# the variation of forms for national names used as adjectives **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 23, 2018, 4:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304 "2018-01-23T16:22:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![UDS](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/ecae2f/32.png) [@UDS](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/UDS)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/21 "2018-01-24T06:10:08Z")
> [@jtur88](#): > > All words denoting national place of origin are borderline slurs or can be seen as such, because of the presumption that you wouldn’t be talking about them unless you intended to be demeaning. American? ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 6:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/22 "2018-01-24T06:39:04Z")
As Aspidistra notes, there’s even more historic variation once you get to places within a country or language group, for all sorts of historic reasons (and that’s before you get into nicknames, as in this country Geordies/Mackems/Scousers and so on). In France it’s a standard practice for reference guides to give you the collective noun for residents of a place, as a matter of course, such are the potential variations. ---
**Author:** ![Atamasama](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/atamasama/32/12961_2.png) [@Atamasama](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Atamasama)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 6:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/23 "2018-01-24T06:56:46Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > The Netherlands –\> Dutch. Netherlanders? (and the “Dutchess” of York, what’s up with that?) Don’t forget Holland! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lamoral](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lamoral/32/16078_2.png) [@Lamoral](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamoral)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/24 "2018-01-24T07:16:37Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Things get even more fun when you zero in on cities rather than countries. > > People from London are Londoners > People from Glasgow are Glaswegians And people from Halifax, Nova Scotia, are called Haligonians for some insane reason. Halifaxian would be more logical, wouldn’t it? ---
**Author:** ![Aspidistra](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspidistra/32/3894_2.png) [@Aspidistra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspidistra)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 7:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/25 "2018-01-24T07:37:21Z")
Could be worse - someone could have saddled them with Halitosian… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 2:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/26 "2018-01-24T14:33:23Z")
> [@Mr\_Downtown](#): > > One that always catches me short is Myanmar. I always want to say _Myanmari_. Natives (at least the one I know) just say “Myanmar people.” I see some sources which say a person from Myanmar is a Myanma. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/27 "2018-01-24T15:21:43Z")
And what about people from Guam? “Hell, I don’t even know what to call 'em. The Guamish? Guammi Bears? Guambats?” (thanks to **The Critic** ) ---
**Author:** ![Sunspace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunspace/32/1250_2.png) [@Sunspace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunspace)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 4:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/28 "2018-01-24T16:57:11Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > Things get even more fun when you zero in on cities rather than countries. > > People from London are Londoners > People from Glasgow are Glaswegians > People from Liverpool are Liverpudlians > People from Birmingham are Brummies > People from Aberdeen are Aberdonians > People from Newcastle are Novocastrians > > I never did figure out what people from Edinburgh are, even when I lived there. With many of these, I suspect that Latin might be involved somehow. Or alcohol. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/29 "2018-01-24T21:03:21Z")
> [@Max\_Torque](#): > > And what about people from Guam? “Hell, I don’t even know what to call 'em. The Guamish? Guammi Bears? Guambats?” > > (thanks to **The Critic** ) Guam Drops. Oh, wait, that is their baseball team. 😃 Guamanians. ---
**Author:** ![Lemur866](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lemur866/32/434_2.png) [@Lemur866](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lemur866)\ **Post date:** [January 24, 2018, 11:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/30 "2018-01-24T23:05:10Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > I see some sources which say a person from Myanmar is a Myanma. Surely this should be Myanmarman. As far as ethnic slurs go, I believe our own AK84 from Pakistan who was confused about the idea that “paki” was supposed to be a slur. It’s only a slur in the UK, not in Pakistan. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 2:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/31 "2018-01-25T14:10:31Z")
I have some students from Hong Kong and I’m never sure what to call them. There’s a term, “Honkers”, but it seems more like a nickname. So far I’ve avoided having to use a label, but it’s taken a lot of mental gymnastics. (Hmmm. Looks like there’s no melodious word. “Hong Kongers” is correct, but awkward. I’ve also never heard them use it…) ---
**Author:** ![constanze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/f9ae1b/32.png) [@constanze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/constanze)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 2:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/32 "2018-01-25T14:40:52Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I have some students from Hong Kong and I’m never sure what to call them. There’s a term, “Honkers”, but it seems more like a nickname. The German comedian Otto Waalkes produced a Comic Strip about his Special elefants (Ottifants). The small kid is playing in the crib, and gets a new Teddy bear. He asks “What’s your Name?”, but the bear doesn’t answer, so he Looks at the Label at the back - “Made in Hong Kong” and says “Is it okay if I call you Honk?” (Silence taken for Agreement). ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Torque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/e9bcb4/32.png) [@Max\_Torque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Torque)\ **Post date:** [January 25, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/33 "2018-01-25T14:50:08Z")
> [@digs](#): > > I have some students from Hong Kong and I’m never sure what to call them. There’s a term, “Honkers”, but it seems more like a nickname. So far I’ve avoided having to use a label, but it’s taken a lot of mental gymnastics. > > (Hmmm. Looks like there’s no melodious word. “Hong Kongers” is correct, but awkward. I’ve also never heard them use it…) I vote for Kong Kings. Are they a bunch of little gorillas? ---
**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/34 "2018-01-26T01:38:03Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > How come the Mexicans keep referring to us as Los Estados Unidos? That’s an interesting question. Also Les Etats-Unis in French and Die Vereinigten Staaten in German. I claim that the reason is that “United States” is not a name but a description and the nation has no name. Well, United States of America has become the name obviously, but it really started out as a description. ---
**Author:** ![Telperion](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/telperion/32/509_2.png) [@Telperion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Telperion)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 2:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/35 "2018-01-26T02:56:41Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > That’s an interesting question. Also Les Etats-Unis in French and Die Vereinigten Staaten in German. I claim that the reason is that “United States” is not a name but a description and the nation has no name. Well, United States of America has become the name obviously, but it really started out as a description. And not a very unique one, at that. There was even a United States of Venezuela at one point. ---
**Author:** ![dtilque](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/d6d6ee/32.png) [@dtilque](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dtilque)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 3:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/36 "2018-01-26T03:29:06Z")
> [@Aspidistra](#): > > People from Liverpool are Liverpudlians People from Liverpool are also called Scousers. People from Newcastle upon Tyne are Geordies. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 3:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/37 "2018-01-26T03:46:24Z")
> [@Telperion](#): > > And not a very unique one, at that. There was even a United States of Venezuela at one point. And Mexico and Brazil. ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 4:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/38 "2018-01-26T04:39:44Z")
> [@Hari\_Seldon](#): > > That’s an interesting question. Also Les Etats-Unis in French and Die Vereinigten Staaten in German. I claim that the reason is that “United States” is not a name but a description and the nation has no name. Well, United States of America has become the name obviously, but it really started out as a description. So did the Netherlands and Iceland. Do these nations have no names? ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2018, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304/39 "2018-01-26T16:18:24Z")
The common name of the nation whose formal name is the United States of X is X. That’s why the proper common name of the United States of America is America. A remarkable number of people like to maintain that America can’t be the name of the country because America is also used as a general name for other locales. They aren’t just wrong, they give pedants a bad name. Yes, worse than “pedants.” [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/the-variation-of-forms-for-national-names-used-as-adjectives/807304.md?page=1)