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- Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU
- Path: sparky!uunet!paladin.american.edu!auvm!RA.MSSTATE.EDU!MAYNOR
- Message-ID: <9301251129.AA21559@Ra.MsState.Edu>
- Newsgroups: bit.listserv.words-l
- Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1993 05:29:56 CST
- Sender: English Language Discussion Group <WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu>
- From: Natalie Maynor <maynor@RA.MSSTATE.EDU>
- Subject: Re: Asians
- Comments: To: WORDS-L@uga.cc.uga.edu
- Lines: 14
-
- > This is a near-perfect mapping of usage (minus the Greek business). But
- > why is what to call Indians a problem? You call them Indians. Pakistanis
- > and Afghanis et al. are called by their names. So what if "Middle Easterners"
- > or "Asians" excludes them? Linguistic illogic.
-
- Because most nationalities can be placed within larger categories. E.g.,
- Torkel is a Swede. Torkel is a Scandinavian. Torkel is a European. People
- often look for a term to link several countries of geographic proximity.
- Remember our discussions of the problem of what to call the inhabitants of
- those islands in the North Sea and the heated responses from Ireland saying
- that there is no need for such a term since Ireland is not related to the
- other countries on those islands? I still contend that it *is* related and
- that a word to include the Irish and the UKers is sometimes needed.
- --Natalie (maynor@ra.msstate.edu)
-