In news which will make no one feel sympathetic, the Isis militant group are reportedly peeved that the French government has started to refer to them as 'Daesh'.

The group, usually referred to as Isis or Isil (and calling themselves the Islamic State) believes the new name to be derogatory, according to the Associated Press.

Daesh, which, as the Washington Post points out, is an adapted acronym of their Arabic name - Dawlat al-Islamiyah f'al-Iraq w Belaad al-Sham - is similar to another Arabic word - das - which means 'to trample down' or 'crush', and could therefore be the source of their dislike.

The group hates it so much, in fact, that they have threatened to cut out the tongues of anyone who uses it in public.

I do not recommend using the term Islamic State because it blurs the lines between Islam, Muslims and Islamists. The Arabs call it ‘Daesh,’ and I will be calling them the ‘Daesh cutthroats.'