> > > > How about UNITED STATES OF AMERICA?
> > >
> > > Heh. I was going to post the exact same thing before I saw this.
> >
> > Here's a thought. In our modern acronym-littered world, why do we still pronounce every letter when we say "U.S.A."? Shouldn't we be calling the country Yooza?
> >
> > Brunnen-"runs and hides"G
>
> In Finnish, we don't. We either call it "Yhdysvallat", which is the whole name translated to Finnish, or Yooza. Well, that's not exactly the way we pronounce it, but it's quite near.
>
> Juho

Wonderful! I was joking; I never imagined anybody *did* call it that. May I ask what you call New Zealand, in Finnish? I like knowing these things. And am I right in thinking Finnish is not related to the languages of surrounding countries?