A City By Any Other Name

    

It's like they have a different word for everything.

             Occasionally, you learn something at Stuff and Nonsense.  Not often, mind you.  But sometimes.

                Way back when I had brown hair, I served aboard the aircraft carrier, USS George Washington.  As was the way it went back then (probably still is), we spent quite a bit of time when deployed keeping an eye on Iran, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, and other asylums. 

                Basically, we were on "Lunatic Watch."

                Obviously, we spent our time on the water because we were...a ship (please try and keep up), primarily the Persian Gulf.

                Only it wasn't the Persian Gulf, we were told by the powers that be.  No, no, "Persian" implies it was an "Iranian" body of water, you understand.  And we didn't like those people.

                NOTE:  "Iran" was once known as "Persia."  Before that?  Yeah, "Iran."  You really can't make this stuff up.

                Anyway, so as to tick off the "Death to America" crowd, we were under strict orders to refer to it as the "Arabian" Gulf.  Because they were our friends.

"Those infidel American bastards must be dealt with!  We must attack Washington and New York!"
"It's been done."
"Oh.  By the Chinese?"
"No.  By an ally."
"You're shitting me."

                NOTE:  I am not going to entertain any 9/11 conspiracies here.  Not the point today.  Thanks for playing, though.

                Friendship can be complicated.

                I have to wonder....is it only the U.S. military which refers to it as the Arabian Gulf?

                Similarly, but not exactly, we're being told that pronunciation of the capital city of Ukraine is not what we've been told it was back in elementary school.

                In the run-up to the Turnip-in-Chief's wagging the war dog in Eastern Europe, I kept hearing news people mispronouncing the name of Ukraine's capital.  Or so I thought.  Silly me.

                For as long as I can remember, I've been spelling it "Kiev" and pronouncing it "KEE ev."  Well, wouldn't you know it, I've been doing it wrong.

                To more closely align with the Ukrainian language, its capital is actually "Kyiv." which is pronounced "Keev."  Or, close enough.

It's still Chicken Kiev.  Don't worry.

                Apparently, Ukrainians have been clamoring for people to do this ever since the Soviet Union shit the bed in the 1990s (Personal Note:  I remember there was a time when I had a bit of smug snarkiness about that.  Then, we got Biden so...).  "Kiev," you see, is the way Russians say it and we can't have that.

                Likewise, it's no longer known as "The" Ukraine, which is considered Russian.  Now, it's just the more friendly "Ukraine."

            Incidentally, this is just like plain old "Smokey Bear," not "Smokey the Bear."

"And, if you eff that up, well...you know where you can jump."

                Huh.

                At first I was a little miffed ("miffed" not really the right word, but it'll have to do).  I considered it the "Persian/Arabian Gulf" of the 21st Century.  Rather silly, I figured.

                Then, I thought, well why not pronounce their cities the way they should be said, rather than some jumped-up "I-speak-English-and-am-better-than-you-so-why-don't-you-shut-up?"

                The practice is not without precedent.  I'm old enough to remember when it was "Peking" before it became "Beijing."

                And I really avoid calling "Chile" like it's something you served with beans and corn bread.  "CHEE lay" rolls off the tongue just as fine.

"Mmmmmmmmmmm........Chillay with beans....."

                Still, I wonder if we'll ever hear of "Pair REE" or "MEHICO City?"

                I'll do the best I can with "Kyiv," though.  But, I'm an old man, after all, and set in my ways.

                Who stubbornly calls it the Persian Gulf.