5 ms·
I disapprove. It should be changed to match the adjective form of other countries or regions like Singapore/Singaporean, Mexico, Mexican.
by golemotron 4y ago
I disapprove. It should be changed to match the adjective form of other countries or regions like Singapore/Singaporean, Mexico, Mexican.
- Apocryphon 4y agoPerhaps it is fitting that the same rival people/nation that oppressed them suffer from the same ambiguity: Spanish vs. Spaniard.
- thaumasiotes 4y agoThere is zero ambiguity there. What were you trying to say?
- Apocryphon 4y agoAmbiguity about ambiguities, delicious.
- thaumasiotes 4y agoYou do not appear to know what the word "ambiguity" means.
- Apocryphon 4y agoWhich makes it even more amusing!
- speakfreely 4y agoI know everyone likes to hate on Europeans, but the Mexican government has a more substantial history of oppressing the Maya than the Spaniards.
- Apocryphon 4y agoAnd if the separatist movement had succeeded, we’d be talking about the Yucatán government, sure.
- EdwardDiego 4y agoUhh, you sure about that? Also, what did the Mexican government come from? Hint: the best kind of Mexican to be, used to be Peninsular. Also, if you want to deflect from the Spanish, try looking at Guatemala. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemalan_genocide https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guatemalan_genocide
- ss108 4y agoCould you use those in sentences to indicate where you think the ambiguity is?
- Apocryphon 4y agoWhile it is not incorrect to refer to the people as the Spanish, the proper demonym is Spaniard. But people often use the former to refer to the people/nationality anyway. It also frequently gets into further confusion with related identities such as Hispanic, Latino, etc.
- thaumasiotes 4y ago> While it is not incorrect to refer to the people as the Spanish, the proper demonym is Spaniard. But people often use the former to refer to the people/nationality anyway. Well, as you note, referring to the people of Spain in general as "the Spanish" is correct. This is an example of a fairly common construction in English: we equally refer to the French, the rich, the wealthy, the poor, the uneducated, the needy.... You appear to believe that referring to the people of Spain as "the Spaniards" would be even more correct, which suggests you're not a native speaker of English. That is not correct; if you say "the Spaniards", the only response you'll get will be "which Spaniards?", unless a particular set of Spaniards is suggested by context, in which case you'll be referring to them without including the rest of Spain.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- Apocryphon 4y agoI am willing to concede that I might be overthinking situations where "Spaniards" should be used instead of "the Spanish." Perhaps I was premature in citing a half-remembered verbal tic without having an actual example handy. But there is neither need to be presumptuous nor offensive, nor officious, in your attempts to grasp at my meaning. Amusingly enough, in the process of trying to find an erroneous misuse of the terms, and striving in vain, I stumbled upon this article, which is about the complexity of "Spanish" as a transatlantic identity, when it conflates Latin American hispanics with actual immigrant Spaniards: > The most common adaptation my interviewees reported to deal with the automatic association of Spain with Latin America was for them to disassociate from using the term Spanish as their primary identifier with Anglo-Americans. Rather as Susana, a 25-year-old ESL student, quite vividly noted they had to actively try to reinforce their geographic connection to Europe: > Susana: >“I’m not Spanish, I’m from Spain.” I always say that. In fact, I say “I’m from Es-pain” because I cannot say the [English] “s.” And they say “Olé” and laugh. https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/2332649218766388 https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/23326492187663... Though that, of course, is a different issue altogether! Edit: After having a think, I'd say that there have been instances where in actual conversation I've heard individual Spanish people referred to as "a Spanish" rather than "a Spaniard." Which, of course, is wrong. It does feel like the word Spaniard has a rather historical, almost literary, sheen, so you don't hear it used in everyday conversation often. And so colloquially speaking, people are more likely to default to incorrect uses of Spanish as a noun. But that might be a misconception I've picked up, I freely admit.
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- deleted 4y ago[deleted]
- tomjakubowski 4y agoNeither "Maya" nor "Mayan" (in this context) refers to any place name.