One Lump of Stupid or Two?

Posted on January 27, 2023 by tengrain

The mentally ill, or the French

Good work, AP Styleguide.

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2 Responses to One Lump of Stupid or Two?

  1. lofgren says:
    January 27, 2023 at 8:21 am

    Makes sense to me. I have occasionally used the phrase “the Jews” when talking about historic communities of Jewish people (“The Jews in Antwerp at the time…”). It made sense to use it in context, and I meant no offense by it, and nobody claimed offense from it, but it still felt wrong. Like even though I was using it in a categorically different way, it still felt like I was only a half-step from the common conspiracist’s cry of “DAH JOOOOOOOZ!”

    I think “the _____” is a construction that is passing away in English overall. “The French” is one of the few examples where it doesn’t immediately imply negative views of the target, and there only because many English speakers respect the French more than the English. AP is just a little ahead of the trend.

    Liked by 1 person

  2. sos says:
    January 27, 2023 at 9:42 am

    How about “The confused …”? Like, me, for instance.

    Liked by 2 people

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