vietnam?

[tielan]

Language and culture question for the Merkins:

Is it Saigon or Ho Chi Minh City to most Americans? Would it matter if it was military or non-military?

Comments

[mad_maudlin]

To be perfectly honest, I think there are plenty of Americans who might not realise that those are different names for the same city, or know which one is the up-to-date one. I mean, remember when John McCain was caught on tape rambling about "Czechoslovakia" in 2008?

That said, I'd call it Ho Chi Minh City, but I have a post-graduate education and am too young to remember the Vietnam War. I'll let other 'Murrcans weigh in on other influencing paramenters.

[tielan]

See, that's what I was wondering. Being Australian, and having a father living in "HCMC" as it says on the postal address. I'm not sure when I realised that "Saigon" and "HCMC" were the same place - or even consciously made the connection, as compared to being vaguely aware.

I was wondering if it was an American thing vs. Rest Of World thing, though.

[sjhw_tolerance]

I think it depends on your age and whether you were alive during the time there was a South and North Vietnam. It could also depend on your political leanings and feelings about the war as well. For me, it will always be Saigon, even though I know it is now called Ho Chi Minh city. Ho Chi Minh was so villanized (rightly or not, I have no idea) that I really don't even like to think that the city is associated with his name. So, I was a teen-ager during the Vietnam war/conflict and my life views are heavily colored by that period of time. So, Saigon for me in private but I would attempt to use the correct name in public.

[tielan]

The POV character for this segment is Maria Hill. So she's mid-thirties, American, and geopolitically aware, if any of that makes a difference.

[sjhw_tolerance]

If she's geo-politically aware, she'll use Ho Chi Minh City and then have to explain/bear with the other guys going all Saigon on her.

[tielan]

Extra-curious question: I presume Steve would know the city as Saigon? Or was the another name for it before the Vietnam War?

[starry_haze]

As a Vietnamese-American, I call the city Saigon for political reasons. The locals still call it Saigon too, but I think to most of the world, it's Ho Chi Minh City. Especially on paper.

The city wasn't renamed until 1976 (after the war), so I'm assuming that if Steve had been aware of the city, he'd know it as Saigon.

[tielan]

So would Maria be likely to call it Saigon or HCMC in her head? Outside it?

[firedew1]

I would imagine that when Maria's on the job, she'd go with the official name, HCMC. But in her head, it could really go either way. Most people I know would sooner recognize Saigon than the other. :)