@SnotFlickerman@lemmy.blahaj.zone
Post #68480
2025-12-16 07:33 UTC
yeah needs to match on both sides either “the americans and the chinese” or “americans and chinese” not this weird othering mix.
Replies (1)
-
@idiomaddict@lemmy.world 2025-12-16 13:36
To be fair, they’re not entirely equivalent. I wouldn’t bristle at all at being called “an American,” but I would never call someone “a Chinese.” In the plural form with a definite article, it doesn’t feel as bad, but I’d probably prefer to say “Chinese people,” whereas “American people” feels a little clunky, though it’s probably the best option if you want to keep both terms the same. I don’t think this is necessarily a racist thing though, because I’d probably tend to say “the English/ french/ spanish” and “Guatemalans/ Nigerians/ Tibetans.” Demonyms are definitely a weird area of language that feels biased when you see a direct comparison though.