[walthamstow]

I get "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)" on a Japanese connection.

This stuff is obviously pointless and silly but it's nothing new. I'm sure Google Maps shows UK and French users different names for what I would call the English Channel.

[JumpCrisscross]

> obviously pointless and silly

Ironically, it’s the same language policing that got the left in trouble. We have better things to do with our lives than keep a running tally of the right and wrong names for things.

[soerxpso]

It's not the same language policing that got the left in trouble until you're worried about being fired from your job for calling it the Gulf of Mexico.

[JumpCrisscross]

> It's not the same language policing that got the left in trouble until you're worried about being fired from your job for calling it the Gulf of Mexico

Would you really feel confident in your job at X if you called it the Gulf of Mexico?

[amiga386]

I don't think anyone feels confident in their job at Twitter because it's run at the whim of a shithead.

An idiot who called a rescue diver a "pedo" because the diver was a hero who rescued trapped children and everyone laughed at the stupid mini-submarine idea.

You'd probably be fired just for bringing that up, and laughing at it again, never mind your language use.

[dcrazy]

The difference is that enough Alaskans had always called Mt. McKinley “Denali” that the State of Alaska petitioned the U.S. government to change the federal name in 1975.

Who asked to change the name of the Gulf of Mexico?

[lolinder]

I left a comment that was flagged for clarifying what was actually being discussed, and I'm not going to take that sitting down this time:

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=43012859

Left and right are both off their rockers right now, and it's really frustrating for the majority of us stuck in the middle, getting shouted down and silenced from both sides.

[kenhwang]

I see Gulf of America when it's zoomed in, but Gulf of Mexico when zoomed very out or very very in.

[stevage]

Probably a caching issue

[nope96]

I see "Gulf of Mexico (Gulf of America)" when zoomed in all the way. "Gulf of America" when zoomed out.

[llacb47]

Likely cached tiles either on your end or Google's servers

[mytailorisrich]

France tends to be oblivious to name changes. Beijing is still "Pekin", Turkiye is still "Turquie", "Kyiv" is "Kiev", etc. because "this is how it's called in French" and they don't care what other countries/languages do.

[asyx]

That’s most other languages though. English has the disadvantage that it’s the global lingua Franca so everybody has an opinion. In German, Beijing is Pekin, Turkey is Türkei, Kyiv is Kiew, Czechia has always been Tschechien even when you still said Czech Republic in English.

And also, to be fair, most names in other languages have a long history. I wouldn’t want people to call Germany anything but what it is called in their local language because for most European languages that’s a millennia of history packed into that name.

[walthamstow]

Every language does that, including and especially English.

You should go and look up what Croatia is really called. Or Japan, Germany, Korea, China, Hungary, Greece, Finland...

[chrsw]

Like another poster on this topic said, it's not pointless or silly. It's a demonstration of power.

[CharlesW]

As well as an example of the "flood the zone" strategy designed to overwhelm and distract.

[Hizonner]

You misspelled "demonstration of small dick energy".

[chrsw]

The demo is not for us

[oneeyedpigeon]

> I'm sure Google Maps shows UK and French users different names for what I would call the English Channel.

It would be interesting to see what it shows people outside of UK and France.

[globular-toast]

It should just vary based on language. In English it's "English Channel", in French it's "La Manche", in Italian it's "La Manica" etc. etc.

It's not a UK vs France thing, it's just English vs French (vs every other language).

Things get complicated when governments make things "official", though. For example, the Welsh government decided to make the "official" names for some places Welsh, which English speakers have no idea how to pronounce. So the Brecon Beacons is "officially" Bannau Brycheiniog, even in English, apparently.

[oneeyedpigeon]

It still says "Brecon Beacons" for me. Doesn't even include the official name in brackets.

[insane_dreamer]

That is due to differences in language.

In Ireland, for example, it's called the English Channel.

[Dudelander]

It's more or less a loyalty test. Are you going to use the correct term, or Trump's term. Which side are you on?