Trump’s ‘Gulf of America’ inspires social media users to rename Welsh waters
Stephen Price
Social media users have taken a leaf out of Donald Trump’s book and called for the use of Welsh names for the Bristol Channel, St George’s Channel and the Irish Sea.
“…Well, did you know that, long before it gained its English name, the “Bristol Channel” was known as Môr Hafren in Cymraeg (Welsh) and Mor Havren in Kernowek (Cornish)?
“In fact, it was largely referred to as this all the way until Tudor times (though it is still referred to as Môr Hafren by Welsh speakers). Donald Tudor clearly read their gameplan! (A big diolch yn fawr goes to Padrig for making me aware of this).”
Gareth Morgan commented beneath the post: “What does the name Hafren mean? The Severn’s Welsh name is Hafren – a strong clue to its probable origin.
“In Modern Welsh, haf means ‘summer’. It derives from the Proto-Celtic *samo- ‘summer’, which is also the ancestor of Irish Samhain. The second element is most likely from the Proto-Celtic *renwo- ‘quick’ and ‘fast’ – i.e. ‘fast summer river’.
“When looking across the Channel your looking towards Gwlad yr Haf. Somerset literally: “land of the summer.” Whose emblem is a red dragon.”
Rob Linegar responded: “Many older British/English sources refer to it as the Severn Sea & older ones, especially Roman iirc.. Sabrina which is cognate with Hafren”
The Irish Sea
In another post from Difflomats, a Facebook page dedicated to promoting Cardiff (or The ‘Diff), one writer shared an idea from Ted Richards, saying: “I always call the Bristol Channel, THE SEVERN SEA aka MOR HAFREN. I’ve even been rebuked by Difflomats’ readers for doing so.
“Yes, St George’s Channel is very galling. Of all the names to choose, when its waves don’t lap any coast of England; just Wales and Ireland.
“It should be ST DAVID’S CHANNEL, quite rightly so. The French after all have their own name for the English Channel.”
Embedded in the image is the text “And don’t get me started on the Irish Sea” which commenters said should be renamed “The Welsh Sea” or “Môr Cymru”, while St David’s Channel would be “Sianel Dewi Sant”
Nigel Robert clarified, however: “According to historic Welsh legend, St George’s Channel / Sianol San Sion is the route that the St George (or Sion) voyaged to Celtic Britain from the Roman Empire, likely to pre-date its specifially English connotations and long pre-dates St David, although of course the current name is an anglicisation.”
While Martin Williams diplomatically said: “Multiple names can coexist. The Strait of Dover is also the Pas de Calais.”
Trwmp
Apple renamed the Gulf of Mexico ‘the Gulf of America’ on its maps after an order by President Donald Trump was made official by the US Geographic Names Information System.
The move follows Google, which announced last month that it would make the change once the official listing was updated and wrote in a blog post on Sunday that it had begun rolling out the change.
In Google’s case, the company said people in the US will see Gulf of America and people in Mexico will see Gulf of Mexico. Everyone else will see both names.
After taking office, Mr Trump ordered the water bordered by the southern United States, Mexico and Cuba be renamed.
The US Geographic Names Information System officially updated the name late on Sunday. Microsoft has also made the name change on its Bing maps.
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While people are laughing at this, trump is gutting the US at the orders of musk. The damage that is happening is huge, but lets look at the map. That is what he wants.
Trump saying about Ukraine, “it was not a good war to go into”. That is referring to Ukraine defending itself.
But maps……
But maps….
here is a good map. It is safe, Professor Christina Pagel
https://bsky.app/profile/chrischirp.bsky.social/post/3li2lyi3jak2j
It is ironic that Trump seems to think that the name “Gulf of America” refers to the USA
The USA is not America, it is one part of America.
America includes north, central and south America and includes Canada, Mexico, Honduras, Brazil, Argentina etc, as well as the United States of America.
Using the term “America” to refer to the USA is reminiscent of the days when some people referred to Britain as England.
