Yet more childishness over geographical names
This time in Asia, where the Japanese call an area of water the Sea of Japan, and the Koreans call it the East Sea. And here is the area in question:
While the Koreans have some justification in being peevish about the Japanese name (which is the most common usage in international circles), might not the good people of Japan be a little confused by having an East Sea that lies to the West?
A bod from the Korean foreign ministry failed to help his or her cause at the forthcoming International Hydrographic Organization bun fight by saying this anonymously: "We are planning to explain to the member countries why the name 'the East Sea' is more appropriate". More here
I do not fancy the former Hermit Kingdom's chances of swaying the current IHO's board of the US, Chile and Greece, especially if Japan comes out for using FYROM rather than Macedonia....
Anyway, I look forward to the French lobbying for the English Channel to be called The Sleeve, and maybe we can give Hibernia a hard time over the Irish Sea. Meanwhile, the North Sea (which isn't very North unless one is Dutch, Belgian or German) used to be called the German Ocean by us, and there's rather a good Wikipedia piece about it in Scots: "The German Ocean is whit is nou mair aften kent as the North Sea". Meanwhile, the Germans call the Baltic Die Ostsee, so there is scope for much confusion.
While the Koreans have some justification in being peevish about the Japanese name (which is the most common usage in international circles), might not the good people of Japan be a little confused by having an East Sea that lies to the West?
A bod from the Korean foreign ministry failed to help his or her cause at the forthcoming International Hydrographic Organization bun fight by saying this anonymously: "We are planning to explain to the member countries why the name 'the East Sea' is more appropriate". More here
I do not fancy the former Hermit Kingdom's chances of swaying the current IHO's board of the US, Chile and Greece, especially if Japan comes out for using FYROM rather than Macedonia....
Anyway, I look forward to the French lobbying for the English Channel to be called The Sleeve, and maybe we can give Hibernia a hard time over the Irish Sea. Meanwhile, the North Sea (which isn't very North unless one is Dutch, Belgian or German) used to be called the German Ocean by us, and there's rather a good Wikipedia piece about it in Scots: "The German Ocean is whit is nou mair aften kent as the North Sea". Meanwhile, the Germans call the Baltic Die Ostsee, so there is scope for much confusion.
Labels: Common sense? What's that?, Japan, Korea
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on Monday, April 30, 2007 at 12:11 pm.
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You may not have seen this...
They don't do themselves any favours, do they Mr E?
Particularly when they give themselves the wrong bloomin' Gaelic placename...
Hoots mon! Ah'm a fan o' Wikipedia in Scawts.
It is quite a thing, isn't it TG?
Aye indeed.
Just bin over to Stephen Tall. Interesting article about Peter Tatchell and how unrealistic the Greens are. Ah'm always sair amazit how little criticism they get for their political naivety and left-wing views which are the same as the SWP, CPB, CPB (M-L) etc. (I refer not to their green views, which they rarely mention.)
TG - Yup, and that's why whenever I am referring to the extreme left I include the Greens in that number.
that is a very nice map.
Did we not have some very minor dispute too over the naming of rockall?
Out here it there always been a political bone of contention with the Spanish insisting on referring to the Bay of Gibraltar as the "Bay of Algeciras".
Most of our European enemies have now adopted the Spanish convention - unsurprisingly. More surprising is that every now and then so do the Foreign Office. Traitors.
Damn their black hearts. We're all on your side Geoff.
If I may say so, your quotation is in mid-Scots. In the Southern Scots dialect, it would be not "aften" but "oh-fen".
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