Venting too

[davewitley]

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/africa/4579905.stm

This article annoys me.  I don't mind the name changes which are the 
main topic, it's the lack of feel for language.

Below is the comment which I refrained from sending to the BBC:

"Only a person with a tin ear could imagine that Kolkata is a name 
change rather than tidying up the spelling.  Is there any chance of 
the BBC employing correspondents who understand the topics they are 
writing about?"

Really, isn't it obvious that Bombay and Mumbai are the *same name*?  
Likewise Constantinople and Istanbul.  As such the case of Pretoria 
and Tshwane is rather different.

David,

stamping on folk etymology since 2001