# Does it annoy you when people just say "Saudi" to refer to the country? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 14, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204 "2013-01-14T19:02:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/21 "2013-01-15T10:20:36Z")
I worked there for 4 years and all us expats called it Saudi, both for the country and the people. Said in a certain way, it is also a derogative word. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 10:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/22 "2013-01-15T10:56:47Z")
As already noted, it’s **not** like calling the USA “United” – it’s like calling it “The Unites States” (or even – horror of horrors!! – “The US”.) Saudi Arabia = the part of Arabia occupied by the Saud family USA = the part of America occupied by the United States. I don’t see the problem… (BTW, in Hebrew Saudi Arabia is routinely referred to either as, well, “Saudi Arabia” (_Arav HaSaudit_) or as “Saudia” – maybe you could start a grass roots movement for the name “Saudia” to take, as a short, descriptive and not-incorrect moniker :)) ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 12:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/23 "2013-01-15T12:21:07Z")
Guess how the same kinds of people refer to Addis Ababa? There is a little “too cool for school” factor when I hear it called just Saudi, though. But better Saudi than “KSA.” ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 12:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/24 "2013-01-15T12:57:55Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > There is a little “too cool for school” factor when I hear it called just Saudi, though. But better Saudi than “KSA.” You can say that again. ---
**Author:** ![Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/a587f6/32.png) [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freddy_the_Pig)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/25 "2013-01-15T16:28:37Z")
> [@Fact\_of\_the\_Matter](#): > > United States is a shortening of the United States of America, does that bother you as well? Do you always say “The United States of America”? > > Shortening of words and phrases is such a common human trait, I am not sure why it bothers you so much. 🙂 Shortening The United States of America into United States or US or USA doesn’t create the same problems, because none of those double as the name for a person who lives in the United States. Saudi doubles as the name for a person who lives in Saudi Arabia. The distinction is critical in news reporting. Consider two headlines: German Slams Iran on Nukes Germany Slams Iran on Nukes The first indicates that some individual German has spoken out, and presumably spoken only for himself or herself. The second indicates that whoever spoke or wrote was authorized to convey the views of the German government. “Saudi”, therefore, may be fine for expats and soldiers grumbling about their post, but it’s inappropriate for news reporting. It muddles the distinction between an individual and his or her nation. I sympathize with Twitter and headline writers who want something snappier than Saudi Arabia, but Saudi won’t cut it. Maybe Saudia would work if enough people used it. ---
**Author:** ![Sevencl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d9b06d/32.png) [@Sevencl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sevencl)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/26 "2013-01-15T16:31:10Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > “Saudi”, therefore, may be fine for expats and soldiers grumbling about their post, but it’s inappropriate for news reporting. It muddles the distinction between an individual and his or her nation. I sympathize with Twitter and headline writers who want something snappier than Saudi Arabia, but Saudi won’t cut it. Maybe Saudia would work if enough people used it. Should’ve thought of that before they named the country after a family, I guess! ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [January 15, 2013, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/27 "2013-01-15T16:40:33Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Maybe Saudia would work if enough people used it. 8 Million people is a good start, no? 🙂 Granted, they’re not in the US and mostly don’t speak English, but that seems like a mere detail – unless you’re being US-Centric? :rolleyes: 😛 😉 ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/28 "2013-01-16T14:20:03Z")
It annoys me and I can’t really put my finger on why. I think it is because I have only ever heard it from people that head over there on holiday. The way they come back from there, acting as if they are so familiar with the place and the culture there now that it is an intimate extension of their personal space. ---
**Author:** ![handsomeharry](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e9c0ed/32.png) [@handsomeharry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/handsomeharry)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 2:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/29 "2013-01-16T14:49:32Z")
> [@Blackberry](#): > > I don’t think I’ve heard that and I wouldn’t say it myself, but I wouldn’t care. Call it a hellhole, because that’s what it actually is for women. How can a nation such as that call itself civilized when it has gun control? Hellhole is right. Back to the OP, though. I have heard it used a zillion times as an adjective on the news “Saudi officials, today, stated that…” and as the nation, usu. by people who have been there. I, personally, don’t have a problem with it, but, I can see how it would grate. Also, comparing it to calling the United States “United” may serve, but, try thinking of calling the United States “the States”, as many people do, and it may help alleviate the situation. ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/30 "2013-01-16T15:15:07Z")
Do you get upset when people say “Ole Miss,” or “the T”, or “Mass Ave,” or “Jo-burg” or “KL,” or “Oz”, or “St. Pete”?\* - University of Mississippi, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, Massachusetts Avenue, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Australia, St. Petersburg. ---
**Author:** ![Sicks\_Ate](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/258eb7/32.png) [@Sicks\_Ate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sicks_Ate)\ **Post date:** [January 16, 2013, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/31 "2013-01-16T15:19:26Z")
> [@handsomeharry](#): > > Back to the OP, though. I have heard it used a zillion times as an adjective on the news “Saudi officials, today, stated that…” and as the nation, usu. by people who have been there. > > I, personally, don’t have a problem with it, but, I can see how it would grate. > > Also, comparing it to calling the United States “United” may serve, but, try thinking of calling the United States “the States”, as many people do, and it may help alleviate the situation. I don’t have a problem using ‘Saudi’ as an adjective, that’s appropriate. It’s using ‘Saudi’ as a noun referring to the nation itself as opposed to a resident of that nation that bothers me. Erm, kingdom. Whatever. ‘The States’ is a nickname. > [@CairoCarol](#): > > Do you get upset when people say “Ole Miss,” or “the T”, or “Mass Ave,” or “Jo-burg” or “KL,” or “Oz”, or “St. Pete”?\* > > - University of Mississippi, Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, Massachusetts Avenue, Johannesburg, Kuala Lumpur, Australia, St. Petersburg. Again, nicknames or regional affectations. Completely different. ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/32 "2013-01-22T12:12:35Z")
