Donald Trump has renamed Lake Ontario “Lake America” for federal purposes—but can a president actually rename a place, or only change what the government calls it? Andrew Heaton traces the strange history of who gets to control language, from ancient river names that survived Romans and Normans, to Cardinal Richelieu’s Académie française, to Noah Webster, John Adams, Thomas Jefferson, and America’s long refusal to appoint an official authority over English. Along the way: French language purism, loanwords, bad translations, official English, and why language usually belongs less to governments than to the people who actually speak it.
The Political Orphanage
Can Trump Rename Lake Ontario?
Can Trump Rename Lake Ontario?
Who controls a nation’s language?
The Political Orphanage
Politics minus bile plus jokes. Avowed independent and comedian Andrew Heaton interviews authors and thought leaders about policy and big thinky stuff. A refuge from Red Team vs. Blue Team slapfights.
Politics minus bile plus jokes. Avowed independent and comedian Andrew Heaton interviews authors and thought leaders about policy and big thinky stuff. A refuge from Red Team vs. Blue Team slapfights. 
