when "srbski dnevnik" from novi sad published an article saying that "croatians write in serbian", starčević wrote a fierce reply: "(...) instead of claiming that the croats use anything else but the croatian language, those writers who consider themselves serbs (or whatever they like) would do well to write in the educated and pure croatian language, like some of them are already doing, and they can call their language coptic for all i care. (...)" he published the reply as an unsigned article in "narodne novine", the newspaper of ljudevit gaj, so the serbian side attacked gaj, wrongly attributing the article to him. starčević subsequently proclaimed he was the author, but gaj, who cared to maintain good relations with serbia, distanced himself from his friend.