• Match!!@pawb.social
    link
    fedilink
    English
    arrow-up
    3
    arrow-down
    1
    ·
    1 year ago

    This is more of a problem about English making no distinction between “we” (us including you) and “we” (us excluding you)

    • sugar_in_your_tea@sh.itjust.works
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      7
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      That’s related, but it should still be pretty clear from context.

      If I say, “the current President doesn’t represent us,” I’m obviously not talking about the whole world, or even the whole country, but the specific subgroup that I’m a part of (i.e. maybe my demographic, political party, etc). If I say, “we need to take responsibility for the state of the planet,” I’m talking about everyone in the whole world, not just me and my specific demographic or political party.

      It would be a lot clearer if we had better words in English, but it is usually quite clear from context. In this case, this is posted to the sh.itjust.works’ “main” community, and the post specifically mentions sh.itjust.works in the image that’s linked. It’s pretty clear it’s talking specifically about the sh.itjust.works instance.

    • neutron@thelemmy.club
      link
      fedilink
      English
      arrow-up
      3
      arrow-down
      1
      ·
      edit-2
      1 year ago

      The same mistake could be made, since OP assumed the audience is the SIJW instance, thus using inclusive we, when actually its the whole federation, the exclusive we could have been used.