Tunnels and caves could still be problematic though there’s a lot of gasses that can cause problems in such environments.

https://xkcd.com/radiation/

Kids can’t reliably tell you the fit of their shoes, and some footwear doesn’t yield to the “thumb-at-toe” test.

(1) https://spectrum.ieee.org/amp/when-xrays-were-all-the-rage-a...

> [A patent radioactive medicine]’s most loyal customer was Eben Byers, well known in Pittsburgh society as a wealthy manufacturer, sportsman, and playboy, approaching fifty years of age. Byers continued to take Radithor more desperately each year as his health failed, until in 1931 he entered a hospital, feeble and emaciated, his very breath radioactive. He did not have time to develop cancer but died of direct radiation injury within a few months.

> This was the first proven case of death from a patent radioactive medicine ... The public was not easily convinced that radioactivity could be dangerous at all [...] Doctors of sound reputation continued to use heavy doses of radiation to treat not only serious ailments but also cosmetic problems like warts or excess facial hair. Some even offered men temporary birth control through X-ray sterilization. As late as 1940 many hospital and laboratory workers were casually exposing themselves to radiation at levels far above the official guidelines.

[...]

> During the 1950s X-rays were often used to kill unwanted body hair, thousands of fluoroscopes in shoe Stores across the United States and Europe showed people the bones in their children’s feet; some hospitals routinely X-rayed infants simply to please parents with an inside view of their offspring.

From "Nuclear Fear; a history of images"

That's the difference. Bloodletting seems barbarous because it definitely didn't cure most things it was used for.

It's a complicated subject, and nobody begrudges them the clarity.

Not a new name, but Czechia has made a concerted effort since 2016 to have it used in place of the Czech Republic. Almost all international body and most media style guides have since acceded. The BBC lags.

> To be fair, I don't think this is partisan, but rather just a way to differentiate the state from the island.

No, like the British Isles, this is very much a controversial name and one to which the Irish Government formally objects. This is even the source of a diplomatic disagreement between the Irish Government and Wikipedia due to their style guide.

> why single it out?

Because the country of Czechia has asked the English-speaking world to refer to it that way.

> there are two irelands, fyi

There is Ireland, the island of Ireland, and Northern Ireland. Republic of Ireland refers to the soccer team and nothing else, FYI.

The country of Ireland has also requested that the English speaking world use its name, Ireland and specifically not the Republic of Ireland.

> no one can type that u on a keyboard without googling and copypasting it. you might as well insist on using hieroglyphs for CJK things

Ah, so we'll just decide to rename countries with inconvenient letters. How very colonial of you.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ü#Letter_Ü

> The letter Ü is present in the Hungarian, Turkish, Uyghur Latin, Estonian, Azeri, Turkmen, Crimean Tatar, Kazakh Latin and Tatar Latin alphabets

I see and generally agree with your point, however that "no one" is approx. 120 million people. Just saying.

Still, people need to respect the fact that each language can create their own variants. English speakers are under no obligation to call Wales "Cymru" or Finland "Suomi". It's fine.

This isn't specific to the British! ROI and NI refer to different countries on the island of Ireland.

I'm curious why you state "mostly for bad reasons"? (I assume you are American!)