> There's also a town in Yugoslavia with the name Srb and the surname could mean someone from that town.
Interesting to see Yugoslavia being mentioned when the town is in present-day Croatia (as per the link in the post).
Interesting to see Yugoslavia being mentioned when the town is in present-day Croatia (as per the link in the post).
I’m thinking either the author had an old map (very common in the US) and has noticed this town before, or identifies as being from Yugoslavia from growing up there at one point (and adopting some identity politics that still separates Serbia), or thinks its synonymous to call the region yugoslavia like the region of nordics has its own name which would just be wrong
I think these days we're meant to use "the Balkans" and understand by context that we don't mean Greece. But it's much less precise.
That said, in this context "a town in Croatia" would have been correct, uncontroversial and more precise.
Or Albania. Or Romania. Or possibly Bulgaria.
American English has it too, for example in pronounciation of "work".
But even in English, my ignorant self feels the I in "Kirk" is pointless and unnecessary :-)
What I wanted was a word for the southern Slavic _region_, encompassing former Yugoslavia as well as Bulgaria and other territories in adjacent countries. But I couln't find a word for it, and it was getting late.