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WinoWithAKnife t1_j63bckb wrote

Reply to comment by froggison in AP Stylebook includes 'The French' in list of 'general and often dehumanizing 'the' labels. by wewhomustnotbenamed

It's not just nationalities, it's other descriptors like that as well. In their post (which as far as I know was just a post of an excerpt from their guide, not a change), they also explicitly called out, ironically given your last sentence, 'the poor'.

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Coelacanth3 t1_j63cvyq wrote

It kind of makes sense tbh, "the" descriptors for nationalities aren't super offensive or anything but they do come across as slightly disrespectul and there are better ways of phrasing it, same for "the poor".

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OutOfStamina t1_j641u58 wrote

I find it an indicator of someone's other ideas. if they say "republicans" but also say "the democrats", they really give away their hand on many positions without even knowing it. Maybe it's a dogwhistle and I'm supposed to pick up on that... but I think most don't know they do it, just part of their programming.

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chucklesbro t1_j65hgu7 wrote

Not programming, useful. What should I say when I want to make a statement about all french people collectively? For example, The French pay higher income taxes than The Germans (I have no idea if this is true). That is not offensive. And, it does not mean precisely the same thing as saying French tax rates are higher than German tax rates.

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TenzenEnna t1_j661ula wrote

"France has a higher income tax than Germany"

Doesn't seem that hard IMO.

You could say "Your average French citizen will pay a higher income tax than their German counterpart" if you wanted to fancy it up.

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Also same claim as above, No idea if that's true, just showing sentences.

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OutOfStamina t1_j6e18qe wrote

>What should I say when I want to make a statement about all french people collectively?

In your question you literally just did it without saying the more dehumanizing "the French". So... "French people" by your own example. "All french people"... "Some french people"... just a few ways to not use "the".

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omni42 t1_j65ij2i wrote

It's a pretty solid sign they don't see that group as people, they see them as a block of other. It's not that it's rude, but what follows it probably will be.

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froggison t1_j63cs2n wrote

Yep, thanks for clarifying my comment! I just meant that "the French" part was referring to nationalities. But, yes, the sentiment was to avoid using "The [x]" and instead write something like "[x] people."

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RoyChavelle t1_j63kv2e wrote

They were saying it was ironic because in your last sentence you said “the poor” in the same sentence as the term French people. Just a silly - pretty good silly Wino

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featherfooted t1_j64w5jj wrote

It's a series of adjectives though?

"the poor, downtrodden French people"

That's not "the poor & the French"

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RoyChavelle t1_j65fpbb wrote

They’re just saying it’s funny that the two words ended up being together, not that the person is wrong, it’s what could be best described as a “dad joke”.

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Prince_Day t1_j6548ak wrote

‘The’ in that sentence refers to ‘people’.

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