Do Greeks get offended when someone calls them Grecian?

By: | Post date: 2017-01-19 | Comments: No Comments
Posted in categories: Culture, Modern Greek

There was a bit of merriment when George W Bush used the word.

I actually don’t know whether Greeks in Greece know about the oddity of “Grecian”. My take, as someone bicultural: it’s not offensive, it’s just archaic; so seeing it in live use is puzzling. Because it’s archaic, I’m led to wonder whether I’m being exoticised into a box with Mine Ancient Ancestors and Urns—or whether the speaker just plain doesn’t know that it’s archaic English, which is why W was mocked for it.

There are, of course, contexts where Grecian is entirely appropriate to use. Such as my parody of Henry Higgins, in what at least one of my friends here has termed my best answer ever:

Nick Nicholas’ answer to What is it called when you get aroused by watching people die?

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