French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius has issued a press release that says that France will now refer to ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria, also known as ISIL and the Islamic State) as Daesh. Daesh is a an alternate acronym for ISIS by using the Arabic version of the name, al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham. Fabius says the name should be used since he argues that ISIS is not Islamic, a point that President Obama made in his primetime address. The group, however, hates the nickname since it is similar to the Arabic word “Daes” and “Dahes.” Daes means “one who crushes something underfoot” while Dahes can refer to a pre-Islamic period of chaos. As such, the nickname is viewed negatively and the Associated Press has reported that ISIS cuts the tongues of those who use the nickname.
