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The Czech Republic Might Change Its Name Because of Beer and Sports

The Czech Republic is moving to adopt "Czechia" as its official nickname for better branding or whatever.
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Read: The Soviet Ghost Town in the Czech Republic

The Czech Republic has only existed for about a quarter of a century, and it's already backpedalling on the whole name thing. Leaders in the central European country are strongly considering changing the name to "Czechia," since its easier to squeeze one word on the back of a sports jersey or a beer bottle, NPR reports.

The Czech Republic already has a one-word nickname in Czech—"Cesko"—but apparently people generally think that name sucks. Even the old Czech President Vaclav Havel reportedly said that nickname made his "flesh creep." Hopefully Havel, who died in 2011, would be happy with the way "Czechia" rolls off the tongue.

Some are worried that the new name won't roll off American tongues very well, though. The ch in "Czechia" is pronounced with a hardk sound (CHECK-ee-uh), which might flummox English speakers. But Go Czechia, a group advocating for the name change, says that if folks could handle "Czech Republic" then they'll manage "Czechia," too.

The country will still be formally known as the Czech Republic; it would only shorten in casual English. Changes to shorter English names are common—France is actually named "the French Republic," Denmark is "the Kingdom of Denmark," and now the Czech Republic will be "Czechia," if the country's cabinet gives it the final OK.