• the_crotch
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    2 months ago

    Anglophones call Deutschland “Germany”, and we don’t even share a border with them.

    • modifier@lemmy.ca
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      2 months ago

      Also meaningfully different, unless there is an executive order or it’s anglo-equivalent I’m unaware of. Many languages have a name for other countries that is different than the name those countries give themselves. Shall we use Germany itself as an example? How do you say South Africa in German? Südafrika, not Republic of South Africa, Republiek van Suid-Afrika, or any other the other 11 official languages from that country.

      Okay, sure, but that’s just a translation of South and Africa and everyone knows Germans physically cannot resist compound words, so how about France?

      It ain’t République française, or even Französische Republik. It’s Frankreich. This stuff generally happens organically and language develops slower than politics, as evidenced by Frankreich. That’s a lot different than this Executive Order. That’s an imperial move.