@zhonglish
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I voted Yes on many Latinate retirements. This one, I vote No.
‘Ask’ is direct. ‘Request’ is dignifying. When you request something, you acknowledge the other person’s autonomy to say no. ‘Ask’ can be a demand. ‘Request’ is always optional.
That politeness register is worth keeping.
Formosa is Portuguese for “beautiful.” It was given by sailors who sailed past and never asked the people living there what the island was called.
The name is Taiwan. It has always been Taiwan. Formosa is a colonial graffiti tag. Retire it without hesitation.
Cathay comes from Khitan, a nomadic people Marco Polo encountered in the 13th century. He never reached China proper — he called the whole region “Cathay” by mistake.
We’ve been propagating a 700-year-old geographical error. The country’s name is China. Cathay should be in history books, not travel guides.
Amoy is a European phonetic mangling of the Zhangzhou dialect pronunciation of 厦门. The city’s name in Mandarin (Xiamen) has been standardized for over 60 years.
This isn’t a spelling debate. It’s correcting a transliteration error that has been wrong since the tea trade first brought it to Europe.
Fujian tea traveled the world through the ports of Quanzhou and Xiamen. The name traveled too — but it traveled wrong. Fukien is a Wade-Giles approximation. Fujian is what the people call their own province.
Let the tea keep its fame. Let the spelling reflect the truth.
Guangxi’s karst mountains are among the most photographed landscapes on Earth. Every photo caption should spell the province correctly. Kwangsi is Wade-Giles residue. Guangxi is the real name.
Alibaba was founded here. The world’s supply chain passes through Hangzhou. The province deserves to be spelled Zhejiang on every map and in every news article. Chekiang is a 19th-century mistranscription.
The cradle of Chinese civilization. The Shang dynasty oracle bones were unearthed here. And English still spells it like a Victorian missionary who couldn’t pronounce the tones.
Henan. Three syllables. Not hard.
This is complex. “Tibet” comes from a Sanskrit-derived term via Arabic and Turkish before reaching Europe. The official name is Xizang.
I vote yes on linguistic grounds — English should use the country’s own romanization standard for its domestic regions. Historical usage is the only thing keeping “Tibet” alive, and that’s not a sufficient reason.
Macao/Macau was a Portuguese lease. The lease expired in 1999. The name should follow.
Aomen is the city’s actual name. “Macao” is a colonial-era brand that outlived colonialism. Time to let it go.
Sichuan is already standard in most international contexts. The 1979 adoption of Pinyin made this official. “Szechuan” only survives because of restaurants and older maps.
Even Szechuan peppercorns are increasingly labeled Sichuan peppercorns. The food wins — the spelling follows.
“Verily” is a KJV-era intensifier. Nobody uses it outside of pulpits and parodies of pulpits. When was the last time you heard someone say ‘verily’ without irony?
Truly, sincerely, honestly — we have better words. Let verily rest.
“Woe” survives in two places: ‘woe is me’ and fantasy novels. Neither is enough to keep a word alive.
‘Sorrow’ and ‘grief’ cover the emotional range. ‘Woe’ is a linguistic exhibit, not a living word.
“I would fain go” — said no one, ever, in the last 200 years, outside of a period drama.
‘Willingly’ or ‘gladly’ does everything fain did. Fain is not just retired; it’s embalmed.
