Dot Wordsworth

Dot Wordsworth on language: Why do we call it ‘Islamic State’?

‘Islamic’ is debatable and so is ‘state’; yet the media drops the definite article

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I’m puzzled by the dropping of the one part of the name of the Islamic State that seems certain. That it is Islamic, many dispute. That it is a state is just as unclear. But calling it the does not bestow honour upon it, any more than referring to the Third Reich meant agreement with its behaviour.

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