"Norwegia" debate in the Philippines subreddit: one guy keeps defending that "Norwegia" can be used to refer to Norway. Drama ensues.

25  2018-06-16 by kevin_345

His latest position on the matter: https://www.reddit.com/r/Norway/comments/8rd7ar/hi_a_question/e0rh0ed/

But let's go back to the beginning. It probably starts here, were he gets a lot of downvotes: https://nm.reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/8r10qm/this_is_where_billions_of_our_taxes_go_may/e0nn36t/

But this got him the most downvotes: https://nm.reddit.com/r/Philippines/comments/8r2ei0/epekto_ng_norwegia/e0nunot/

The guy argues further by making two threads on the matter defending "Norwegia", prolonging the discussion: 1 and 2

People from the subreddit finally asked Norwegians from the Norway subreddit about the matter. Norwegians said no, Norwegia is not OK to be used to refer to Norway. The same guy defending Norwegia hijacked the thread by defending the word again, not admitting defeat and people from the Philippines subreddit brigaded the thread and downvoting his comments to shut him up. One clueless guy from the Norway subreddit, not knowing why the thread has become salty and why the guy is getting downvoted and harassed: link

What narrative? Why are people downvoting this guy? Why all the saltiness in this thread? Yes, "Norwegia" is a term historically used in Latin and therefore also in English, although it has since fallen out of use. In this context it doesn't matter if a Dane, Norwegian, or any other nationality used it. Norwegians using or not using it doesn't make it any more right or wrong. No, in modern English and Norwegian it is generally not used anymore. Where is the problem?!

Context: It's part of a larger politically-charged debate in the Philippines. The Presidential Communications Operations Office in the Philippines wrote "Norwegia" instead of "Norway" on their Facebook page. Filipinos made fun of the mistake. They've since corrected it. Some people still argue about the validity of the term "Norwegia" even after the correction. For example, the guy above keeps citing old English books to justify the "Norwegia" term. I think some people on other social media sites like Facebook still defend the term but I really don't know.

Further context: To make you understand the situation, imagine a politically controversial figure like Trump tweeting "Norwegia" instead of "Norway" and the outrage that it will cause. People from both sides of the political spectrum will try to argue about it. This is basically what is happening in the Philippines in these recent times. Thankfully, the Presidential Communications Operations Office in the Philippines finally changed it to "Norway" but the person above and probably other people from Facebook and other social media sites keep defending "Norwegia" even after the correction.

8 comments

Norwegia is a brand of Norwegian cheese.

Norvegia*

Norvegia

Du har rett, ups, lol

Eh. Those Norwayans will always complain about something.

It really surprises me what hills people choose to die on

Only correct term is Fjeldabe - mountain money.

Only correct term is Fjeldabe - mountain monkey.

The only correct term is Fjeldabe - mountain monkey.

My Filipino gf thought that sleeping with wet hair makes you go blind. They're an interesting people.

They're Catholic too so they Catholic mom bs wivestales AND Chinese/se Asia bs wivestales.