back to article Days are numbered for the Czech Republic

The British government will start referring to Czechia rather than the Czech Republic, following advice from an official committee. The Permanent Committee on Geographical Names “establishes and applies the principles by which foreign geographical names (toponyms) should be written”. It is now advising use of Czechia in place …

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  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    CzechMate

    Chintz?

    Czechitout?

    Czechsum?

    Czechers?

    Czechbounced?

    Czechplease?

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: CzechMate

      Czechers playz pop?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: CzechMate

      Czechia self before ya wreck yaself.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: CzechMate

        inb4... no, wait-- dammit!

    3. Lars Silver badge
      Happy

      Re: CzechMate

      Czechia, easy peacy, try to pronounce the name of the town Hardwicke. Yes, Americans will fail too.

      1. The_Idiot

        Re: CzechMate

        When I was (briefly) at University in the UK, I was out walking one time into the countryside. A guy with his family in car stopped me. He turned out to be Australian. He asked me if I knew the way to 'Looga-ba-rooga'.

        I never really looked at Loughborough quite the same again :-).

        1. User4574
          Joke

          Re: CzechMate

          I thought it was pronounced "Low Brow"

        2. Jeff Green

          Re: CzechMate

          Walking with a friend in Sarf Lunnun an American lady asked for directions to Fort Neef.

          It was only when my very puzzled friend repeated the name in his distinctly Croydonian tones that I could point out that the address her brother-in-law had given her by phone was Thornton Heath ...

        3. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: CzechMate

          "Loogabarooga" actually sounds like it could be a place in Australia.

          1. Anonymous Coward
            Anonymous Coward

            Re: CzechMate

            I don't quite get this. It's our language so it's our choice which name we choose.... isn't it? We haven't got the equivalent of the French academy so we can't be told what we should use either.

            That's the only way you can explain us using, for example, the we we use the Francophone Bruges despite it being in Flanders but the Flemish name for Zebrugge.

            1. Hollerithevo

              Re: CzechMate

              Of course you can choose. You can call it Bohemia. You can still cal it Czechoslovakia. You can call it the Austrian Empire. But if we're all moving to call it by an agreed name, you soon won't be understood.

            2. Peter Mc Aulay

              Re: CzechMate

              Bruges and Zeebrugge are in fact two separate towns. The Flemish name is Brugge, which is pronounced as written but with a very hot potato in your mouth.

      2. Roj Blake Silver badge

        Re: CzechMate

        Happisburgh (Haysbura) and Towcaster (Toaster) are also pitfalls for the unwary...

    4. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: CzechMate

      Czechia...

      Another pronunciation existed before the new... hard to imagine it, otherwise.

      Cze Cze Cze... Chia!

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMIENN-egjA

  2. Dave Harvey

    It was discussed before

    "I refuse to be President of a country called Czesko." -- Vaclav Havel.

    1. P. Lee
      Coat

      >"I refuse to be President of a country called Czesko." -- Vaclav Havel.

      Why?

      I asda same question.

      1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

        Re: >"I refuse to be President of a country called Czesko." -- Vaclav Havel.

        "Česko" is what most Czechs refer to their home country as when speaking Czech, "Česká Republika" is what's on the banknotes and passports, but is hardly never used in day-to-day life (although you do see "čR" frequently used in print as an abbreviation).

        As I understand it, Vaclav Havel's objection was to the use of the name "Česko" as the international name for the country, and it's because the "-co" ending makes it sound like the name of a business, not a country.

        It's surprising it took so long for "Czechia" to appear: it just substitutes the Czech "-sko" with its international equivalent, "-ia" and so preserves the meaning of "Czech-land". In the German language, "Tschechia" (same pronunciation) is commonly used as the name of the country already, so there's a precedent there in two of the country's neighbours.

        ... but yes - many, many Czechs really don't like the new name.

  3. Fibbles

    If the name change is solely for the purpose of advertising then I'd say Bohemia is the most marketable name in that list. They could have even changed the national anthem to Queen. It would have certainly made the start of international football games more interesting.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Bohemia won't do...

      Well, it's a little similar to the 'Great Britain' or 'UK'. Calling the whole area 'England' would be quite likely frowned upon. At least by Scots, Welsh, you name it.

      Czech Republic/Czechia actually consists of former Kingdom of Bohemia, Moravian Mark and small part of Duchy/ies of Silesia.

      Moravians and Silesians (in Czechia) do speak Czech (kind of, hee, hee :), but Moravians (mainly) actually prefer the others to recognize they are still a thing and they fiercely opposed the idea of Czech Republic being called 'Bohemia'. And that's it.

      1. Kurt Meyer

        Re: Bohemia won't do...

        Čechy a Morava?

      2. Paul Crawford Silver badge

        UK & Great Britain explained

        Worth a look:

        https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rNu8XDBSn10

        1. Pedigree-Pete
          Pint

          Re: UK & Great Britain explained

          I learnt something and I've been British (English) all my life. Thanks.

      3. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: Bohemia won't do...

        > Moravians and Silesians

        I think I remember that episode of Doctor Who.

    2. katrinab Silver badge

      That would be like calling the UK "England" or "Great Britain", it excludes the parts of the country that are not Bohemia.

