called San Lorenzo (Cat’s Cradle to be specific). I was brand new in the San Francisco Bay Area at the time I read that, and I found it confusing to see the name San Lorenzo often mentioned, as if it were some local community.
In fact, there is a city in the Bay Area, near Oakland, called San Lorenzo.
Thank you so much for your thoughtfulness, kenobi_65.
Do both the British and Americans use Rip Van Winkle to describe someone who is oblivious to changes in soceity?
Next you’ll be asking where San Seriffe is!
San Serriffe: April fool’s quiz | The Guardian Foundation | The Guardian
Could I suggest it was Alistair Cooke’s version of the generic name for the Spanish Mediterranean resort coast flooded by Brits after cheap plane fares became available, better known as the Costa del Sol.
Costa [insert name] became a standard joke formation for British TV sitcoms and comedians, eg Costa Packet.
I’m not sure; I’m not English, but I suspect that the story is far better known in the U.S. than in England.
But, Alastair Cooke, though he was English, lived in the U.S. for most of his adult life, serving as a foreign correspondent for the BBC and the Guardian. As a result, he was probably much more conversant in American culture than many of his countrymen.
I see. Thank you again.
An earlier example is Costaguana, the Latin American country invented by Joseph Conrad as the setting for his 1904 novel Nostromo.
Is it also possibly a pun on costermonger?
Not speaking for the British, but as an Irish person growing up I would have been familiar with the reference to Rip van Winkle as someone who slept for a long time, as well as a joking name for a sleepy person. I read the story as a child and was confused by the American use of the word “Tory”.
I heard side references to Rip Van Winkle and assorted children story snippets as a child growing up in Canada - I think I was almost 20 before I read the actual story and realized it was a political story about how much things changed in 20 years for the American revolution. The flag was different, the pub sign with the head of King George was modified and it was now call “The George Washington” etc. The children’s stories basically were about falling asleep for so long after bowling with the elves, the iconic 5-foot-long white beard, the family being all grown afterwards, etc.
Seems likely, a combination of that word and the “Costa-” prefix for Western Hemisphere Hispanic heritage place names.
The story of Rip van Winkle is also familiar in the UK. I was hit story that spread far and wide.