Dear Richard, Many thanks for this most interesting list.
>From someone who was born in Havre [to rhyme with carver] ! PS : I am entirely in agreement with Churchill. And I consider that Rheims, Lyons or Marseilles only show that these cities are famous in Britain, like Édimbourg, Cantorbéry or Londres in France. The inhabitants should be proud of this fame abroad! In addition to Angora cat, there is Persian carpet or Bombay Sapphire gin. Also, the Battle of Ieper (which looks like the man suffering from leprosy with some fonts) is now gaining PC currency. And what a wonderfully descriptive name Mesopotamia was! “The country between two rivers” (Tigris and Euphrates) : excellent as an aid to memory! From: Richard Langworth Sent: Saturday, December 28, 2019 6:04 PM To: ChurchillChat Subject: [ChurchillChat] Churchill on Foreign Names and Pronunciation In answer to Antoine's request, from Churchill by Himself, Writer and Speaker chapter, pp52-53: FOREIGN NAMES (Words in Roman are WSC’s. When only a date is given, the quotation is from his remarks in the House of Commons) I refuse to call it El Alamein. Like those asses who talk about Le Havre. Havre [to rhyme with carver] the place is to any decent man. Now this third battle must be called “The Battle of Egypt.” Harold, see to that at once. Tell your people henceforward to call it The Battle of Egypt. 1942, 6 NOVEMBER. (NICOLSON 1907–63, 269.) In the event, Churchill did use “Alamein” but refused to countenance “El”. In all correspondence, it would be more convenient to use the word “Persia” instead of “Iran,” as otherwise dangerous mistakes may easily occur through the similarity of Iran and Iraq.…Formal correspondence with the Persian Government should of course be conducted in the form they like. CIRCA 1942. (WW2 III, 426.) I do not consider that names that have been familiar for generations in England should be altered to study the whims of foreigners living in those parts. Where the name has not particular significance the local custom should be followed. However, Constantinople should never be abandoned, though for stupid people Istanbul may be written in brackets after it. As for Angora, long familiar with us through the Angora cats, I will resist to the utmost of my power its degradation to Ankara. …bad luck…always pursues people who change the names of their cities. Fortune is rightly malignant to those who break with the traditions and customs of the past. As long as I have a word to say in the matter Ankara is banned, unless in brackets afterwards. If we do not make a stand we shall in a few weeks be asked to call Leghorn Livorno, and the BBC will be pronouncing Paris “Paree.” Foreign names were made for Englishmen, not Englishmen for foreign names. I date this minute from St. George’s Day. 1945, 23 APRIL. (WW2 VI, 642–3.) WSC to the Foreign Office. It is for me a high honour to receive today the Charlemagne Prize in this famous German and European city of Aachen, which some call Aix-la-Chapelle. 1956, 10 MAY, AACHEN. (UNWRITTEN ALLIANCE, 289.) Speech on receiving the Charlemagne Prize in Germany’s westernmost city, bordering the Low Countries. He was recalling its name under the Napoleonic First Empire. FOREIGN PRONUNCIATION …I must say, even from the point of view of the ordinary uses of English, that it is not customary to quote a term in a foreign language, a capital town, a geographical place, when there exists a perfectly well-known English equivalent. It is usual to say “Paris”—not “Paree.” 1938, 5 MAY. The news which has come from Monty-viddyoh has been received with thankfulness.…The pocket battleship Graf Speee…has met her doom. 1939, 18 DECEMBER. After the scuttling of the Graf Spee off Montevideo, Uruguay, on 15 December. Jack, when you cross Europe you land at Mar-say, spend a night in Lee-on and another in Par-ee, and, crossing by Callay, eventually reach Londres. I land at Marsails, spend a night in Lions, and another in Paris, and come home to LONDON! CIRCA 1940. (“CHURCHILL THE CONVERSATIONALIST,” COLLI˜ BROOKS IN EADE, 247.) WSC to his friend Jack Seely, who became Lord Mottistone in 1933. Don’t be so BBC—the place is WALLSHAVEN! CIRCA 1940. (PAWLE, 68.) When Captain Pim, who ran WSC’s map room, pronounced Walshavn as “Varls-harvern”. I always thought it was a most unfortunate and most tiresome thing when both Persia and Mesopotamia changed their names at about the same time to two names which were so much alike—Iran and Iraq. I have endeavoured myself in the domestic sphere to avoid such risks [in naming Ministers]. 1941, 7 MAY. Sebastapol’s good enough for me, young man. 1945, 13 FEBRUARY, YALTA. (HALLE, IRREPRESSIBLE, 160.) After the Yalta conference he was told by a Russian-speaking RAF officer that arrangements had been made to fly him home via “Sevastapol”. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to churchillchat+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/churchillchat/a550c566-6e58-42fc-adac-4a7d322acd06%40googlegroups.com. -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "ChurchillChat" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to churchillchat+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/churchillchat/34CC342BEAA3423683E1EBCBD2CE7F93%40PCAntoine.
