LONDON -- Prime Minister David Cameron says he will refer to the militants who want to create an Islamic caliphate as "Daesh" instead of the terms "Islamic State," "ISIS," or "Isil" that are commonly used in English-speaking media.
Cameron made the announcement as he kicked off 10 hours of debate in the House of Commons over whether the UK should begin airstrikes against Islamic State (ISIS) targets in Syria.
The term "Daesh" is based on the Arabic acronym of "al-Dawla al-Islamiya fil Iraq wa’al Sham." It translates to "Islamic State of Iraq and Sham (Syria)" but has a negative connotation -- it's close to "Dahes" or "one who sows discord."
It's currently in use by the French and Turkish governments, and across the Middle East.
"I think it’s time to join our key ally France, the Arab league and other members of the international community in using as frequently as possible the terminology Daesh rather than Isil because frankly this evil death cult is neither a true representation of Islam nor is it a state," Cameron said in the Commons on Wednesday.
PM: This evil death cult is neither a true representation of Islam nor a State.— UK Prime Minister (@Number10gov) December 2, 2015
The terms ISIS and ISIL are based on "Islamic State in Iraq and al-Sham" and "Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant." The inconsistency across media comes from the translation of "al-Sham," which can be translated as "the Levant," "Greater Syria," "Syria" or even "Damascus."
A cross-party group of MPs over the summer had asked the BBC to stop using "Islamic State" and start using "Daesh" to describe the group, but Director General Tony Hall said that the term isn't impartial because it's used pejoratively by the group's enemies, the Guardian reported in July. Mashable uses "Islamic State" and "ISIS" to refer to the group.
After Cameron's remarks on terminology, Conservative MP Rehman Chisti welcomed the shift and called for the BBC to change its "bizarre" policy on using Daesh. Cameron agreed with him.
"I agree with my honourable friend and I’ve already corresponded to the BBC about their use of IS, Islamic State, which I think is even worse, frankly, than either saying so-called IS or indeed Isil, but Daesh is clearly an improvement and I think it is important we all try and use this language," he said.
Mashable has reached out to Downing Street for comment.
Watch highlights of the debate:
[video id=R4cHU5eTq0lQVrHdCWD33l5dH0aK5Hhh]