Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar has conceded defeat in the vote over two constitutional amendments that would have broadened the definition of family and removed language about a woman’s role at home.
In general I get that and my instinct was similarly that it was strange not to use the word. I’d use Taoiseach for Varadkar in a way I wouldn’t use the native language word for other world leaders, because I think of Ireland as a primarily English-speaking country and that’s the word they still use whilst otherwise speaking in English.
But then again, I can also see that British readers like you and I who follow current affairs are going to be a lot more familiar with the term Taoiseach (or, in Calamity Truss’s case, the ‘Tea Sock’) given it’s the country next door and so hugely intertwined with British politics. I could name every Taoiseach in the last quarter century just by virtue of how much those individuals have featured in UK news - through the peace process, the financial crisis and then Brexit. I couldn’t do that for the leaders of any other foreign country of Ireland’s size. So I think it’s not unreasonable to assume the average US or other reader might not not know what a Taoiseach is.
Thanks for your input. Maybe non-Brits won’t understand that I’m not trying to be elitist. It’s just that, as far as I can remember, even in our shit-tier tabloids, he’s called the Taoiseach. Sure, it’s confusing the first time but I don’t think it’s the hardest thing to pick up from context. Prime Minister immediately smacks like a mistake or a lack of care.
I think the best thing would be maybe refer to him as PM in the headline (if there’s no better alternative) but then as Taoiseach in the article.
In general I get that and my instinct was similarly that it was strange not to use the word. I’d use Taoiseach for Varadkar in a way I wouldn’t use the native language word for other world leaders, because I think of Ireland as a primarily English-speaking country and that’s the word they still use whilst otherwise speaking in English.
But then again, I can also see that British readers like you and I who follow current affairs are going to be a lot more familiar with the term Taoiseach (or, in Calamity Truss’s case, the ‘Tea Sock’) given it’s the country next door and so hugely intertwined with British politics. I could name every Taoiseach in the last quarter century just by virtue of how much those individuals have featured in UK news - through the peace process, the financial crisis and then Brexit. I couldn’t do that for the leaders of any other foreign country of Ireland’s size. So I think it’s not unreasonable to assume the average US or other reader might not not know what a Taoiseach is.
Thanks for your input. Maybe non-Brits won’t understand that I’m not trying to be elitist. It’s just that, as far as I can remember, even in our shit-tier tabloids, he’s called the Taoiseach. Sure, it’s confusing the first time but I don’t think it’s the hardest thing to pick up from context. Prime Minister immediately smacks like a mistake or a lack of care.
I think the best thing would be maybe refer to him as PM in the headline (if there’s no better alternative) but then as Taoiseach in the article.