Why is it called ME?

Pekka · December 21, 2003, 18:15

I was just thinking.. why is Middle East called what it is called?

Now, if it was in the middle, there should be east before it, right? But that's Europe. That's not east. Then there is the far east.. so.. where's the close east, and if there is not one, then why is there ME?

do your worst.

Harovan · December 21, 2003, 18:17

It has always been called this way in the news. Near east is the region around Egypt, Israel etc. Far east is Thailand, Laos, Vietnam etc. Middle east is what's between, that simple.

Pekka · December 21, 2003, 18:19

So there IS near east? Ok..

Pekka · December 21, 2003, 18:19

Kind of funny.. we don't call ME like that in our native language.. ME translates into near east in finnish

.

POTUS · December 21, 2003, 18:20

Because it was in the Middle of the East. From Western Europe, it is farther east than Eastern Europe, but not as east as the Far East, i.e. China.

Pekka · December 21, 2003, 18:21

POTUS, yeah, but you shouldn't count Eastern Europe into East. That's Europe, right?

Harovan · December 21, 2003, 18:23

Quote:

Originally posted by Pekka
So there IS near east? Ok..

Yes. The conflict between Israel and Egypt in the late 60's/early 70's has been the "Nahostkonflikt" (near east conflict) in our news.

Pekka · December 21, 2003, 18:29

Hmm I wonder why there is no ME in finnish language.. there is only near east (which refers to ME), east and far east.

If I was God, and I now thought 'wait.. in reality.. there is no ME...I guess I thought wrong!' and all things would vanish there right then? I'm glad I'm not God.. only Supercitizen.. though my powers are not yet matched with any other living being..

Or if this was the Matrix... and I was the code maintaining person.. and I started speaking finnish all fo the sudden, the indicators would be all wrong, so planes just entering ME would drop, and there would be just one big fatal error....... you see my powers? You see them? No you can't see them, but believe me they are real.

Asher · December 21, 2003, 18:30

Millennium Edition.

Saint Marcus · December 21, 2003, 18:33

Near East = Turkey, etc
Middle East = Iraq, etc
Far East = China, etc

Pekka · December 21, 2003, 18:37

Saint Marcus, yeah. I got it from the earlier posts.. jsut that we don't have the same terms in finnsih... I didn't know that there is near east, and that we call ME near east makes it confusing to me.

I just call them all dirty easterners from here on. I'm just that powerful.

Bereta_Eder · December 21, 2003, 18:45

I also found this

http://www.psych.uchicago.edu/~regier/mideast-name.html

Buck Birdseed · December 21, 2003, 18:54

To me the Near East is the Russian Near East, ie. Western siberia going down towards the Caspian sea.

Kassiopeia · December 21, 2003, 19:13

Quote:

Hmm I wonder why there is no ME in finnish language..

There is, it's just not used that often. Keski-itä refers to the region between the Middle East (Lähi-itä) and India, like Iran and Pakistan. Lähi-itä is Iraq, Turkey and the land that falls inbetween, I think. In common language I think Keski-itä has simply become a part of Lähi-itä, though.

Andemagne · December 21, 2003, 20:06

my 2 (Euro) Cents:

Asia Minor = Turkey
Middle East = Syria, Iraq, Iran, Jordania, Egypt, Saudi-Arabia and so on.....
Far East: China, Japan and so on.....

Edan · December 21, 2003, 23:51

We're very egotistical, that's why we have ME, Myself and I all meaning the same thing.

Edan · December 21, 2003, 23:55

Something that's annoying is that what the Middle East encompases isn't very consistent. eg, I usually see parts of north Africa (Egypt, Sudan, Libya), Turkey and Iran refered to as part of the middle east but not always. (I think I've even seen Afghanistan and Pakistan considered part of it once or twice)

VJ · December 22, 2003, 00:19

It's a descriptive name; it's as stable as the other ME.

aaglo · December 22, 2003, 02:58

Near-east and far-east are the two easts in finnish...

Well, of course there are also North-east and south-east. But the finnish expressions of those are not combinations of north/east/south - we have spesific words for NE, SE, SW and NW
NE= Koillinen
SE= Kaakko
SW= Lounas
NW= Luode

Pekka · December 22, 2003, 11:28

aaglo, yeah, can you believe it if I say I never remember those? I have a good memory, I remember like a little crazy person. But those? Oh man, I can't remember!

lord of the mark · December 22, 2003, 12:09

back in the good old days,when europe was the center of the world, everything from constantinople to the Pacific was "the East". Turkey, Syria, Israel, Egypt were the Near East. Iraq, Iran the Gulf were the Middle East. China, Japan, Thailand, etc were the Far East. India was the Jewel in the Crown

In recent years the near east - middle east distinction faded, and the entire arab world plus Iran came to be called the Middle east, thus the ME conflict.

To those of us who are more enlightened, (or more PC, if you prefer) Europe is no longer the center of the world, hence these terms are obsolete. The area from the Suez Canal to Iran is Southwest Asia, the Subcontinent is south Asia, and the area previously called the Far East is East Asia.

ME survives as a term, partly cause it sounds pedantic to refer to the "soutwest Asia conflict", partly cause (in current usage) it covers North Africa as well as Southwest Asia

Pekka · December 22, 2003, 12:20

Not correct. Europe is the center, Finland is at the top of it, and I am the Supercitizen of it, so that makes me what? God on earth?

CerberusIV · December 22, 2003, 12:24

Quote:

Originally posted by Pekka
Not correct. Europe is the center, Finland is at the top of it, and I am the Supercitizen of it, so that makes me what? God on earth?

No, Santa Claus!

(You asked for that one

)