4 ms·
There’s just no valid reason for anyone to be offended by that, come on. Are you offended when people call it “the USA” or “the UK”?
by rzz3 5y ago
There’s just no valid reason for anyone to be offended by that, come on. Are you offended when people call it “the USA” or “the UK”?
- dghughes 5y agoIt's accurate it's an old Soviet mind game to put Ukrainians in their place. It's the same for Kyiv, in Russian it's Kiev. It's not the same as "The X country" there's a deeper history to it. In Ukraine their language doesn't even have the equivalent of "the".
- rzz3 5y agoDeeper history aside, obviously no one has any negative intention in saying it in their comments. Everyone knows what they mean. It’s flatly unhelpful to go around constantly correcting people.
- UncleMeat 5y agoNobody said there was a negative intention. Instead, somebody asked somebody else to edit a post. "Hey, I didn't know that bothered people. I'll change it." That's an easy response that makes the world a better place in a small way.
- dash2 5y agoRussian doesn’t have the definite article either, right? So it can’t be a Soviet mind game. In fact “the Ukraine” was common throughout the 19th century (check ngrams.google.com). I intend to continue saying “Kiev”. I also pronounce the S in Paris. I don’t like the trend that a country’s rulers are allowed to tell us all how to pronounce/spell its name. Slava Ukraini!
- CamelRocketFish 5y agoThey refer to larger groups. You wouldn’t say The America, or The England. It’s the same here.
- UncleMeat 5y agoHumans aren't machines that treat all things the same way. Context is real and matters.