It is perhaps partly because of our past that people in the Czech Republic have accepted the news with a mood of slightly amused disbelief. There is a long tradition of the Czechs making fun of themselves. But behind this, even those in favour of the name change feel embarrassed by the way the government has once again bypassed the public in this decision. To make matters worse, the name change wasn’t even the result of some expert discussion. The only people they consulted were PRs, who felt the single word title would “sell the country better”. Despite this, on the day the idea was announced, even the head of the official Institute for the Czech language described the planned change as “forced through”.
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