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11.09.2011, 14:09
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss?
I'm Swiss and when I read " in Swiss" refering to my country it hurts a bit.
Can't imagine that non native English speakers who post on this forum ignore that the name of this country is something different than just "Swiss".
Were we a BIG NATION I wonder if they'd call it "Swiss" ?!
Thank you for posting this interesting thread  .
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11.09.2011, 14:25
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | I take your point. I know that having lived in many countries, you tend to just anglicise some words of that country's language(s), even though they are not correct. I even start to just use the foreign word in the middle of the English sentence. It's also quicker to say 'Swiss' instead of the three-syllable word 'Switzerland'.
Taking your comment further, Swiss German is not a formally written language yet the speakers use words that are not written down anywhere in maps, travel documentation etc. (although I know there are many informal written forms of Swiss German) An example would be 'Zueri' meaning Zurich.
As a language graduate, this goes against all I was taught and it's completely verboten to me...see, I just did it! | | | | | That all may be but if you are not even able to say the name of a country in question correctly in English, then you have to realize that none of your statements is taken too seriously | The following 2 users would like to thank Wollishofener for this useful post: | | 
11.09.2011, 14:28
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | Isn't it good nettiquette to refrain from correcting grammar ? | | | | | A) no it is not
B) Switzerland is NOT grammar
************************************************** ******** | Quote: | |  | | | I think it is one of those mistakes which is made by people where they use a wrong word to give the impression of they know the stuff or are smart.
It is like saying "I like that old movie The King's speech. They used to make good movies then". Or it could be a simple and stupid grammatical mistake..
I think considering the popularity of Swiss Chocolates, Swiss Banks, Swiss Alps, Swiss Air and so on, it should have been easy to figure out that it is just an adjective or noun used to express the Swissness and not the country.. | | | | | In spite of all the companies starting with "British" like British Airways, British Midland Airways, etc, it would not be very intelligent to say "I was in British over the weekend"
************************************************** ************
Last edited by Wollishofener; 11.09.2011 at 14:57.
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11.09.2011, 14:46
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | Perhaps this is a bit unrelated, but I've wondered before if "Germans" ever get annoyed when people refer to their country as "Germany" rather than "Deutschland." I guess I've never known why the two different names exist, especially since they are so different, phonetically. Suppose I could try to Google it...  | | | | | Deutschland (Bundesrepublik Deutschland) in English language is Germany (Federal Republic of Germany) and Germans of course know this, but might feel pissed if somebody said in English "I visited Deutsch last week"
******************************* | Quote: | |  | | | Is it rude, then, for the Swiss or Germans to refer to "France" as "Frankreich?" | | | | | No, rude would be to speak about "Frank" when meaning Frankreich.
Last edited by Wollishofener; 11.09.2011 at 14:58.
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11.09.2011, 14:55
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: |  | | | Oh dear. I call it Lac Leman all the time. Lake Geneva is in Western PA, and where we live, in Bern, it is called "Genf" by a lot of people, train schedules and so on, tho we use Geneva since Genf is somewhat hard to say. | | | | | Genf is the German language name, and the lake there in German is Genfersee and in English Lake of Geneva, for the Genevois Lac de Genève, while for the Vaudois only the western tip is Lac de Genève and the rest Lac Léman.
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11.09.2011, 14:57
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | 
I'd never bothered to compare maps in different languages (or look at any of Switzerland produced here) so had no idea that Lake Geneva and Lac Leman were the same.
As the Swiss German name for Geneva is "Genf" (right?), the lake then in Swiss German is called... what?
