Let's try and get 1,000,000 replies to this post

Forostar said:
I see how you see it.

I rather look at it as plural "things" caused by a phenomenon. The Norhern Light is a light display in the sky. Lights caused by the Northern Light.
"Emission of auroral light." "Light emissions". Enough singular feeling to me.

Mind you, polar Light (and even Northern Light) is accepted in English, but somehow there is also a plural stream in your language (maybe a very old one made up by people who didn't understand it yet: "Look! Lights!"). I find it interesting that it deviates from most other languages I am aware of.
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Everything in English is like that. You don't go to the sea and say, "Look at the wave." Even though the waves are caused by the same effects, they are individual parts of a large process.

Nobody in English says Northern Light. It's unheard of. If we talk about the effect it in a singular manner, we would say the aurora. Or aurora borealis. No native English speaker would call that by a singular title.
 
We've been calling the country Чехия for ever as well. Who cares if it's a republic? :p
No person of average intelligence would confuse Czechia with Chechnya.
 
In fact, I've been wondering for a while about why the Czechs didn't opt for a simple country name. I mean, we're easy going about all that Federal Republic of Germany thing - although East Germany was a bit stiffer in that regard. So what do I know. I'm rambling. -_-
 
Perun said:
@JudasMyGuide, is this true: https://uk.news.yahoo.com/fed-long-name-czech-republic-says-call-us-193809933.html
If so, we've been doing that ever since your country exists. :p
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It is true, but blown out of proportion somewhat. Aunt Wiki says: "The name Czechia /ˈtʃɛkiə/ was recommended by The Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs (minister Josef Zieleniec). In a memorandum to all Czech embassies and diplomatic missions in 1993, the full name "Czech Republic" was recommended for use only in official documents and titles of official institutions..."

However, picking the short name hasn't been easy, since the republic consists of three quite distinct regions:

1. Bohemia
2. Moravia (technically the historically oldest part)
3. Czech Silesia

with many people esp. from Moravia feel that the name Czech Republic is somewat inaccurate as is, since Bohemia is Čechy in Czech, the name Czechia (roughly equal to Czech Česko) being worse in that regard. And that Czechlands, for example, would be more accurate.

Also, some people don't like how the word Czechia sounds and would prefer Czechlands or Bohemia.

And...

Ariana said:
No person of average intelligence would confuse Czechia with Chechnya.
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Czech people are not afraid of this as far as Europeans are concerned... Americans, however, often do confuse us with Chechnya and the short name's not going to help.

Exhibit A: This scene from my favourite episode of The Sopranos:


:D
 
Here's a question for all academics: Is it a German thing that people from university administration treat you in an arrogant and condescending manner when you have a question about a bureaucratic process?
 
In Czechia people from university administration (and very often even the teachers) treat you in an arrogant and condescending manner all the time. The older the university, the worse it gets.
 
Perun said:
Here's a question for all academics: Is it a German thing that people from university administration treat you in an arrogant and condescending manner when you have a question about a bureaucratic process?
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At department level, my experience is that they're very helpful. Anything above department level, not so much.
 
We refer to the country with "Republic" as well. Ditching Republic in our case would give the country a name (Çekya) that sounds almost identical to the Turkish name for a couch that you can convert into a bed (Çekyat).

No confusion with Chechnya, though. We refer to that one with -stan in the end. (Çeçenistan)
 
We have a word for that too - futon. :D

We however unfortunately lack any single-word way to express Erfrischungsgetränke, Verkehrsverbindungen or Waldmeistersaft. :D
 
But those are the words that matter! And I wouldn't want to live in a world where we can't have a word for Dünnbrettbohrerreparaturfachwerkstattsangestelltengehilfenbüroschreibtischverleih. <_<
 
Perun said:
But those are the words that matter! And I wouldn't want to live in a world where we can't have a word for Dünnbrettbohrerreparaturfachwerkstattsangestelltengehilfenbüroschreibtischverleih. <_<
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I tried to decode that, but I gave up halfway through. Something about renting office desks or whatever. Don't tell me there's anyone in Germany who would actually use the word in speech :D

And of course, is it ein kleine schöne Dünnbrettbohrerreparaturfachwerkstattsangestelltengehilfenbüroschreibtischverleih, or do you see den kleinen schönen Dünnbrettbohrerreparaturfachwerkstattsangestelltengehilfenbüroschreibtischverleih, or does it all actually have something to do with kleinem schönem Dünnbrettbohrerreparaturfachwerkstattsangestelltengehilfenbüroschreibtischverleih and can you spot the mistake? o_O :ninja:
 
The Flash said:
We refer to the country with "Republic" as well. Ditching Republic in our case would give the country a name (Çekya) that sounds almost identical to the Turkish name for a couch that you can convert into a bed (Çekyat).

No confusion with Chechnya, though. We refer to that one with -stan in the end. (Çeçenistan)
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Hmm. A couch without a back is known as an 'ottoman'.
 
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