[kylebenzle]

1. Nobody thinks reading a blog from a guy whom visited for 10 days is better than info from someone whom lives there. Who exactly is this straw man "reader" you've created?

2. "disclaiming interest in calling them by their name... " Excuse me? Do you have a bone to pick, what even are you trying to say here? You want the author to speak French before writing the blog post?

3. I am a reader and did not get any negative impression from his quip about not knowing where the accent key is, what are you even going on about?

[eigenket]

Using the preferred name for people and places is a fairly basic sign of respect (at least in my cultural bubble). It would have taken the author literally 30 seconds to do a find-and-replace at the end of writing his article to fix this.

[midasuni]

So a French blog on the US would have to replace Etas Unis with The USA? An American blog would have to replace “Germany” with “Deutchland” and a German block would have to type cote de ivorie rather than Elfenbeinküste?

[eigenket]

No one has to do anything, that's not how politeness works. You choose yourself whatever is most reasonable to you.

The situation is not quite analogous however, since Germans generally don't mind us calling their country "Germany" (I have never heard of any dislike of the name) whereas (quoting from Wikipedia)

> Therefore, in April 1986, the government declared that Côte d'Ivoire (or, more fully, République de Côte d'Ivoire) would be its formal name for the purposes of diplomatic protocol and has since officially refused to recognize any translations from French to other languages in its international dealings. Despite the Ivorian government's request, the English translation "Ivory Coast" (often "the Ivory Coast") is still frequently used in English by various media outlets and publications.

Its similar to nicknames with real people. Some people don't mind having their name shortened or adapted however people like, while others people really don't like nicknames. You use nicknames with the first group and call the second group by their formal names.

[jddj]

Seems a kind of ridiculous hill to die on, honestly. This isn't an official address at the UN.

It's New York, not Nueva York! Fix your ...blog.

It's Australia, not Australie! Fix your ...blog.

Both of the above would probably come across as culturally insensitive but in the other direction.

[eigenket]

Its not a hill to die on at all, it's just a bit weird. Like how I would find it weird to translate Costa Rica into English.

[midasuni]

Costa Rica is the English name. Just like Spain is the English name.

[PoignardAzur]

The name thing does feel a little weird? Like calling Costa Rica "Rich Coast" repeatedly. Though I guess Ivory Coast is much more idiomatic.