The Broncks', the borough of my childhood, fades away

[Seán Fitzpatrick]

I saw a good deal of a Ukrainian émigré couple at the time of the
dissolution of the USSR.  They (well, she) became quite irritable if someone
said "the Ukraine".  I think the idea is that "Ukraine" is a sovereign
nation, while "the Ukraine" is a geographical region under foreign
suzerainty, and they had had enough of THAT.

Seán Fitzpatrick
The ends had better justify the means.
http://www.logomachon.blogspot.com/
Ukraine vs. The Ukraine:  I suspect this change is largely because the
newly-independent country declared "Ukraine" rather than "The Ukraine"
to be its official name.

In compensation, we now have "the former Yugoslavia."   A quick search
on Google brings up:  'about 1,580,000 English pages for "the former
Yugoslavia".'

My non-scholarly guess is that this is modelled on "the former Soviet
Union."

--
Dan Goodman
"I have always depended on the kindness of stranglers."
Tennessee Williams, A Streetcar Named Expire
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