Why the jihadist group which controls large swathes of territory in Syria and Iraq is sometimes referred to by different names by English-speaking governments and media.
Source: Isis, Isil, IS or Daesh? One group, many names
tl;dr:
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Daesh is essentially an Arabic acronym formed from the initial letters of the group’s previous name in Arabic – “al-Dawla al-Islamiya fil Iraq wa al-Sham”. Although it does not mean anything as a word in Arabic, it sounds unpleasant and the group’s supporters object to its use.
Daesh also sounds similar to an Arabic verb that means to tread underfoot, trample down, or crush something.
