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What does Daesh mean? ISIS 'threatens to cut out the tongues' of anyone using this word

Google searches for the term have leapt as world leaders begin to use the term in place of ISIS - but what does it mean, and why does Islamic State hate the word so much?

What does DAESH mean?

World leaders and the media are increasingly using the term 'Daesh' in place of the more commonly used 'ISIS', 'ISIL' or 'IS' - and there's a reason why.

Daesh is an acronym for the Arabic phrase al-Dawla al-Islamiya al-Iraq al-Sham (Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant).

Essentially, it's another word for ISIS - but apparently it's one that ISIS militants do not favour.

This image of RAF Typhoons dripping a bomb referred to 'Daesh'(Youtube/ Ministry of Defence)

Why? Because it is similar to the Arabic words 'Daes', 'one who crushes something underfoot' and 'Dahes', translated as 'one who sows discord'.

In January 2015, then Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott announced that he would begin referring to the Islamic State group by this name, saying: "Daesh hates being referred to by this term, and what they don't like has an instinctive appeal to me."

Other world leaders followed suit, including French president Francois Hollande and the USA's secretary of state John Kerry.

According to NBC, ISIS has reportedly threatened to 'cut out the tongues' of anyone it hears using the term.

Evan Kohlmann, a national security analyst, told NBC: "It's a derogatory term and not something people should use even if you dislike them."