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[Ullus]

Turkish power Galatasaray has become the first team in that country to remove the word “arena” from its stadium’s name, following an order from president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.

In a speech delivered Friday in Istanbul, Erdogan said he had instructed Sports Minister Akif Cagatay Kilic to remove “arena” from stadium names in the country due to the word’s ancient Roman history.

“I am against ‘arena,’” Erdogan said. “Of course you know what they used to do in arenas in the past? They would let people be shred to pieces. We are going to remove the word ‘arena’ from stadiums.”

Erdogan also noted that the word does not exist in the Turkish language and “stressed the need for Turkey to develop its own language,” according to the Agence France-Presse.

Galatasaray announced Saturday that the club’s Turk Telecom Arena will now be known as Turk Telekom Stadium. Rival Besiktas plays at the Vodafone Arena and the Fenerbahce basketball team plays at Ulker Sports Arena.

https://www.si.com/planet-futbol/20...-tayyip-erdogan-stadium-arena-ban-galatasaray

''Shred me to pieces'' if old

 

[MartyStu]

This is not at all something a dictator would do.

 

[shnurgleton]

Sounds weirdly specific and dumb but okay

 

[adamsappel]

Uh, so he went with "stadium" instead?

Spoiler

Both Latin words.

 

[Oersted]

Adopting words from other languages is a natural part of how languages develop. To state the obvious.

 

[Sandoval]

HIV Erdogan...

 

[Sarcastic Poster]

Stadium being a well-known word of Turkish origin.

 

[Familienoberhauptvogel]

meh. Sounds dumb.

 

[Majine]

The real issues of our times.

 

[JohnTinker]

So not only is he a totalitarian thug, he's also a lunatic.

This is on the same level as Nicolas Maduro claiming to hear from Hugo Chavez via a talking bird.

 

[Chet Rippo]

Arena means Sand.

 

[gutter_trash]

LOL!!!
what a moron

many words in all languages borrow words from other languages when they had no existing word for it prior.

Like Alcohol, Sugar and Yogurt. We did not have words for them, so we just borrowed the word from other languages and shoved them into our own.

keep losing Erdogan

Adopting words from other languages is a natural part how languages develop. To state the obvious.

pretty much,
growth of languages is also about borrowing neighboring words and adopting words that we did not have

 

[hydruxo]

“Of course you know what they used to do in arenas in the past? They would let people be shred to pieces."

Ironic, coming from his mouth.

 

[rjinaz]

Heaven forbid your language has been influenced some by other cultures. Spanish and French words have become a large part of the English language and I cherish their addition. This feels xenophobic.

 

[ISOM]

Ironic, coming from his mouth.

Basically.

 

[Kinyou]

Being a dictator and being super petty apparently go hand in hand.

 

[Fantastapotamus]

Thank god there is one leader who tackles the real issues that plague our world

 

[gutter_trash]

Stadium being a well-known word of Turkish origin.

it's too Latin for Erdogan, LOL

he is on a mission to erase anything "European" sounding

 

[AcademicSaucer]

“stressed the need for Turkey to develop its own language,”

" Turk Telecom Arena will now be known as Turk Telekom Stadium"

ayy

 

[Skyzard]

I think that's his way of saying screw the EU, lol.

 

[Dynamite Shikoku]

Turk Telekom Place Where Sports Are Played

 

[Stinkles]

Paging Golden Pigeon for "not defending erdogan but..."

 

[gutter_trash]

what is he going to do next? ask to be removed from UEFA and join AFC instead?

 

[cameron]

It's been eating away at him for years. From the Turkish pro-government oulet Daily Sabah:

The president had previously signaled his unhappiness with the term "arena," heralding the latest order. During the inauguration of the new municipal stadium in northeastern province of Bursa in 2015, which was named "Timsah Arena" (Crocodile Arena) after Bursaspor's nickname "Timsahlar" (The Crocodiles) Erdoğan criticized both the use of arena and the symbol of crocodile, which is not a native species of Turkey.

 

[jstripes]

Erdoğan criticized both the use of arena and the symbol of crocodile, which is not a native species of Turkey.

Next you're going to tell me we don't have any velociraptors in Toronto.

 

[Frozenprince]

Going full Mussolini I see.

 

[gutter_trash]

It's been eating away at him for years. From the Turkish pro-government oulet Daily Sabah:

this is even worse, he's clamping down on copywritted logos, characters, logos.

he's insane

 

[DiipuSurotu]

Why doesn't he ban Islam then since it isn't native to Turkey

 

[Devil]

I might add that the turkish language is one with a vocabulary where almost every word was influenced by another language. Seems really random to pick that one word.

