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Off-topic: Is that question well written? I'm not English native but it kind of sounds wrong. Shouldn't it be: -What did the Anglo-Saxons think they were? -W

Off-topic: Is that question well written? I'm not English native but it kind of sounds wrong. Shouldn't it be: -What did the Anglo-Saxons think they were? -Who thought the Anglo-Saxons they were? -...?

mewse-hn 6y ago
It's correct, there's a common phrase in English "who do you think you are?" and this headline is just past tense plural.
stevula 6y ago
> Who thought the Anglo-Saxons they were? This doesn’t sound correct to me as a native speaker.
- Talanes 6y ago
  Seconded, that doesn't quite parse as meaning anything.
  - getlawgdon 6y ago
    What?
    - chrisseaton 6y ago
      > Who thought the Anglo-Saxons they were? They mean this sentence is unintelligible.
- bregma 6y ago
  Maybe it's meant to be "Who thought they were the Anglo-Saxons?"?
thaumasiotes 6y ago
> -What did the Anglo-Saxons think they were? > -Who thought the Anglo-Saxons they were? These two questions are syntactically identical; one just uses the question word for non-people while the other uses the question word for people. In both cases, subject-auxiliary inversion is required, and in both cases, think is not an auxiliary verb and therefore requires do-support. So your what-question is correct and your who-question is wrong. What is the difference you see?
AndrewDucker 6y ago
You wouldn't tend to use "what" about a person, because it would be rude. It would be indicating that they were objects, rather than people. And your second one doesn't parse to me. Another way of phrasing the headline would be "What kind of people did the Anglo-Saxons think they were?"
- bdsa 6y ago
  A related thing that I hear a lot and find annoying is when people say "the person that..." rather than "the person who..."
bregma 6y ago
The question is not asking what the Anglo-Saxons were, since they were a people. The question is asking which people they perceived themselves as, for which the correct interrogative pronoun is "who". The question is well written, although it could also be phrased as "How did the Anglo-Saxons see themselves as a people?". That phrasing, however, lacks the poetry and idiomatic reference (see sibling comment) of the original.
smcl 6y ago
There’s an idiom “Who do you think you are?” which is used when someone is doing something they shouldn’t or acting above their position or something like that. It’s also the name of a BBC TV show about genealogy. The headline is probably a play on that

mewse-hn 6y ago

It's correct, there's a common phrase in English "who do you think you are?" and this headline is just past tense plural.

stevula 6y ago

> Who thought the Anglo-Saxons they were? This doesn’t sound correct to me as a native speaker.

Talanes 6y ago
Seconded, that doesn't quite parse as meaning anything.
- getlawgdon 6y ago
  What?
  - chrisseaton 6y ago
    > Who thought the Anglo-Saxons they were? They mean this sentence is unintelligible.
bregma 6y ago
Maybe it's meant to be "Who thought they were the Anglo-Saxons?"?

thaumasiotes 6y ago

> -What did the Anglo-Saxons think they were? > -Who thought the Anglo-Saxons they were? These two questions are syntactically identical; one just uses the question word for non-people while the other uses the question word for people. In both cases, subject-auxiliary inversion is required, and in both cases, think is not an auxiliary verb and therefore requires do-support. So your what-question is correct and your who-question is wrong. What is the difference you see?

AndrewDucker 6y ago

You wouldn't tend to use "what" about a person, because it would be rude. It would be indicating that they were objects, rather than people. And your second one doesn't parse to me. Another way of phrasing the headline would be "What kind of people did the Anglo-Saxons think they were?"

bdsa 6y ago
A related thing that I hear a lot and find annoying is when people say "the person that..." rather than "the person who..."

bregma 6y ago

The question is not asking what the Anglo-Saxons were, since they were a people. The question is asking which people they perceived themselves as, for which the correct interrogative pronoun is "who". The question is well written, although it could also be phrased as "How did the Anglo-Saxons see themselves as a people?". That phrasing, however, lacks the poetry and idiomatic reference (see sibling comment) of the original.

smcl 6y ago

There’s an idiom “Who do you think you are?” which is used when someone is doing something they shouldn’t or acting above their position or something like that. It’s also the name of a BBC TV show about genealogy. The headline is probably a play on that