Calcutta changed its name

Oh!

The name was changed to Kolkata in 2001. I noticed, OP.

I remember when Mumbai was Mombay

R3, wasn’t it Bombay?

Interestingly, my kids know that They Might Be Giants song about Istanbul and Constantinople. How do they find this stuff?

Shiva, keep up, OP!

Wait until you hear about what people call Ceylon now.

OP, have you heard about Peking?

Have you about New Amsterdam? The shame of it all.

Don't get me started!

R4 Maybe because it's been recorded a lot since first appearing in 1940's "Second Chorus" with Fred Astaire and Paulette Goddard

Persia and Siam both sound so much nicer than Iran and Thailand

Why don’t we call Germany, Deutscheland?

Myanmar / Burma

Beijing / Peking

People have a right to self identify.

For R4.

Madras - Chennai

Bangalore - Bengaluru

Canton - Guangdong

Nanking - Nanjing

Chungking - Chongqing

Danzig - Gdańsk

Saigon - Ho Chi Minh City

Swaziland - Eswatini

The Black Hole of Calcutta will always be the name of the barbaric atrocity by the natives against the British.

R3, I can't remember, was it Mumbay or Fribay?

When do we get to change the names of North American cities?

Vancouver/Hongcouver

The Ukraine kindly requests that you drop the “The” when referring to it. None of the important countries use “the”, and we want a seat at the table of life.*

*Except the US, the UK, the Netherlands, the USSR, The Hague, hmm.

Hey guys, did anyone fact-check our excuse?

Manchester-by-the-Sea, formerly just Manchester, Massachusetts.

Sri Lanka used to be named Ceylon. So much more exotic sounding back then.

R15 Saigon to Ho Chi Minh City - that one still hurts.

The Orient. Don't hear that anymore.

Kyiv Lviv Kharkiv ... stinkin’ Ukies and their I’s. They also dropped an s from Odessa for no reason.

Yangon Eswatini Czechia Nur-Sultan (lol this should be talked about more)

Also: Christiana is now Oslo, OP.

St. Petersburg. No, Petrograd, no Leningrad, no, St. Petersburg, again.

R18 When there's a war.

Lot of black holes there still.

[quote]The Black Hole of Calcutta will always be the name of the barbaric atrocity by the natives against the British.

What was his name, and did he present?

R21, that's where i get my tea from. Fancy, Ceylon

I like the old names more.

The body of water that separates Saudi Arabia from Iran is called the Arabian Gulf by the Saudis, and the Persian Gulf by Iran.

The Falkland Islands are called The Malvinas by the Argentines.

I think there are a lot of examples like this.

Cape Canaveral → Cape Kennedy → Cape Canaveral

DataLounge, where Vivian Vance meets geography. After reading r11 I was reminded of this clip where Vivian and Lucy describe the King of Siam walking unannounced through Lucy's Beverly Hills house. Does anyone know who this King of Siam was?

[/bold]

R32, and let me add...

What China (and perhaps the rest of the world) calls the South China Sea, the Philippines calls the West Philippine Sea.

And when Typhoon Haiyan blew through the region in 2013, the Filipinos knew it as Typhoon Yolanda.

Beyoncé Knowles...now just Beyoncé.

I'll see your Beyonce and raise you this:

Prince........or:

r34 Well, at least I know who the Maharincess of Franistan is!

Hoover Dam -- Boulder Dam -- Hoover Dam.

Anybody been there? Really interested if India is really as bad as what you read in the internet. For me, safety is priority. Everything else is fair game.

Many Americans of a certain age know the Chinese city of Canton. I wonder if it ever occurs to them they haven't heard the name in decades. (Guangdong)

Ceylon, Siam... they just roll off the tongue. Too bad the natives have to ruin good names.

Abyssinia - Ethiopia

Angora - Ankara

Rhodesia - Zimbabwe, Zambia

Zaire - Democratic Republic of Congo

Southwest Africa - Namibia

Upper Volta - Burkina Faso

Formosa - Taiwan

Calcutta was the anglicized version, as the British couldn’t say Kolkata

^^^ The show is called Oh! Calcutta! because the English had a hard time saying "O quel cul t'as!" as well.

Which is French for "What an arse you have!"

Noo Amsterdham?

UK one's

Aquae Sulis became Bath

Eboracum became York

Vectis became The Isle of Wight.

Damn those invading Vikings.....

R48 is really an illiterate in English but she does have some qualities, bless, but she does not own the apostrophe.

But is Bohemia still dead?

[quote]When do we get to change the names of North American cities?

Due to the recent influx of hillbillies and other redneck-types, the city of Ventura, CA, is thinking of changing its name to Ventucky.

Before it was South West Africa, it was Deutsch-Südwestafrika. Namibia should go back to at least the Südwestafrika name.

Swaziland will always be Swaziland to me. I’m sick of these ethnic name changes to WASTE money.

Williamsburg is now Billyburg.

Attached is a photo of the esteemed Billyburg Bridge, connecting the area to the heart of The Big Apple.

[quote] The Black Hole of Calcutta

I told you never to repeat what I said about Melania's hole in public!

George: Hoover Dam Gracie, they changed the name of Boulder Dam to Hoover Dam, to honor Herbert Hoover.

Gracie: Typical government, instead of changing the name of a great big dam, it would've been easier to change his name to Herbert Boulder

Pressburg is much better than Bratislava

Dr Mombai, Dr Mombai, we're sick and don't know why

The Isle of Man is now the Isle of Humans.

Did the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia finally rename themselves “Macedonia”, yet?

[quote]Interestingly, my kids know that They Might Be Giants song about Istanbul and Constantinople. How do they find this stuff?

R4, on the March 1995 Gap In-Store Playlist.

Since certain placenames have changed, why don't we do the same for things named after them. Like

Beijing duck, Beijingnese

Ethiopian cat, Ethiopian guinea pig

Iranian cat, Iranian rug

Ankara sweater

Mumbai mix, Mumbai Company

Oh, Kolkata!

Baroness Marie Christine Anna Agnes Hedwig Ida von Reibnitz...and now:

Her Royal Highness Princess Michael of Kent

Istanbul (Not Constantinople) - Tiny Toons

Jackee Harry is now just Jackee, OP

Angora

Lutèce

I haven't the time to read through all this blather. But, has anyone mentioned Beijing which used to be Peking? I still love their duck, but I refuse to call it Beijing Duck.

We should be mindful of future names, like Nueva York and los Estados Unidos de América.

Originally ‘Drumpf’ now motherfucking con man, fraud and criminal ‘Trump.’

Countries that changed their name.

[quote]Did the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia finally rename themselves “Macedonia”, yet?

Hah! As if the Greeks will ever let them use "Macedonia." I think FYRM is now called the "Republic of North Macedonia" or some nonsense now. The name dispute between Macedonia and Greece is one of my favourite petty international disputes.

[quote] R69 We should be mindful of future names, like Nueva York and los Estados Unidos de América.

Don't forget 美国!!!