 

[gutter_trash]

Next you're going to tell me we don't have any velociraptors in Toronto.

 

[MagnaderAlpha]

”I am against ‘arena,'" Erdogan said. ”Of course you know what they used to do in arenas in the past? They would let people be shred to pieces. We are going to remove the word ‘arena' from stadiums."

Because, Edrogan, you are the shining example of being humane to people. You never did horrible things to people.... ever, huh?

 

[Netherscourge]

Colosseum sounds better.

 

[Turbo Killer]

Because, Edrogan, you are the shining example of being humane to people. You never did horrible things to people.... ever, huh?

Well he never shredded anybody to pieces in an arena, prisons on the other hand.

 

[AlexFlame116]

Arena means Sand.

What if he doesn't like sand either? It might be too course for him.

 

[gutter_trash]

Colosseum sounds better.

still too Latin

What if he doesn't like sand either? It might be too course for him.

 

[Condom]

Dutch news reported it differently, saying it's about humans having to fight animals/other humans in Roman arenas and Erdo not liking that.

Still a case of 'yeah that's like your opinion man', he has so much influence that the officials where tripping over each other trying to implement the changes. Insane.

 

[Earthbound64]

“stressed the need for Turkey to develop its own language,”

" Turk Telecom Arena will now be known as Turk Telekom Stadium"

ayy

Telekom - totally a word originating in Turkish.
(And "Stadium," obviously)

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Paging Golden Pigeon for "not defending erdogan but..."

I was sure my name would be mentioned haha !
I don't care about this issue. It's just funny seeing that it's making the news.
Changing the name of a public building because it have a alleged bad connotation is nothing rare or new.

Just an historical sidenote: Ataturk brought more than 5.000 words in the Turkish language, eliminating a lot of arabic names.
I am sure it would be perceived as "progress" by many people here

 

[Kayhan]

How embarrassing for Turkey that they elected this buffoon.

 

[UtterlyPerplexed]

Erdoğan criticized both the use of arena and the symbol of crocodile, which is not a native species of Turkey.

He may as well ban the continued use of anything that isn't Turkish in origin, completely close the country off to the world while he's at it and drag Turkey back to pre-modern times.

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

It's also silly when modern-day Turkey is in the heartland of what was the later Roman Empire aka the Byzantine Empire.

 

[Escape Goat]

It's a dark time for democracy.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

It's also silly when modern-day Turkey is in the heartland of what was the later Roman Empire aka the Byzantine Empire.

Except that turkish history doesn't relate to the Byzantine Empire, but precisely find it's founding moment with the destruction of that Empire with the Conquest of Constantinople by Uthman in 1453.

 

[Earthbound64]

It's also silly when modern-day Turkey is in the heartland of what was the later Roman Empire aka the Byzantine Empire.

Feels bad

 

[yanipheonu]

Well, that seems like a fundamental misunderstanding of how language works.

By that logic, you shouldn't be able to make a stew unless it's in a cauldron.

Words change. That's... pretty basic.

 

[ClosingADoor]

Erdogan still fighting the Roman Empire even though they are going for a thousand years already.

I was sure my name would be mentioned haha !
I don't care about this issue. It's just funny seeing that it's making the news.
Changing the name of a public building because it have a alleged bad connotation is nothing rare or new.

Just an historical sidenote: Ataturk brought more than 5.000 words in the Turkish language, eliminating a lot of arabic names.
I am sure it would be perceived as "progress" by many people here

What bad connection does arena have? Or do you think the one to a two thousand year old use is valid?

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

this feels like a really weird grudge to hold, frankly.

 

[Stinkles]

I was sure my name would be mentioned haha !
I don't care about this issue. It's just funny seeing that it's making the news.
Changing the name of a public building because it have a alleged bad connotation is nothing rare or new.

Just an historical sidenote: Ataturk brought more than 5.000 words in the Turkish language, eliminating a lot of arabic names.
I am sure it would be perceived as "progress" by many people here

;-)

Can set my watch by you.

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

What bad connection does arena have? Or do you think the one to a two thousand year old use is valid?

Wiki:

An arena is an enclosed area, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theater, musical performances, or sporting events. The word derives from Latin harena, a particularly fine/smooth sand used to absorb blood in ancient arenas such as the Colosseum in Rome.[1]

 

[Guerrillas in the Mist]

Except that turkish history doesn't relate to the Byzantine Empire, but precisely find it's founding moment with the destruction of that Empire with the Conquest of Constantinople by Uthman in 1453.

It still makes it kind of amusing when he's referring to it as a "foreign" term.