# What's a person from Switzerland called? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 23, 2006, 8:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845 "2006-06-23T08:46:33Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![tim314](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tim314/32/3468_2.png) [@tim314](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tim314)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/41 "2006-06-23T20:19:37Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] An Englishman and a Chinaman, respectively. [/QUOTE] I would have said “a Brit” and “a Chinese”. And yes, I realize Britain and England aren’t the same thing, but if he’s not from England I’d call him a Scot or a Welshman, as appropriate. God only knows what I’d do if I ever met a _woman_ from Wales. (“Welshwoman”?) So far, it hasn’t come up. ---
**Author:** ![Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/troy_mcclure_sf/32/4150_2.png) [@Troy\_McClure\_SF](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Troy_McClure_SF)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 9:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/42 "2006-06-23T21:00:35Z")
[QUOTE=Captain Amazing] I don’t know who Walter Sobchak is, but what does he want me to call them? [/QUOTE] Please, “Asian-American.” ---
**Author:** ![Ender\_Will](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/eb9ed0/32.png) [@Ender\_Will](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ender_Will)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 11:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/43 "2006-06-23T23:48:29Z")
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] Please, “Asian-American.” [/QUOTE] This isn’t a guy who built the fucking railroads here! We’re talking about someone who came into your house… ---
**Author:** ![guizot](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guizot/32/3636_2.png) [@guizot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/guizot)\ **Post date:** [June 23, 2006, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/44 "2006-06-23T23:57:15Z")
[QUOTE=Spectre of Pithecanthropus] Lucky. It’s a beautiful country with relatively little ethnic unrest and few social ills, and being in central Europe you can reach a dozen interesting and different places with a couple of hours travel. Excellent railroads and, IIRC, all power is nonpolluting hydroelectric. [/QUOTE] I lived in Switzerland once. I walked to work through fields where the cows really did have bells. No, really, it’s true. I’m telling you, the cows there really wear bells. But my understanding is that during the Reformation, Switzerland was a pretty violent place. I guess they figured it out, eventually. So close to the Third Reich, so far from New Zealand. And they still guard the Pope, you know. ---
**Author:** ![scr4](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/59ef9b/32.png) [@scr4](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/scr4)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 12:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/45 "2006-06-24T00:16:47Z")
[QUOTE=Troy McClure SF] Please, “Asian-American.” [/QUOTE] People in China are Asian- **American**? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![tomndebb](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b9e5f3/32.png) [@tomndebb](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tomndebb)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2006, 6:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/46 "2006-06-24T06:16:16Z")
[QUOTE=scr4] People in China are Asian- **American**? 😕 [/QUOTE] You’ve lost sight of the movie references. ---
**Author:** ![Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7cd45c/32.png) [@Elendil\_s\_Heir](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Elendil_s_Heir)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/47 "2006-06-26T18:19:35Z")
The Dude abides. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 26, 2006, 7:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/48 "2006-06-26T19:21:37Z")
[QUOTE=UncleBeer] Curious. Hel·ve·tian - _adjective_ 1. Of or relating to Helvetia or the **Helvetii**. 2. Swiss. Hel·ve·tian - _noun_ 1.One of the Helvetii. 2.A Swiss. [From Latin Helvetius.] _Excerpted from The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Third Edition_ [/QUOTE] Um, does anyone still self-identify as “Helvetii”? Do they constitute any particularly large proportion of the Swiss population? You are aware that the “Helvetii” were a Celtic tribe around Roman times, right? That’s why “One of the Helvetii” and “A Swiss” are separate definitions. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 5:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/49 "2006-06-27T05:02:25Z")
[QUOTE=Excalibre] Um, does anyone still self-identify as “Helvetii”? Do they constitute any particularly large proportion of the Swiss population? You are aware that the “Helvetii” were a Celtic tribe around Roman times, right? That’s why “One of the Helvetii” and “A Swiss” are separate definitions. [/QUOTE] Except the official country code for Switzerland is CH, derived from the Latin phrase for ‘Helvetican Confederation’. It was chosen to avoid offending the French-, German-, or Italian-speaking Swiss. There is, therefore, precedent for using that term to refer to all of Switzerland and, by extension, all of Switzerland’s people. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 6:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/50 "2006-06-27T06:03:44Z")
[QUOTE=Derleth] Except the official country code for Switzerland is CH, derived from the Latin phrase for ‘Helvetican Confederation’. It was chosen to avoid offending the French-, German-, or Italian-speaking Swiss. There is, therefore, precedent for using that term to refer to all of Switzerland and, by extension, all of Switzerland’s people. [/QUOTE] 😕 I’m quite aware of that. I’m simply trying to figure out why **UncleBeer** claimed that “Helvetii” is correct and “Helvetians” incorrect, given that the former appears _only_ to be in use to describe a particular Celtic tribe, while “Helvetian” - according to my dictionary - can refer to either one of the Helvetii _or_ to a Swiss person. Read through **Arnold** and **UncleBeer** ’s posts - the topic of discussion was particularly whether “Helvetii” is the proper plural for “Helvetian”, which it’s not - “Helvetian” can apply to either the Helvetii or the modern Swiss, and “Helvetii” certainly isn’t the historical plural, simply judging on purely morphological grounds. Can you think of any other English word with a singular in -tian and a plural in -tii? “Helvetian” and “Helvetii” are certainly closely related words, but they are clearly distinct words, which is what I was trying to communicate to **UncleBeer**. ---
**Author:** ![Derleth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9e5f3/32.png) [@Derleth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Derleth)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2006, 6:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/51 "2006-06-27T06:10:23Z")
Ah, okay. ---
**Author:** ![A.I.Wintermute](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/7bcc69/32.png) [@A.I.Wintermute](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/A.I.Wintermute)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2006, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845/52 "2006-07-07T16:30:26Z")
I apologize for the bump, but the thread is only a couple of weeks old. Seeing as it made it to the second page without any actual cites for “a Swiss” as the correct term, I’d like to toss in this example I came across today in a [Reuters article](http://sports.yahoo.com/ten/news;_ylt=Ah.1bXFcrJw7fI3AZ8VYj804v7YF?slug=reu-wimbledonfederer_picture&prov=reuters&type=lgns). > [@](#): > > Federer mesmerised him and the crowd after that and his ripped, dipping top-spun forehand was **the Swiss’s** preferred shot of the day. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-a-person-from-switzerland-called/361845.md?page=2)