Re: Voices
| From: | Fabian <rhialto@...> |
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| Date: | Saturday, July 3, 1999, 6:56 |
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> This leads me to the odd asymmetry of "English" and "French" in
English.
> The nouns are unambiguously the languages, but the adjectives
> are used quite differently.
>
> I have no trouble using "French" to refer to any francophone, but
> "English" refers only to people or things from England. (Loosely,
> it may be extended to things related to the U.K. as a whole, too.)
Quite apart from the Quebecois and the Tahitians, calling someone from
North Wales "English" is literally asking for a fight. Even most
non-ENglish people in England dislike being called "English".
Please, remember, we're British.
---
Fabian
In this country, but not of this country.