Place names as used by those who live in them.

[happy daze john in oz]

On one of our TV stations here we have a female reporter by the name of Gloria Farhart.

[alex smith]

As I lay in the bath counting my legs
Place and country names we grew up with have been changed. Nobody sails to Ceylon
P.S. Köln is in Deutschland. (Not that difficult is it ?) Happy New Year.

My friend in Dubai give me a diary every year and each time same map, Palestine is there but no Israel, its his jab at things no words just the map.

[John S Martin]

Similarly in Northumberland. Tynedale District Council (which the majority wanted to keep) was disbanded to become part of the Northumberland County Council. As expected, services and standards have declined.

[Mike Hewitt]

And black not white apparently.

[byebyetankers]

Back to the original topic: the naming of places - it's not all one-way traffic. Although the Indians (for example) may prefer us to use 'Mumbai' rather than'Bombay' I have always found the Italians I encounter delighted to have Firenze called 'Florence'. Partly, I think they're slightly flattered to have their city given a special name in English and partly because 'Florence' is derived fromf Florentia - the city's Roman name. In other words, our name for it is older than theirs. The same might be said of Alexandria (Al-Iskander), but I don't know how the Egyptians feel about that.

[Ivan Cloherty]

Why change a system that has worked perfectly well for hundreds of years, I have no problem with Spanish speaking countries calling England, Inglaterra, or French speaking nations calling Great Britain, Gran Bretagne etc etc. In my navigator days using charts first published in 17xx and updated to my then current time the charts had names on them in English and sometimes with the local name in Italics in brackets, also when reading the Sailings Directions for various parts of the world the local names as well as English names where given to distinquishing features, I'm not the brightest bulb in the box but I never found any difficulty with that, nor I suspect did foreign navigators finding their way around the world with charts and sailing directions published in their own language, I suspect they found Londres quite easily. If one wishes to go traipsing around the world by foot or mechanical device then arm yourself with the English language map of areas to be visited and upon arrival purchase a local language map on arrival, then you can compare the two and ask the locals for directions to the correct named place by the name they use.

When visiting Spain or Spanish tourist resorts (other countries are available) then at the arrival airport you are offered maps in many languages and the names of the towns/areas will be in your chosen language and not the Spanish language, however they sometimes helpfully have the Spanish name in in brackets underneath or alongside.

Having worked in China (and other countries) even the Chinese understood (as do the Japanese) that other nationalities would not understand their national alphabet and put names in English as well, I never saw them in Spanish or French etc. As in all ventures away from your homeland then it is up to the individual to ensure that they are properly equipt both materially and common sense wise to ensure that they know where they are going.

[bobpopeyeowen]

I was under the impression that Mumbai is a term invented and only used by the BBC. Apparently the locals still call the place Bombai, derived from the Portuguese "boa baía", meaning 'good bay'.

[Steve Singleton]

Easy to be confused, Graham, when one is of Kenyan roots, born in a group of islands called Hawaii....You know, that "just off-shore" state of the anti-colonialists USA.

[Doc Vernon]

South Africa has had some changes over the past Few Years as well, some that i guess are not too bad with the Meanings , but i still liked the old ones better.
The Transvaal State ---- Gauteng _ (Place of Gold)
Johannesburg ----- Mpumalanga (The East or Where the Sun Rises)

The State of Natal --- Kwa Zulu Natal

Pietersburg ----- Louis Trichard

Potgietersrust ------ Polokwana, Makhoda, Mokopane


Warmbaths ----- Bela-Bela (Zulu for Hot Springs)

A few others are

• Musina (was Messina)
• Mhlambanyatsi (Buffelspruit)
• Marapyane (Skilpadfontein)
• Mbhongo (Almansdrift)
• Dzanani (Makhado township)
• Mphephu (Dzanani township)
• Modimolla (Nylstroom)
• Mookgophong (Naboomspruit)
• Sophiatown (was Triomf)

Cheers Get your Tongue around a few of these ! LOL

[happy daze john in oz]

So Vernon, what do they now call the Tiki hoc bar??
Same going on here in Oz, the Greens and others want as many places as possible named in Abbo language.
Fine but try saying them!
Ayers rock now called Ualaru, well ularu to you, how are you today.