Czechs to change their name?

[Takhisis]

So they ant to change the English name to Czechia. I've seen Winner doing that kind of thing here while posting on the forum.

Spoiler :

www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/whats-in-a-name-czech-republic-mulls-shock-rebranding-as-czechia-8874839.html
What's in a name? Czech Republic mulls shock rebranding as Czechia[/url]

Support is growing for a national name change. But would ‘Czechia’ really do the trick?


Some people have enough trouble remembering that an independence movement saw the country of Czechoslovakia effectively disappear two decades ago when it split into two, and now the Czech Republic’s President has said he supports rechristening the nation yet again, this time to Czechia.

It is a debate that has rumbled since the “velvet divorce” in 1993 peacefully split the Czech Republic and Slovakia. There are nations with longer names: The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, for example. But Czechs have long grumbled that their name does not roll off the tongue in English, and that many foreigners think the term “Czech” refers to a citizen of the non-existent nation of Czechoslovakia.

So a movement has been gathering pace to informally change the English name to Czechia, a closer approximation of sound of the country’s name in the Czech language. That movement got a high-profile boost this week, when President Milos Zeman thanked his Israeli counterpart, Shimon Peres, for referring to the country as Czechia in a public speech.

“I am very happy that you used the term Czechia just as I do,” he told Mr Peres during a state visit to Israel. “I use Czechia because it sounds nicer and it’s shorter than the cold Czech Republic.”

That has rekindled the debate in the Czech media, with language and history experts weighing in on the merits of the new name.

Karel Oliva, the head of the Czech Language Institute of the Academy of Sciences, told Radio Praha that the name dates back to the 17th century and therefore would be historically appropriate. But he stressed that the official name should remain the Czech Republic, and how people refer to it informally “is a decision for English-speakers to make”. His colleague at the Institute, Marketa Pravdova, told the Prague Daily Monitor that it would be helpful to have a more punchy name in diplomacy and foreign relations.

One problem raised by detractors is the possible confusion with the nation of Chechnya (officially the Chechen Republic), even though Czechia is pronounced “Check-ee-aaa”. So other suggestions being considered are Czechlands – taking inspiration from The Netherlands – and the rather romantic-sounding Bohemia.

But as Mr Oliva pointed out, their former compatriots to the east have managed just fine despite having a name which occasionally leaves foreigners flummoxed. “People very often confuse Slovakia and Slovenia, and I think we could find many more examples of this,” he said.

Which name sounds best?

 

[Camikaze]

Czechia sounds like a rash.

 

[Borachio]

Bohemia sounds just fine to me.

 

[Cheetah]

Czechia of course!

That's also how it's used in the Scandinavian languages at least - Tsjekkia - and thus how I've mistranslated it into English a few times.

But wouldn't it be more correct to say "Czesko" (that's how it's said in Czechian I think)? Winner? Any other Czechians here?

 

[Joecoolyo]

Czech Republic is fine.

 

[Tahuti]

Czechia of course. Czech Republic only describes the state, but Czechia also describes the geographical region and political terms like "Republic" and "Kingdom" should only be used to distinguish countries who occupy the same geographical region (i.e. Canada and the United States of America in North America, German Federal Republic and German Democratic Republic in Cold War Germany). I tend to prefer Great Britain over United Kingdom as well for the same reason.

 

[Takhisis]

Kaiserguard, you're excluding the Northern Irish!

The US should change its name to Americania btw, forgot to include that in the OP.

 

[cybrxkhan]

Bohemia sounds just fine to me.

Yes! It should be called Bohemia

 

[History_Buff]

And leave Moravia (which is a better word than Bohemia IMO) out altogether.

I'm fine with Czechia, though it does sound a hell of a lot like Chechnya.

 

[Terxpahseyton]

Bohemia sounds just fine to me.

You are right though.

 

[bhsup]

What's wrong with Greater Germania? Course, that would require some border redrawing.

Non-joking answer is Czechia, I suppose. It's shorter than saying "The Czech Republic" every time you want to reference the country. Just be careful of the British press so that they don't start spelling it Czequeia.

 

[Lillefix]

Completely agree. Make it pronounceable in England. I already pronounce it like that in English when I think about it...(I occasionally work with people from there, so I actually have to say it from time to time).

 

[shadowplay]

Pepsi Presents The Czech Republic

 

[metatron]

Czech Republic!

I can hardly be objective.
We had like six wars, three horrible dictatorships and roughly 17 revolutions mostly of the futile lethal derp-fest variety over this.
I suppose as a result of this i lack the tools necessary to understand why a nation with the proudest history of enlightenment would want to go from "Republic" [fanfare!][morefanfare!] to "uhm, you know, us folks".

 

[Takhisis]

A nation isn't the same as a state and a state is not the same as a country, metatron.

 

[Perfection]

Czechistan

 

[Mechanicalsalvation]

Czechia or Banania or whatever....

 

[metatron]

A nation isn't the same as a state and a state is not the same as a country, metatron.

Yes. Mostly yes.
But, see, this is where perspectives start do differ (not fundamentally but in tone and in the details).

 

[Antilogic]

Sure, use Czechia as the short name and the full name can still be the Czech Republic. If the Czechs want to rebrand themselves why not go along with it?

It's not like I still refer to modern Iran as Persia unless I'm trolling.

 

[bugwar]

Just call 'em Check. Then they are the Checks.