Don't call people Scandinavians (split from Very Many Questions 32)

[FriendlyFire]

I call you people Ayrans
Problem SOLVED

 

[Takhisis]

They may call themselves Terrans, but they are not true Earthlings anymore!

Earthicans.

I call you people Ayrans

They're a yoğurt product?

 

[Broken_Erika]

Milky Waysians!

 

[Akka]

I'm still not sure it's not a parody. But then, he's usually on the very side which would be parodied here, so it's probably not. But it still look very very much like one.
God the Internet and Poe's Law, it makes for a very confusing situation.

 

[Lohrenswald]

What do you mean

 

[GoodSarmatian]

Of course, it's possible the Danes and Norwegians find it a better fit, since they tend to disregard the Finns. The Swedes otoh don't, and then Scandinavian won't fly.

I've decided that Scandinavia Won't Fly shall be the new Poland Can't Into Space.
All in favor ?

 

[FriendlyFire]

What do you mean

Belgium = Sideways Aryans
Austrians = Anchulss Aryans
Poland = Plumbing Aryans
Scandinavia = Ice Aryans
Swiss = Gold Aryans
Turkey = ummmm

Make German Greater again !

 

[Broken_Erika]

Turkaryans?

 

[Valka D'Ur]

But the entire family tree makes for an authentic Norse saga.

Sadly, I only have concrete knowledge dating back to my great-grandparents, in the form of a couple of photos that include my grandfather's mother (Grandad was a cute baby), and some photos and an old prayer book written in Swedish that my great-grandfather gave my great-grandmother before they were married (c. 1890s). I've also got a photo album full of pictures of people I don't have the foggiest clue who they are (other than the aforementioned great-grandparents - my grandmother's parents). Unfortunately, there's nobody left alive in this country who could have told me who anyone was (I didn't find the album until many years after my grandmother's death).

My grandfather's uncle had more knowledge of the family genealogy in Norway, but those records were lost decades ago. What's annoying is that the family name was anglicized when my grandfather immigrated to Canada. My dad had both versions of the name, but I only got the Canadian version. So over the years I've been contacted by numerous people who have the Canadian version (but who don't come from either Sweden or Norway), insisting that we must be long-lost relatives. I kept telling them that no, it's impossible that we're related since I know my family's history back to the late 1800s, and that version of the name isn't what my grandfather was born with.

If the term scandinavia was to be useful for anything, it would mean the three countries are in certain aspects the same, but different from the rest of the world, but this isn't the case

It's useful as a general geographical region, like "North America" is useful as shorthand for Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, plus (depending on the context) the Central American countries (in short, everything from Panama to the North Pole).

I dunno why you objected to something that was perfectly clear

If it had been "perfectly clear" this thread wouldn't exist. The other one wouldn't have been derailed into an argument that wouldn't have happened if you had just explained stuff like you finally did in this post.

I don't remember that being a question but it's a lot like that

So why didn't you just say so before?

Yea but it's pretty stupid to not specify the countries as distinct
there's only three of them

You have to understand that in the mosaic that is Canada, there have been census questions that ask which country/countries we have represented in our ancestry, and which language(s) are spoken in the home, which one(s) were the first ones, and which one(s) are still understood. In my grandparents' case, their first languages were Swedish (even my grandmother, who was born in Alberta; she didn't start learning English until she started school at age 6). My dad grew up with a mix of the two languages. By the time I came along my grandfather was of the view that he'd become a Canadian citizen and in Canada people spoke English. The only Swedish he ever allowed was in the letters and cards his sister sent (she stayed in Sweden). I finally persuaded him to teach me enough so I could read the cards and letters, too, as I wanted even this small connection to the great-aunt I would never get to meet. So for census purposes, my first language is English, and I learned French in school.

On my dad's side, then, my ancestry is both Swedish and Norwegian. On my mother's side (which I rarely bother thinking about), it's Irish and Scottish (plus one or two others, which I'm not sure about).

Do you see now why it's easier to use a "catch-all" term in some situations, rather than recite all of this?

 

[Akka]

What do you mean

That I was giving you too much credit it seems.

 

[Snerk]

I prefer the term Scandywegian.

 

[Cheetah]

Scandinavia is a geographical concept. The Nordics don't really use it to self-describe. Non-nordics do. It's annoying. That seems to be roughly it.

Of course, it's possible the Danes and Norwegians find it a better fit, since they tend to disregard the Finns. The Swedes otoh don't, and then Scandinavian won't fly.

Hm. I haven't actually considered the possibility that Swedes don't use Scandinavia much, cause of Finland... But then again, I'd say both "Skandinavia" and "Norden" is used pretty frequently when referring to our group of countries.

And to be fair, when non-nordics say Scandinavia, and referring to the peoples or cultures, they almost always actually mean the Nordics.

 

[Manfred Belheim]

Well... since there's still no reasoning been supplied by page 4, and since no other Scandinavians appear to have a problem being called Scandinavian, I shall continue to call Scandinavians Scandinavian. Maybe even more so from now on, just for fun. It's a nice word to say.

 

[Lohrenswald]

It's useful as a general geographical region, like "North America" is useful as shorthand for Canada, the U.S., and Mexico, plus (depending on the context) the Central American countries (in short, everything from Panama to the North Pole)

Wrong
North America is a continent, while Scandinavia are three random non-distinct countries

If it had been "perfectly clear" this thread wouldn't exist. The other one wouldn't have been derailed into an argument that wouldn't have happened if you had just explained stuff like you finally did in this post.

I didn't explain stuff any further, I just had to say the same things again and again, and being demanded to do that was stupid

So why didn't you just say so before?

It was implicitly clear

Do you see now why it's easier to use a "catch-all" term in some situations, rather than recite all of this?

Absolutely not. You have no need to recite all that. You could simply have said "I have Swedish, norwegian, irish and Scottish ancestry".
In fact, dragging in terms like Scandinavia or Britain would be bad, since that would include english and Danish, and you apparantly don't have ancestors from those

That I was giving you too much credit it seems.

Thanks, dipshit

Well... since there's still no reasoning been supplied by page 4, and since no other Scandinavians appear to have a problem being called Scandinavian, I shall continue to call Scandinavians Scandinavian. Maybe even more so from now on, just for fun. It's a nice word to say.

That's not the fudging point

Moderator Action: Three points for consistently uncivil and jerkish behaviour, including the foul language in this post. FP

 

[Flying Pig]

Moderator Action: This has run its course. Closed.