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Page 2 of 2 < 1 2 Topic Options #113750 - 10/16/03 06:25 AM Re: The Gender of Nations Alex Williams 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! Top #113751 - 10/16/03 07:07 AM Re: The Gender of Nations sjmaxq Carpal Tunnel 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. _________________________ noho ora mai http://maxqnzs.com/References.html Top #113752 - 10/16/03 07:11 AM Re: The Gender of Nations of troy Carpal Tunnel 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 Top #113753 - 10/18/03 01:42 AM Re: The Gender of Nations Capfka Pooh-Bah 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. Top Page 2 of 2 < 1 2 Previous Topic Index Next Topic Preview Hop to: General Topics ------   Information and announcements   Q&A about words   Wordplay and fun   Words and languages in schools   Miscellany   Weekly Themes   Looking for (writers, speakers, ...) (Old) Weekly themes. (have been consolidated into a single forum above) ------   Words from medicine   Beheading words   Meta-words   Words from classical mythology   Animal Safari   Words with unusual etymologies   Eponyms or words derived from people's names.   Loanwords from German   English as a global language Moderator:  Jackie  Print Topic Switch to Threaded Mode View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM View homepage Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM View homepage Add to your Watched Users View posts View profile Send a PM Add to your Watched Users View posts Forum Stats 8426 Members 16 Forums 13687 Topics 209797 Posts Max Online: 3341 @ 12/09/11 02:15 PM Newest Members sylviasuper, continent2, a2teacher, teepee, smoothcriminal86 8426 Registered Users Who's Online 1 registered (mongoose), 27 Guests and 1 Spider online. Key: Admin, Global Mod, Mod Top Posters (30 Days) LukeJavan8 87 jenny jenny 57 wofahulicodoc 56 endymion6 49 Rhubarb Commando 37 BranShea 33 Buffalo Shrdlu 15 Faldage 14 zmjezhd 13 tsuwm 11 May Su M Tu W Th F Sa 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31

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