Could we please accept U.S.S.R. along with Soviet Union, since the actual name of the place was the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics while the Soviet Union was also a nickname? Thank you!
Just because it was a common thing that "Many people were doing" doesn't mean we need to perpetuate the misnaming of a country. Nobody uses Texas for the whole of the USA, and nobody should have used Russia as the whole of the Soviet Union.
I would think it obvious, but the USSR was composed of many Soviet Republics, only one of which was Russia. Even if it was the biggest and most powerful one, this in no way means both names are synonymous. As previously stated by jm, the fact that many people made that error doesn't make it right. Of course, in colloquial speech it doesn't matter really, it's a case of perfectly understandable synecdoche. But if we wanna get technical, then we should make clear there is a difference between both names.
Not just Iran. Most Muslim countries call US that. It's because we're not Muslim and because we tend to stick our military noses into places (I won't say whether I think they belong or not - this isn't the forum for such discussions).
Iran's ayatollahs call the USA the Great Satan because they need external bogeymen like Israel and the US to distract their own people from their own abject failures as leaders. Having someone to hate gives them something to unify behind, keeps them fearful so that they will accept the brutal police state they live in (100x worse than the Shah's Iran), and allows the ayatollah's to put their own goals of staying in power indefinitely, enriching themselves, forwarding a pro-shia agenda around the Middle East, and keeping the country stuck in the Middle Ages ahead of other goals such as normalizing relations with the West, creating jobs, and lifting the country out of poverty.
Also while the term is obviously hyperbolic and ridiculous, and intellectuals/liberals in the United States overthink it while projecting their own values and erroneously believe it has something to do with Mossadegh, and the real reasons for it are what I stated above; when the Ayatollah first used this expression what he was actually acting mad about then was 1. US-led sanctions against Iran, 2. refusing to extradite an elderly and ailing man (the Shah) to a country where he'd almost certainly be put to death after a show trial, 3. supporting democracy and liberal values (Israel) in the Middle East, and 4. embodying everything the Ayatollahs hated about the Shah and the liberal Western values that he embraced. (freedom, gender equality, etc).
I love Thailand but it's not exactly a free country. Maybe when they're not under military rule and it's legal to criticize the obscenely wealthy king without going to jail for it...
I agree 'Walacama'........ these nicknames are not what natives of a country call themselves but what others have or do call them. (others being one person in some instances)
The Evil Empire was a named used by Ronald Reagan,scary that only 18% knew that,and the Great Satan was used by Soviet Primers you have to use Soviet Union since Russia is a different country
I am a New Zealander, and I was actually insulted to see 'Kiwiland'. Kiwiland? What the hell is kiwi land? I have never heard that before. Instead, you could use 'Land of the Long White Cloud' (Aotearoa), rather than a rubbish nickname that foreigners can associate with NZ. If you think my correct suggestion is too hard to guess, then just omit New Zealand altogether.
Americans don't call ourselves The Great Satan, either (most of us don't, anyway) but we're used to hearing negativity from the rest of the world and we usually just ignore it. If you google, "Kiwiland," Wiktionary says it is humorous and informal for New Zealand. http://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/Kiwiland
Is that a reliable source? I found other, rather unflattering definitions that didn't specifically refer to New Zealand. I agree, Kiwiland is not a widely used nickname - if it's used at all. Land of the Long White Cloud is so much nicer.
Some of these Kiwis are either very very young, or have never travelled much, I have heard Kiwiland used all over the place in Australia, not by Kiwis but by Aussies.
How on earth is 'kiwiland' insulting? I'm from New Zealand and have heard (and used) the nickname before to describe where I'm from in a casual, humorous way. I've never heard it used derogatively. You've overreacted.
Yeah in NZ we don't use Kiwiland, it's the first I've heard of it. We call ourselves kiwis though. The nickname is Aotearoa. We aren't associated with down under either that's just Aussie.
Ask anyone in New Zealand what Down Under is, and they would say Australia. But I guess people in other parts of the world consider both countries Down Under??
Cool quiz. Interesting comments with some nationals getting hot under the collar. One key characteristic of a nickname in most cases is that when one sticks, the person/group of people referred to consider it derogatory. Anyway, on to a few suggestions:
land of a thousand hills - Rwanda
pearl of Africa - Uganda
horn of Africa - Somalia
People who eat cheese for breakfast? So... Egyptians and Jordanians, then? The guys I worked with would just get a big block of white cheese and pour honey on it. Then they would get some flat bread and tear of pieces of it which they would use like a utensil to break off pieces of the honey-soaked cheese. I ate this sometimes myself.
There are also suns in the flags of Argentina, Uruguay, Antigua, Taiwan, Kiribati, Tibet, Rwanda,...
But only Japan is called the land of the rising sun.
Because it looks a little like a hexagon. You can even use a hexagon as a guide for drawing a rough outline of the country. Plenty of examples on google of the country shown with a hexagon on it. L'Hexagone is often used in French journalism to refer to France.
I cannot believe that I'm saying this, but I agree with Kal... in this argument. His take on the issue more sense than some of the
official explanations we have been fed. I may not always (or hardly ever) agree with him, but in this instance, he's on the money. Give the devil his due.
It's not hard to guess what it should mean, but Malbaby is the only commenter who claims to have heard it used. There are many more who have never heard it.
Over many, many years I've heard 'Kiwiland' used for New Zealand throughout UK, Australia and other countries by English speaking people including Kiwis. I have never yet heard a person refer to NZ as 'The land of the long white cloud' or 'Middle Earth' I think these are terms that some romantic people who have never travelled would like to think NZ is referred as.
silly that you have to put the answers in order !! I was typing United States and was like wtf??? why wont it work then Canada and sri lanka before I realised
As to other nicknames, I often heard Saudi Arabia referred to as the "Magic Kingdom" when I lived there.