How would you design Poland?

[Zaarin]

When people see Commonwealth, the first thing they might think of is Britain and all their encompassing territories. I wouldn't want to necessarily play a civ called just the Commonwealth, because that is just too vague. For all intents, Poland with Jadwiga is supposed to represent Poland-Lithuania anyway with her Lithuanian Union ability.

Not to mention that "commonwealth" is a generic neutral term for any polity or political entity.

 

[Alexander's Hetaroi]

Not to mention that "commonwealth" is a generic neutral term for any polity or political entity.

Yeah that's what I meant. Like I said if people did see a faction called the Commonwealth, usually the first thought would be the British Empire, anyway at least for English speakers.

Kind of like calling a civ the Middle Kingdom. Is it China or the Middle Kingdom of Egypt?

 

[Potworny]

I'm against this because civilizations should represent broader civilizations, not specific polities (*glares at all the nation-state "civs"*). That being said...

Not to mention that "commonwealth" is a generic neutral term for any polity or political entity.

You're absolutely right, I realise that this name won't pass with the current (and sometimes unclear and problematic) criteria of what we can count as a civ, I proposed it more to illustrate how serious I am about representing the peak of Polish multiculturalism.
If not under any other circumstances I guess this name would almost be passable in the Polish language version, as "Commonwealth" is a translation of one of two commonly used Polish words for "republic": "republika", used any time you'd use "republic" in English and "rzeczpospolita", which is a traditional term used pretty much exclusively to refer to the Commonwealth (and the 2nd and 3rd Polish Republic), which makes the name much less generic. Don't treat this a defense of the bold idea of sticking to the name in the game, that would be a dumb hill to die on. But you mind find history of the term surprisingly complicated.

 

[Zaarin]

Kind of like calling a civ the Middle Kingdom. Is it China or the Middle Kingdom of Egypt?

As I understand it, Zhongzhuo is a fairly modern term anyway; Huaxia or Jiuzhou are better.

rzeczpospolita

That's a fun word.

 

[Potworny]

That's a fun word.

Don't be intimidated by Polish digraphs, both "rz" and "cz" stand for single consonants you may recognize from normal languages. It's just like spelling "czeese" instead of "cheese" and "bonrzour" instead of "bonjour".
Now, if we want to provoke the maximum amount of misspellings and mispronunciations with the name of the Polish civ, Polish-Lithaunian Commonwealth is good enough.

 

[Zaarin]

Don't be intimidated by Polish digraphs, both "rz" and "cz" stand for single consonants you may recognize from normal languages. It's just like spelling "czeese" instead of "cheese" and "bonrzour" instead of "bonjour".
Now, if we want to provoke the maximum amount of misspellings and mispronunciations with the name of the Polish civ, Polish-Lithaunian Commonwealth is good enough.

Oh, I know how to read Polish (albeit with little to no comprehension, I'm afraid ); I was just remarking that it's a fun word. (Also the Poles were very sensible to get rid of the trilled fricative that no one but the Czechs can pronounce. )

 

[Krajzen]

Oh, I know how to read Polish (albeit with little to no comprehension, I'm afraid ); I was just remarking that it's a fun word. (Also the Poles were very sensible to get rid of the trilled fricative that no one but the Czechs can pronounce. )

Wait, you are not Polish yourself? All this time I have thought you are Polish like me because of location: Poland and I thought hah it is hilarious how we are both Polish but never acknowledge it

I have even managed to think few times that I am receiving some subtle references towards Polish context

I have also convinced myself that the man in your profile picture is some Polish actor I vaguely recognize but don't know (I have no idea about any Polish celebrities)

 

[Zaarin]

Wait, you are not Polish yourself? All this time I have thought you are Polish like me because of location: Poland and I thought hah it is hilarious how we are both Polish but never acknowledge it

I have even managed to think few times that I am receiving some subtle references towards Polish context

I have also convinced myself that the man in your profile picture is some Polish actor I vaguely recognize but don't know (I have no idea about any Polish celebrities)

No, I'm American (I've lived and traveled overseas, but in South Korea and East Asia, not Europe, sadly). My old avatar was Julian Bashir from Deep Space 9 (played by Anglo-Sudanese actor Alexander Siddig) and my current one is Vir from Babylon 5 (played by the late Stephen Furst). I only know how to read Slavic orthographies from my interest in linguistics.