I have long been uncomfortable when Croatia is called a banana republic. That is, a politically unstable country that depends on the export of a single resource, such as a fruit or mineral, and is divided into a ruling plutocracy and impoverished masses. Tourism is the sole “export” and kleptocracy is surely rampant in Croatia. Banana is a fruit I quite like, though. Thus I have tried to come up with some other fruit, like lemon, but Croatia does not deserve to be called even a lemon republic (“The Right Fruit,” December 15, 2004). The problem resurfaced this morning as I was browsing through Croatian newspapers over the morning coffee with my beloved. How to call this republic that is the very opposite of res publica or commonwealth of old? And then I realized that the proper name for the republic of Croatia is the word “republic” in reverse order. Luckily, “cilbuper” sounds perfectly plausible as a word. So, from now on, Croatia is the cilbuper republic. And every Croatian will understand what the phrase stands for without any trouble.