Iran Forbids Use of Foreign Words

Yeah, it's stupid when the president of a country does this type of thing. But before anyone laughs too hard, let's not forget "freedom fries" and "freedom toast" and how the FCC wants to enforce huge fines for saying "naughty" words when the president lets "shit" hit the fan at the G8 Summit. Beyond that, there is this great spin on words placed by the Bushies. It's no brighter when Americans do this crap.

From WaPo:

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad has ordered government and cultural bodies to use modified Persian words to replace foreign words that have crept into the language, such as "pizzas" which will now be known as "elastic loaves," state media reported Saturday.

The presidential decree, issued earlier this week, orders all governmental agencies, newspapers and publications to use words deemed more appropriate by the official language watchdog, the Farhangestan Zaban e Farsi, or Persian Academy, the Irna official news agency reported.

The academy has introduced more than 2,000 words as alternatives for some of the foreign words that have become commonly used in Iran, mostly from Western languages. The government is less sensitive about Arabic words, because the Quran is written in Arabic.
Among other changes, a "chat" will become a "short talk" and a "cabin" will be renamed a "small room," according to official Web site of the academy.