'Falklands' or 'Malvinas'?

[Guest]

How do you prefer to refer to these islands?

Personally, I go for Malvinas....not concerned about the politics, I just think 'Malvinas' sounds better. 'Falklands' sounds like some Bournemouth reactionary's retirement villa....

[Bryn]

I tend to think of them as the Coalite (now Anglo United) Islands.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

An irony was a news broadcast of the on-ship entertainment, provided by members of the armed service themselves, on the way to reclaiming the Falkland Islands. Parodying "Summer Holiday", they sang: "We're all going to the ... Malvinas...", which scans better than the alternative.

[french frank]

At least 'Malvinas' reflects the earliest French interest (Iles Malouines, discovered by the St Malo sailors)

Alps - I don't understand that: 'We're all going to the Falkla-and I-Islands' scans perfectly!

[Richard Tarleton]

The question of the rival claims is dealt with -probably as close to definitively as you can get - in "The Battle for the Falklands" by Max Hastings and Simon Jenkins. I think Simon Jenkins wrote this bit. http://www.amazon.com/Battle-Falklan.../dp/0393301982

[vinteuil]

The question of the rival claims

The question of the rival claims was summarily captured earlier -

'Como dijo JL Borges "los argentinos y los ingleses son como dos calvos peleándose por un peine".'

But - even earlier - it is (as always) worth reading what Dr Johnson has to say -

https://www.samueljohnson.com/falklands.html

[Serial_Apologist]

How come this subject has suddenly come up?

And untranslated French is one thing - but untranslated SPANISH (which I failed at O Level) another again!

[vinteuil]

... sorry, SA : " two bald men fighting over a comb"...

[french frank]

How come this subject has suddenly come up?

This, yesterday?

[MrGongGong]

This, yesterday?

aha

I would quite like England to have Finnish rule (for education at least !)
so if its "our will" can we have that please ?

I'm sure in the Bog Society we can all have a go at being a moomin like we can have a go at running a school, doing brain surgery and other similar tasks !

[Panjandrum]

Personally, I go for Malvinas....not concerned about the politics, I just think 'Malvinas' sounds better. 'Falklands' sounds like some Bournemouth reactionary's retirement villa....

Er, why is that exactly? As has been pointed out, the etymology of Malvinas refers to one bunch of European imperialists' claims to a lump of South Atlantic rock over another such. Neither word is indigenous; and neither nationality has greater legal entitlement, hence the intransigence. Don't remember the silver people getting too excited over the islands before the discovery of a certain fossil fuel.

[Serial_Apologist]

aha

I would quite like England to have Finnish rule (for education at least !)
so if its "our will" can we have that please ?

I'm sure in the Bog Society we can all have a go at being a moomin like we can have a go at running a school, doing brain surgery and other similar tasks !

A nice piece of gongoism

[Boilk]

I dare say that if in 1841 the Argentinian government had established a permanent colony on the Isle of Wight, Britian would since have claimed it back by brute force, regardless of whether the locals wanted continued Argentinian sovereignty.

Naturally Britain cares greatly about the rights of Falklanders and their sheep to remain British ... it couldn't possibly be the hope of anything else.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

I dare say that if in 1841 the Argentinian government had established a permanent colony on the Isle of Wight, Britian would since have claimed it back by brute force, regardless of whether the locals wanted continued Argentinian sovereignty.

That isn't too good a comparison. The distance between the Falkland Islands and the Argentine mainland is around 300 miles mor like the distance between Scotland and Norway than between Portsmouth and Ryde.

If you want to bring up illogical colonies, you could start with Gibraltar (U.K.) and continue with Ceuta (Spain), but leave the Falklands out of it.

[french frank]

Not the quickest route, but I'd suggest that a few Argentinians applied for British citizenship and moved to the Falklands. After a generation or two, the population might be less opposed to the Argentines taking over. That would answer the British anti-colonialists, wouldn't it?

Perhaps a better proposition is that the Falklands should be recognised as a sovereign state in its own right (the second smallest after Vatican City).

In terms of national psychology (is there such a thing?) I find the Argentine attachment to the islands harder to understand, since there has never been an Argentine population living there and the legalities are by no means clear-cut. The 'rights' bestowed by more than 150 years of settlement are quite strong.