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Comment on Is there a difference in meaning between the words *people* and *persons*?

You’d get even weirder looks if you said “those persons travel a lot”, while also sounding like someone who doesn’t really speak the language.

“Those people” can be a racist or classist dog whistle, but isn’t always, and also there isn’t really an alternative. Say what you’re going to say, and don’t worry too much about it. The people who would misinterpret it to fit an agenda are probably going to do so regardless of what words you use.

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spankmonkey@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
“Those people” can be a racist or classist dog whistle, but isn’t always, and also there isn’t really an alternative.

The vast majority of the time ‘they’ or ‘them’ works in the same sentence as ‘those people’ when refering a goup since you already need context for who you are referring to. I can’t even think of an example where they or them doesn’t fit.

Description of a group of white people from Georgia.

I heard they like fried chicken.

I heard those people like fried chicken.

Hell, the second one sounds racist even after making it clear I was talking about white people, and I typed the words!
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- Deceptichum@quokk.au ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
  This must be an American thing because adding those doesn’t suddenly make a sentence sound more racist to me or have any connotations.
  
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  - bstix@feddit.dk ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    I can hear it and am not American.
    
    Try snubbing your nose while saying"those people"
    
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  - spankmonkey@lemmy.world ⁨1⁩ ⁨month⁩ ago
    I can’t think of any sayings or phrasings that would be universal across the entire globe.
    
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