A few days ago, my French roommate asked me (in Spanish) who was playing tomorrow in the World Cup. I said "Portugal y Côte d'Ivoire". It made me realize that no matter what language I speak, I will definitely (and have until now) always said Côte d'Ivoire instead of the English version, Ivory Coast, perhaps because even in the USA I feel like I see it written in French more than I do in English. My American roommate then said (in Spanish), "Ya, it's weird, because even us English speakers always say Côte d'Ivoire," which was great because it matched my thought just moments before. She then said "Ya, I just think Ivory Coast sounds stupid," which I completely agree with as well, as if we are to describe a country by a natural resource (not). I also feel like it just sounds a little dumbed-down, vulgar, raw or something... I dunno, I just don't care for it.
THEN, the German roommate said (in Spanish), "Ya, that is weird for English, because we just say 'Elfenbeinküste'", which I heard more as Elefint-bine-coasta. Having just thought of how vulgar/raw/whatever Ivory Coast sounds, to hear Elefint-bine-coasta, or 'Elephant bone coast' was absolutely hilarious. I always think of the German language as analytical, literal, and not to-the-point; this only reaffirms my feelings!!
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