> [@Freddy\_the\_Pig](#): > > Shortening The United States of America into United States or US or USA doesn’t create the same problems, because none of those double as the name for a person who lives in the United States. Saudi doubles as the name for a person who lives in Saudi Arabia. > > The distinction is critical in news reporting. Consider two headlines: > > German Slams Iran on Nukes > Germany Slams Iran on Nukes > > The first indicates that some individual German has spoken out, and presumably spoken only for himself or herself. The second indicates that whoever spoke or wrote was authorized to convey the views of the German government. > > “Saudi”, therefore, may be fine for expats and soldiers grumbling about their post, but it’s inappropriate for news reporting. It muddles the distinction between an individual and his or her nation. I sympathize with Twitter and headline writers who want something snappier than Saudi Arabia, but Saudi won’t cut it. Maybe Saudia would work if enough people used it. I suppose you don’t know that the national airline is called Saudia. ---
**Author:** ![Ferret\_Herder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e47774/32.png) [@Ferret\_Herder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ferret_Herder)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/33 "2013-01-22T12:15:25Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > To be honest, I’ve never heard anyone use “Saudi” that way. Maybe I don’t read as much news as I think I do. If I read the headline you cited as your example, I would have assumed they meant a single Saudi person who made that criticism, not the country as a whole. Same here, except for the headline - I know papers always do weird things to the English language to create short-but-catchy headlines, so that wouldn’t strike me more than other quirks. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/34 "2013-01-22T12:16:10Z")
> [@Doggo](#): > > I suppose you don’t know that the national airline is called Saudia. Next time anyone says something about “American this, American that” I’ll ask them if they’re **sure** it wasn’t Delta (or South-West) 😛 IOW, one can only go so far in distinguishing entities that have the same or similar name 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Saraya](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b3f665/32.png) [@Saraya](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Saraya)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/35 "2013-01-22T12:50:03Z")
Nope, doesn’t even bother me when they just say ‘towels’ or a more derogative extended version. People are going to speak how people are going to speak. As long as I can understand it with context clues, I don’t have time or interest to correct them. We get this a lot with ‘Asians’ and ‘East Asians.’ Apparently middle easterners are Asian and if you do not make that distinction you’re behind the times, xenophobic or just lazy. Yes, “pass me the ranch” is fine. ---
**Author:** ![Noone\_Special](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/noone_special/32/2863_2.png) [@Noone\_Special](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Noone_Special)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 12:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/36 "2013-01-22T12:52:03Z")
> [@Saraya](#): > > We get this a lot with ‘Asians’ and ‘East Asians.’ > \*\*\*Apparently middle easterners are Asian \*\*\*and if you do not make that distinction you’re behind the times, xenophobic or just ignorant. Especially the Egyptians… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![RickJay](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/bb73d2/32.png) [@RickJay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickJay)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 6:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/37 "2013-01-22T18:03:48Z")
I realize it’s stupidly wrong, but it doesn’t annoy me. I’m curious as to what the country will end up being called if the House of Saud is deposed. Just Arabia, I guess. ---
**Author:** ![Acsenray](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/acsenray/32/4519_2.png) [@Acsenray](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Acsenray)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2013, 7:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/38 "2013-01-22T19:02:34Z")
> [@RickJay](#): > > I realize it’s stupidly wrong, but it doesn’t annoy me. > > I’m curious as to what the country will end up being called if the House of Saud is deposed. Just Arabia, I guess. Or Peninsular Arabia or South Arabia? “Arabia” by itself can mean all Arabic-speaking countries, so would stretch as far westward as Morocco. But generally speaking I would say that at the very least “Arabia” includes countries like Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. ---
**Author:** ![Doggo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/87869e/32.png) [@Doggo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doggo)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/39 "2013-01-25T04:16:00Z")
> [@Noone\_Special](#): > > Especially the Egyptians… 😃 Egyptians are on the African continent. Asia is the large land mass to the east ie Pakistan, India etc. ---
**Author:** ![Tamerlane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tamerlane/32/7602_2.png) [@Tamerlane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tamerlane)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2013, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204/40 "2013-01-25T05:02:15Z")
> [@Acsenray](#): > > “Arabia” by itself can mean all Arabic-speaking countries, so would stretch as far westward as Morocco. But generally speaking I would say that at the very least “Arabia” includes countries like Iraq, Syria, and Jordan. Typically Arabia is a geographic term that just refers to the peninsula - most every English-language dictionary will so define it. That’s distinct from the far more inclusive “Arab world.” Of course that still brings up the issue of what to call a non-Saudi Saudi Arabia. I imagine it would end up as some version of the ‘Republic of Arabia’ since there really are no other good preexisting appellations unless it fractured into several countries on traditional regional lines. Saudi Arabia is geographically a somewhat novel conquest state that encompasses several distinct named regions ( i.e. the Nejd, Hijaz, Hasa, etc. ). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-it-annoy-you-when-people-just-say-saudi-to-refer-to-the-country/647204.md?page=3)