>Afghani
this was posted on another list. the rant gets on a roll toward the end ;) <paste>
The ending -i to form an ethnic designator is not a general production in standard English, although a trend in colloquial English is to use it for Hook-Nosed Evil Enemies. This trend is semi-literate, and although we disagree about the need for literacy in a democracy, this is not a matter of democracy but a matter of not appearing a dunce in public.
You would appear better informed in your comments about the Afghans if you bothered to learn what they are called.
I'll present a few examples of accepted usage for your benefit. They are in the form COUNTRY-ETHNIC PERSON-ADJECTIVE
Afghanistan Afghan Afghan Tajikistan Tajik Tajik Note variant (Russian) spelling
"Tadzhik-" These are the same people Uzbekistan Uzbek Uzbek Kyrgizia Kyrgyz Kyrgyz Kyrgyzistan is seen, but is wrong. Kazakhstan Kazakh Kazakh Pakistan Pakistani Pakistani
"Paki" is UK pejorative slang. Iraq Iraqi Iraqi Yemen Yemeni Yemeni Turkmenistan Turkmen Turkmen The plural is "Turkmens". This one
might be hard for you, since Turkmen
are in fact Turkish men. I do not know what a female
Turkmen is called, but it is not "Turkwymyn". Perhaps we should
demand that this country rename itself to Turkpersonistan, to
be more inclusive of its better half in English. Turkey Turk Turkish
Sometimes the -i ending is correct, but it is not a rule for enemy countries. Israel/Israeli/Israeli, for example.
Stop calling them "Afghanis". Had you never heard of an Afghan before? A sort of shawl and a breed of dog are also so named. Have you not encountered those words before last month?
Further questions along these lines can be answered in a skool book published before 1970, (a subject in those times of darkness was "World Geography", now mercifully consigned to the dustbin of history, [even small children were corrupted with knowledge of "World Geography", their fragile self-esteem evaporating in the feverish heat of factual tuition], along with "History", as a matter of fact). Or select a NY Times "World Almanac", available at newsstands, highly recommended for the neophyte, even containing in some editions colorful and amusing maps and pictures of the flags of numerous countries. If you are uncomfortable or unfamiliar with paper, an electronic source can be found at www.cia.gov/publications/factbook/indexgeo.html
Since you're more modern, I'll assume that you know Modern Geography, not World Geography, the former being the knowledge of where to get the answers, as opposed to the answers themselves, which constitute useless mental baggage and threaten to get in the way of Understanding and Loving the diverse Heatheni people of the world.
Before you act, it's KAH bul not ka BOOL. The latter is the Afghani capital, the former the Afghan. </paste>