      1. RegGuy1 Silver badge

        it excludes the parts of the country...

        Or Holland.

        https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Holland

        If you don't live in North or South Holland (most do), you may be pissed off.

        The Netherlands (better Nederlands) please.

  4. Spanners Silver badge
    Pint

    Bohemia

    If they had called it Bohemia, they could have behaved in a Bohemian manner...

    Lots of parties, sleep through the morning, clothing styles, slightly dodgy morals and so on.

    Great for some types of tourism,

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Czechaslovania?

    1. imanidiot Silver badge

      Castlevania?

    2. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      NeSlovensko

  6. Novex

    I thought one of the main complaints about the name is that Czechia sounds not unlike Chechnya, the disputed region in Russia...

    1. Richard Jones 1
      WTF?

      @ Novex, that is what I thought. The choice appears very dangerous, I can see a few issues coming down the road over that one.

      1. Your alien overlord - fear me

        You don't think Russia would invade "by mistake" again do you?

    2. JeffyPoooh
      Pint

      The people of Czechian will be known as Czechians ?

      I'm sure that nobody will get Czechians confused with Chechens.

      LOL.

      1. Trigonoceps occipitalis

        Re: The people of Czechian will be known as Czechians ?

        (Resistance is useless!)

        Only the USA.

        (Apologies if the stereotype offends.)

        1. Blake St. Claire

          Re: The people of Czechian will be known as Czechians ?

          er, Boaty McBoatface right back at you.

          Karma.

    3. Rich 11

      It's pronounced Checkia, not Chechia. How do you pronounce the 'ch' in Czech Republic? How do you pronounce it in Czechoslovakia? Why would you now pronounce Czechia so differently?

      All those upvoters must have left their brains in the pub. Still, that's one way of approaching the weekend...

      1. StephenH

        Trying to use logic and consistency in the pronunciation of place names? That's not a game you can win.

      2. Novex

        It's pronounced Checkia, not Chechia. How do you pronounce the 'ch' in Czech Republic? How do you pronounce it in Czechoslovakia? Why would you now pronounce Czechia so differently?

        All those upvoters must have left their brains in the pub. Still, that's one way of approaching the weekend...

        You're right, in that in this instance the 'ch' should be pronounced 'ck', but most people, me included, when seeing 'chia' automatically think 'ch' and not 'ck'. So the Czech people will have to contend with the rest of the world pronouncing their country name wrong. At the moment, when I see 'Czech Republic' I think 'Check'. It would take a humungous education effort to get the rest of the world's population to get the pronunciation of 'Czechia' right, as in 'Checkia'. That or the spelling needs to be changed to the latter so the rest of the world gets it right from day one.

        All this doesn't even begin to deal with 'Cz' being pronounced 'Ch' (though most people seem to know that one).

  7. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "are you not entitled to the sweat of your brow?"

    Rapture?

  8. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "officials note crossly that CR has already been snapped up by Costa Rica."

    We all call it CZ (tse zed) here.

    1. Solmyr ibn Wali Barad

      Re: "officials note crossly that CR has already been snapped up by Costa Rica."

      I, for one, would not mind giving a tribute to ČZ motorcycles. Happy memories.

      https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Česká_zbrojovka_Strakonice

      Maybe renaming the whole country after them would be a bit excessive, but certainly not the worst idea around.

      1. Khaptain Silver badge

        Re: "officials note crossly that CR has already been snapped up by Costa Rica."

        I would like to see it pronounced as CZ ( See Zed) after the fantastic pistols that they produce.

        As a happy CZ Shadow SP01 owner, I couldn't be more pleased with CZ, as for many like me, it glistens with quality.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Relevance

    "Promoters of Czechia point to its Latin roots"

    In a place which is never part of the Roman Empire, nor romanised?

    1. Kristian Walsh Silver badge

      Re: Relevance

      The Latin language survived long after Rome fell, and was used in places that never saw the Empire's rule.

      Throughout the early medieval period, the "Czech lands" were firmly within the Holy Roman Empire ("... of the German peoples"), and while that state itself was neither holy, nor Roman, nor really an Empire*, it kept Latin as its language of state.

      ( * someone was going to say it, so I decided to get in first)

  10. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    How do you pronounce it?

    "Čech" of course exists in Czech and the digraph is pronounced /x/ (that's supposed to be a Greek letter chi). So is Czechia pronounced with a fricative (/x/) or a stop (/k/)? Or is it up to the individual speaker (in which case I'll pronounce it "Czech Republic")?

  11. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Shut up and sell me a T shirt!

    1. You aint sin me, roit
      Coat

      Would that be a chequered t-shirt, or this Czechia one?

      (Mine's the plain one)

  12. Bob Rocket

    Czech for the number four

    is 4, same as English.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Re: Czech for the number four

      Now try saying it out loud. Languages are spoken as well as written. Anyway, čtyři has pretty similar pronunciation in all the Slavonic languages - and is related to the Greek (tettares, hence tetrahedron). It's us Gothic speakers who are out of step.

      1. John Savard

        Re: Czech for the number four

        Quite right; in Russian, the number four is chyetire. Odin, dva, tri, chyetire, pyat, shest, syem, vosyem...

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