Re: EBU White book 2004

>>> Why can't you write 'Bombay' like a human being, instead of the -
>>> to a non-native of India - preposterous affectation of 'Mumbai'?

>> For the same reason we write Beijing.
> 
> Who, pray, is the 'we' here?

Count me in please! AFAIR the Chinese government *asked* the world to
use the Beijing transliteration in the 70's, as Pekin/Peking did not
reflect the local pronounciation. I'd not realised that 'Bombay' had
been de-'****ted' but to quote an indian site ...

By any other name
The city was called Bombay for much of the last four hundred years.
The origin of the name is obscure, but is often said to come from the
****tuguese phrase bom bahia meaning "good bay". The name Mumbai has
been used in the main local languages for as long, and is ascribed to
the local goddess, Mumba (ai means mother in Marathi). The name of the
city was changed to Mumbai by an act of the parliament in 1997. - 
http://theory.tifr.res.in/bombay/

Interesting filename, huh!   Lonely Planet do better ...
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/destinations/indian_subcontinent/mumbai/


Or does the university convince?  http://www.mu.ac.in/

Clearly things are still in flux.  Personally I will retain the old
epithets in cooking - Pekin Duck, Bombay Duck etc.  And what has this
to do with the EBU?  "Aylesbury Duck" of course. Shame the thread is
about the white book, rather than the orange. :)) Chris Ryall