Re: CHAT: geographical nomenclature [was Re: Language of Tetril]

Thomas R. Wier:

>> Relatedly, on the US Census returns, I've always wondered what
>> motivated people to put "American" for their ancestry. (Certainly
>> some people just don't know;  but isn't there a "don't know"
>> box?)
Padraic Brown:

> Many probably know. I'd bet a number of them are No-Damned-Hyphen-
> Americans. I.e., Americans that know their family came from
> elsewhere
> but feel it's silly to hyphenate "-American" with every damned place
> in the world.
All of my French, English, Irish, Scots, and Spanish ancestors that I
know
about were in the Americas before 1850 (and the Cherokee side of the
family for considerably longer).  Those peoples don't figure into my
cultural identity:  I'm a Texan, an American, and a Southerner.  When
asked for ancestry or "race", I'm most likely to decline to answer.

-Tone

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