(Not being a wise-ass, am honestly striving to learn something... ) | | | | | Genfer See
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11.09.2011, 15:00
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | Genfer See | | | | | As he asked for the "Swiss-German" word, it of course would be
city : Gämf
lake : Gämfersee | 
11.09.2011, 15:38
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | As he asked for the "Swiss-German" word, it of course would be
city : Gämf
lake : Gämfersee  | | | | | That's true for Züridüütsch and many other dialects. In Sanggallertüttsch and quite a few other dialects, however, it clearly is Gemf and Gemfersee. | The following 2 users would like to thank Captain Greybeard for this useful post: | | 
12.09.2011, 08:44
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | As he asked for the "Swiss-German" word, it of course would be
city : Gämf
lake : Gämfersee  | | | | | Actually they asked for the Swiss German word, not the Swiss-German word, so it would be Genfersee. | 
12.09.2011, 09:05
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss?
The question is not why people call this country Swiss, but rather how did they get here, given the fact.. 
Introduction no. x
Hello there, I will soon move to Swiss and I 'll work for a bank in Swiss, it's the 180.000 chf salary good enough to feed me, my spouse and my 2 cats? | 
12.09.2011, 10:12
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | This is an easy one, as I've seen a couple of people in real life who type "Swiss" for the country name online. You can't always tell just by reading their posts.
However, the reason they do it is because they're totally mentally retarded. They have drool dripping from their mouth, they make odd deep moaning noises as they concentrate their stubby fingers on the keyboard. | | | | | I'm afraid I will have to go with Adrian on this one.. this is also the mental image I have when someone substitutes Swiss for Switzerland; an inability to get even the countries' name right you live/are interested in does not speak for your cognitive abilities.
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12.09.2011, 10:25
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | You wouldn't say, I'm going on holiday in English, I like the food in French....
What an odd and widely spread habit! | | | | | | Quote: | |  | | | However, the reason they do it is because they're totally mentally retarded. They have drool dripping from their mouth, they make odd deep moaning noises as they concentrate their stubby fingers on the keyboard. | | | | | Hmmmm,
So this must be the reason why we don't often hear of these people in Australia.
Imagine the pile of drool, and how long it would take their stubby little fingers to type into a travel search:
"Poorly pronounced English conjugations of abbreviations and coloquialisms"
Vs
"Swiss"
I'd go to Switerland as well.
oh wait...... they go to " OZ"
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12.09.2011, 10:29
| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss?
Maybe the problem is that people simply don't get the difference between Proper Noun and Adjective?
Switzerland = Proper Noun
Swiss = Adjective
Australia = Proper Noun
Oz = Proper Noun (albeit a short form)
Australian = Adjective
Kids just don't get dragged up right these days.. | The following 2 users would like to thank for this useful post: | | 
12.09.2011, 10:45
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss?
not sure why people would expect to be able to name a third country in a third language. swiss would be a pretty good guess.
i'd like to see your guesses at switzerland is called in chinese | This user would like to thank Phil_MCR for this useful post: | | 
12.09.2011, 10:45
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss?
I always assumed they'd started writing "Swiss Confederation", but got distracted by a shiny.
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12.09.2011, 10:53
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | not sure why people would expect to be able to name a third country in a third language. swiss would be a pretty good guess.
i'd like to see your guesses at switzerland is called in chinese  | | | | | The point is.......English speakers do it too. Thats the whole point of the thread. I assume that Chinese speakers know what Switzerland is called in Chinese
Last edited by Caviarchips; 12.09.2011 at 11:20.
Reason: Spelling
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12.09.2011, 10:53
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | not sure why people would expect to be able to name a third country in a third language. swiss would be a pretty good guess.
i'd like to see your guesses at switzerland is called in chinese  | | | | | Rui shi :-) But I knew that already. (Luckily you picked the only foreign language I have some skill in.)
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12.09.2011, 10:56
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | I grew up in Denmark and when I told English people they asked me if spoke Dutch.   | | | | | Well do you?
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12.09.2011, 11:00
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | Well do you? | | | | | I do. Twice.
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12.09.2011, 11:02
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| | Re: Why do people call this country Swiss? | Quote: | |  | | | English speakers do it to. | | | | | maybe the point is that people are wrongly assuming they are native english speakers?
and the example given by the OP was an american. 'nuff said | This user would like to thank Phil_MCR for this useful post: | |
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