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Introduction and Table of Contents



Were I but King of Anglophonia

Chinese Is Also an Adjective

A peculiar and offensive shorthand has crept into journalistic English lately: the use of the proper noun for a country as an adjective. Thus, you may hear some ditz on television refer to the "Japan government" or the "Pakistan army". You may even read that in an otherwise respectable newspaper. What is wrong with these people? Do they really not realize that those are proper nouns, the names of the countries, and not the adjectives? It's the Japanese government, the Pakistani army, and so on. Really, this isn't very hard to understand.

Queen Leonore's Addition

Note that they do seem to understand the distinction in the case of major European countries. One does not read or hear about "Germany industry," or "France cheese," or "Italy shoes."

Punishment

To make some allowances for the ditziness of ditzes, the King will permit those so-called journalists who commit this transgression for the first time to attend a short remedial English course instead of being punished. Repeat offenders, however, will be buried up to the neck for one month in broken china.



Introduction and Table of Contents

Main PageBusiness Secrets from the StarsEssaysNovels & Short StoriesAnother Chance at Life: A Breast Cancer Survivor's JourneyTell a friend about this pageE-mail