The nation most recently known as the French Republic (Republique Français) has filed change of name forms with a number of world organizations indicating that it will hereinafter be known as "Le Pays de la Liberté" (or PDL). The change is expected to be phased in over the next 6 months at what is described as a bureaucratic level. Replacing currency is expected to take several years.In an immediate move, the newly renamed government filed numerous claims with the World Trade Organization (WTO) seeking to block and/or be compensated for a vast range of commercial uses of French variants of the word "liberté" as well as the common English words words "free", "freedom" and "liberty".
In separate filings the PDL sought a ruling on use of the word "Lite" from a WTO panel. While acknowledging that "Lite" is generally understood to mean reduced rather than absent fat or calories, a PDL spokesman insisted that the term is "still quite suggestive."
"I'm sure they'll still answer to 'France'," a spokesman for the U.S. State Department grumbled indicating that the United States is taking a wait and see approach to the name change issue.
"We'll have a lot of latitude in how we translate it if they do go through with this," the spokesman continued in a thinly veiled threat indicating that preliminary translations included: "Country of Liberty", "Anarchy Nation" and "Buttheaded Frogland."
