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Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!cbosgd!ihnp4!houxm!vax135!cornell!uw-beaver!tektronix!orca!davidl
From: davidl@orca.UUCP (David Levine)
Newsgroups: net.rumor,net.nlang
Subject: Re: We're really all Veccuppians...
Message-ID: <1513@orca.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 20-May-85 13:42:11 EDT
Article-I.D.: orca.1513
Posted: Mon May 20 13:42:11 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 22-May-85 02:05:19 EDT
References: <748@ssc-vax.UUCP> <32900001@siemens.UUCP>
Reply-To: davidl@orca.UUCP (David Levine)
Organization: Tektronix, Wilsonville OR
Lines: 28
Xref: watmath net.rumor:814 net.nlang:3097

In article <32900001@siemens.UUCP> rick@siemens.UUCP writes:
> ...we may call people from the U.S.S.R. Russians but they are more
>properly addressed as Soviets.  (Just as people from the Irish Republic are
>Irish).

Sorry.  A "soviet" is a legislative body.  It makes no more sense to call a
citizen of the Soviet Union a "Soviet" than it does to call a citizen of the
United States a "Congress."  

Evidence for my claim:  The American Heritage Dictionary defines "soviet" (n)
as a legislative assembly.  It then defines "Soviet" (adj) as "of or 
pertaining to the USSR", while "soviet" (adj) is "of or pertaining to 
a soviet."  On the other hand, "American" (adj) means "of or pertaining to"
several parts of the Western Hemisphere (as described in a previous 
posting), and "American" (n) is 1) an inhabitant of America or 2) a citizen 
of the US. 

I think that one calls a citizen of the Soviet Union a "Soviet citizen."
Or perhaps "Comrade." :-)

David D. Levine  (...decvax!tektronix!orca!davidl)          [UUCP]
                 (orca!davidl.tektronix@csnet-relay.csnet)  [ARPA]

P.S.  I'm cross-posting to net.rumor and net.nlang.  This debate began with a
discussion as to whether or not Canadians are Americans, and has gone quite
beyond the scope of net.rumor.  I therefore propose that the discussion be
moved to net.nlang (which I don't read.  Ha!).  - DL
whether