[korlja]

Forget towns. Talk about the fucking name of the country.

Actually, the name is "Deutschland" (if you leave out the political decorations declaring it a federal republic).

One should think, knowing where the word comes from, that the english name would be "Dutchland". But it isn't, instead they call someone else "Dutch". Admittedly a neighbouring country with some shared history and origins waaay back then, but still. Tyskland is great, thanks to everyone using a variation of that.

Then there is "Germany". Way back then, when the romans tried and failed to establish a longterm presence on the other side of the rivers rhine and danube that might have been ok, but that was 2000 years ago. For at least the last 500 years, "deutsch" or some variation thereof was official. Germans are also only part of the historic inhabitants of what forms modern-day Germany, there are also a few Slavic tribes in there. Also, there are many German tribes that didn't settle in what is modern-day Germany, instead they now form the nordic states, the Netherlands, parts of Switzerland and Austria. So mostly wrong, no fish.

Alemania is even more wrong, because that actually only talks about the southwestern german tribes, in current southwest Germany and northeastern Switzerland. "Alemannisch" strictly only describes the traditions of that region in german. Nothing else.

Then there is Niemcy and stuff. I've been told it means something like "mutes" or "the ones you cannot comprehend". I'm not sure if that is supposed to be an insult or a compliment, but really, after you started talking to us you couldn't be arsed to ask what we call ourselves?

Talking about insults: Saksa might be considered a compliment or an insult in Germany, depending on where you are. Historically, saxon tribes settled in the northwest (later England, but that is not relevant here). This corresponds to a part of what currently is the German land Niedersachsen. There are two Länder that are called something with "sachsen", but they are faking it to get a grab at the former glory. Talking about "glory", it is quite the opposite in southern Germany, there nobody likes "Sachsen" and considers them the worst kind of "Preussen". Which are all considered insults there.

There are a few others, getting more and more weird until: Navajo: Béésh Bich’ahii Bikéyah ("Metal Cap-wearer Land"), in reference to Stahlhelm-wearing German soldiers.[1] I can get behind that. But the rest, please stop it, it is "Deutschland". Or I might have to wear my metal cap again ;)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Names_of_Germany

[orbital-decay]

>Then there is Niemcy and stuff. I've been told it means something like "mutes" or "the ones you cannot comprehend". I'm not sure if that is supposed to be an insult or a compliment, but really, after you started talking to us you couldn't be arsed to ask what we call ourselves?

It was a common name for all foreigners, not just Germans. During a certain era, German traders were the most common foreigners in Slavic lands, so the name stuck with Germans.

[NeoTar]

I love how it's a similar origin story to the word 'Barbarian' - deriving from anyone who wasn't Greek, and so whose language sounded like "baa-baa baa-baa"

[Joker_vD]

Yes, and Finns don't call their country "Finland" — Finnish language, after all, doesn't uses "f" natively — they call it "Suomi" and they call Russia "Venäjä" (even though Wends really don't have much to do with it). So what? Names are arbitrary, especially names in different languages, that's just how they are.

As the Russian proverb says, "you can call me even 'kettle', just don't put me on the stove".

[usr1106]

The first prize goes to the French, though.

They call their country France, named after the Germanic tribe of the Franks. Only in Asterix they remember that their country should be called Gaul.

[NeoTar]

The Germanic tribe who invaded and conquered the lands currently known as France, forming (at least) the aristocracy and then naming it after themselves? Isn't that a reasonable name for the country? I mean, it also happened in England (i.e. land of the Angles) - which historically would have been Britannia when France was Gaul.

[kergonath]

> They call their country France, named after the Germanic tribe of the Franks.

You mean, the Germans who call it “Frankreich”?

There were several Frankish tribes, who occupied over the years regions from Thuringia all the way to Gascony. You might have heard of Clovis, king of the Franks, baptised at Reims and who made Paris the capital of his kingdom, and founded the Frankish Merovingian dynasty that ruled almost all of what is France now for 2 centuries. Gauls had been heavily romanised well before that point anyway.

You should probably read a bit in a subject before trying to be clever.

[int_19h]

Eh. The name "Bulgaria" derives from Bulgars, who were a nomadic Turkic tribe from areas around the Caspian Sea that came to conquer the country.

For another example, the name "Russia" is derived from "Rus", which itself appears to be a derivative of the Norse "Ruslaw" - again, because it was the Norse who came, conquered, and became the ruling elite.

Basically, it happened all the time.

[usrusr]

> There are two Länder that are called something with "sachsen", but they are faking it to get a grab at the former glory.

Let me guess: the one of the three Länder that are called something with "sachsen" that you forget is Niedersachsen, even despite spelling it out literally one word before that sentence! Being born in the only saxon capital of the of the country I was born in I've made a habit out of confusing saxons from the east by claiming that I'm one of them, never gets old.

(yeah, and I was close to posting that wiki link myself, so happy that nobody has started referring to the country by what it's most famous for)