This post was inspired by Five Worst Clichés of Russia Reporting.
For past couple of years Georgia is in western media almost every week, if not many times a week. Most of the coverage is about Georgia’s reforms, its food & wines, Georgia as a tourism destination, 2008 Georgia-Russia War, etc. and etc. Those articles later appear in local media: “Another article on Georgian reforms in NYTimes” or “Financial Times about Georgia’s economic growth.” And of course all of this coverage makes Georgians happy just like any other mention on web, for example this:
Or this:
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Yes, we are all glad about so many nice mentions but sometimes journalists make mistakes that don’t really make Georgians happy:
1) “Republic of Georgia” The Republic? okay I understand that some publications try to differentiate the GA state and Georgia the country in order not to confuse their readers but “the Republic?” It is super easy to Google a Georgian passport and see the official name of the country:
2) “The Former Soviet republic of Georgia.” Now this is what upsets Georgians a lot. “Former Soviet Republic?” Please NO! Imagine reading “Former British Colony of Australia,” or “Former Czechoslovak Republic of Czech Republic.” Sound funny, right?
3) Mikhail Saakashvili – At first glance it seems like nothing’s wrong but : In Georgian we say Mikheil not Mikhail which is how Russians pronounce this name. It’s like saying Andrey Garfield instead of Andrew Garfield.
You know him from The Social Network
4) Tblisi, Tiblisi, Tibilisi, etc. Those of you who make these mistakes, just Google the name before writing. The city is called Tbilisi, and it loves you, pay some respect back by not misspelling it.
5) “Georgia on my mind,” nice to hear that it is on your mind but the phrase is not “cool” anymore.
You think there are more? Let me know about them.
One more thing I recall: “Georgia, oh is it the one next to Russia?”
what do you mean next to Russia, half of the god damn earth is next to Russia
That one is pretty common in everyday life.
Ok, this is a 2-months-late post, but my 2 cents:
Officially, while it may not be written ‘Republic of Georgia’ on your passport, it is named so in official documents, similarly to Republic of Latvia, Lithuania and etc.
Eka, you just don’t know the simple fact: ” ‘Georgia’ shall be the name of the state of Georgia” (The constitution of Georgia, Article 1, §3 – http://www.parliament.ge/files/68_1944_951190_CONSTIT_27_12.06.pdf).
Constitution was adopted in 1995, before this state’s official name was “Republic of Georgia” – which is still seen on the obverse of some old Tetri coins minted in 1993 ( http://goo.gl/IGkq75 ). Hope this helps.