RE: "New York"

[Chris Handley <cbmvax!uunet!GANDALF.OTAGO.AC.NZ!cuvmb.cc.columbia.edu!CHandley>]

Jim flames me thus:
>Nonsense yourself!  Nothing to do with how important I and other
>anglophones (or esperantophones or lojbanophones) think English (or
>Esperanto or lojban) is, but rather an assertion that the speakers
>of a language have the right to decide what *they* call things.

I just believe that both pragmatically and courteously it would be
better to make the name of foreign places in English/Esperanto/
German/Lojban or whatever follow local usage as closely as possible.
If I refer to Pittsbr@ or New Orleans, as opposed to Pittsburg or
Noo Orlins, I get at best a rude stare, at worst lack of
comprehension. I certainly get upset when my adopted country is
referred to as Australia, as has happened.

It may be your right to call any place what you will, but it does
tend to hamper communication.

Chris Handley                                     chandley@otago.ac.nz
Dept of Computer Science                       Ph     (+64) 3-479-8499
University of Otago                           Fax     (+64) 3-479-8577
Dunedin, NZ