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#113750 - 10/16/03 06:25 AM Re: The Gender of Nations
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Pooh-Bah
Registered: 01/05/01
Posts: 1814
Loc: Spam Factory When speaking of France or Italy I would use the pronoun "it."
cathleen has been used in ireland as a 'code word' for ireland. (when english laws made it a crime to express patriotism, love songs sung to 'cathleen' were patriot songs...)
That's very interesting. Thank!
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#113751 - 10/16/03 07:07 AM Re: The Gender of Nations
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Carpal Tunnel
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Registered: 07/20/03
Posts: 3230
Loc: Te Ika a Maui >When speaking of France or Italy I would use the pronoun "it."
I use "it" of most countries, including NZ. I use "she" of the UK, because of Britannia, and occasionally use "she" of China, but normally, I don't assign a specific sex, or gender for that matter, to countries.
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#113752 - 10/16/03 07:11 AM Re: The Gender of Nations
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Carpal Tunnel
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Registered: 10/17/00
Posts: 5400
Loc: rego park Re:Do you ever say "they" for the U.S.A.?
These or the "Life in these United States" or "Life in the US" (said U-S)._________________________
my other obsession
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#113753 - 10/18/03 01:42 AM Re: The Gender of Nations
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Pooh-Bah
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Registered: 06/28/02
Posts: 1624
Loc: Utter Placebo, Planet Reebok I think Max has got it about right. If you are referring to a symbol of a country - Britannia, for instance, for Britain, and perhaps Liberty for France, you would use the feminine gender and appropriate apronouns. But otherwise ... nada. They're it, so to speak.
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