Gulf of America includes Mexico as much as the USA, and quite a few other countries too.
Indeed. The irony. The Americas was named by Christopher Columbas which encompassed North, Central and South America. Trump’s arrogance masks his stupidity. And seeing, ‘The Gulf of Mexico’ , itself predates America, the name taken from Nahuatl language spoken by the Aztecs , and as highlighted by the feisty Mexican president Claudia Sheinbaum Pardo, that the land called America should be renamed América Mexicana’ or ‘Mexican America’ as documented in 1814 when the continent was referred to by that very name. Also, the US Gulf coast, Mexico’s eastern states and the island of Cuba has been known as the Gulf… Read more »
Oddly enough. the term ‘America’ derives from the Florentine explorer Amerigo Vespucci (1454 – 1512) who took a boat and went westward across the ocean exploring and adventuring, but who has been almost forgotten other than by the chance that his name came to be attached to the previously pretty much unknown lands that he discovered.
Not to ape that orange tub of lard Trump, Wales has more of a case to rename areas of our waters seeing English cartographers like Sir Martin Frobisher of Yorkshire partly responsible for linguistically cleansing Wales of its native coastal names in 1578 who was largely responsible for removing names used for millennia. Just take these examples. Bristol Channel, Liverpool Bay, St George’s Channel , and what about those islands off our coast too, hardly any have Welsh names on maps. All have English or Norse when those islands had ancient Welsh names used since time immemorial. And let’s talk… Read more »
Is there a chance Apple and Google will label the seas surrounding Cymru differently? No. However, upon independence we can officially name these areas as we feel fit and as a sovereign country – it’s more likely Apple and Google will change their labelling too, if only for the people of our country.
I am proud and privileged to share this comment section with such educated contributors. I am loving your work. We shall not be cast aside and we shall call OUR waters by OUR names for them. Wealth should not be a substitute for a brain. It is worth remembering that we are talking about a guy who said we had the airfields covered in 1775, long before the Wright brothers successfully flew an aircraft in 1903. Stand firm against the sub educate bullies and TAKE BACK CONTROL!
Let’s hope all this is merely mocking and satirical, because we’ll have reached a sad pass if numbers of us here were actually to let ourselves be infected by the example of the ghastly Trump, who’s both crazy and sinister in roughly equal measure
More that we are looking at the left hand whilst the right is picking your pocket. AP news are now barred cos they wouldn’t play ball on the naming (other far right a loony news orgs are replacing standard ones at press slots around government). History is disappearing off systems, court orders etc. They are getting wiped. And sone scary appointments to the DOJ Yesterday Trump signed an order installing musk stasi in all government departments. They report now to doge, ie musk. Meanwhile musk may get a contract tpo supply US gov with armored vehicles (NYT). Hesgeth (not suited… Read more »
I think, given the lessons of interwar European history, that the descriptive dig ‘the mango Mussolini’ is pretty spot on.
Genuine chortle at that
To be honest, since Trump’s re-election I now look on the USA as a potentially hostile state, more or less as much as I view Russia.
And actually more than I view China, given that Xi’s country is on the other side of the world and appears not to be overly interested in the diminished country that the UK has become these days.
Trumps daily offerings get worse, he attacks US traditional allies constantly and say nice things about the ogres in the room. He is now flogging F35’s to India. Russia and India get along fine, I expect a generous flow of information by the back door and China will get a copy. This will end well.
The difference between us and Trump would be, we are not renaming the Bristol channel, it has always been “Mor hafren” in the native language of our country. Just like “Bannau Brycheiniog”, it always has had that name, but the British gov always use the English version, and only the English on maps and such, as if the original name never existed.
We wouldn’t be “renaming” we would be reverting back. And remember the gammon rage that triggered amongst the hard of thinking!
A mix of both if you want to be precise.. The Irish Sea and St George’s Channel have never had those specific Welsh names unless I’m mistaken.