It all started with a tweet, but as often, the reality is a little more nuanced.
A tweet from APStylebook, the account that lists the Associated Press's writing rules, sparked an outcry from several Internet users on Friday, as it recommended no longer using "dehumanizing" names such as "the poor, the mentally ill, the French (…)”.
We recommend avoiding general and often dehumanizing “the” labels such as the poor, the mentally ill, the French, the disabled, the college-educated.
Instead, use the wording such as people with mental illnesses.
And use these descriptions only when clearly relevant.
— APStylebook (@APStylebook) January 26, 2023
Many Internet users took this announcement with humor, reinterpreting it with self-mockery: the Twitter account of the French Embassy in the United States published a message in which it plans to rename itself "Embassy of
Frenchness
in the United States ".
I guess this is us now... https://t.co/YFybgfI2AB pic.twitter.com/LrKvgjiw1X
— French Embassy US (@franceintheus) January 26, 2023
Others worried with a lot of self-mockery about the future name of “French fries” in English, les frites: “Can you use the term “French fries”?
Or is that also offensive?
asked a translator.
More marginally, some Internet users have also criticized the "madness" shown by AP with this new writing rule, such as Republican Senator Ted Cruz.
In France, Éric Zemmour also tweeted “We are the French” (We are the French).
The use of the pronoun "the" in question
In reality, it's a little more complicated: the American press agency advises against the simplistic use of the pronoun "the", too "general" for its taste.
Among the examples cited, she uses “the French” to evoke the generalization linked to a people.
But two nuances are to be made: first of all, this also applies to other nationalities.
Then, the agency also proposes a replacement term: “the French people”.
It encourages its English editors to refer to "persons", rather than dissolving them in a generic appellation.
At no time is there any question of no longer using the adjective meaning “French” in the content published by AP.
An apology and a backpedal
The agency acknowledged in a tweet published Friday morning that the use of the example "the French" was not "appropriate" and had caused "unintentional offense", before publishing a new tweet identical to the previous one, without the mention of the French.
The use of “the French” in this tweet by @AP was inappropriate and has caused unintended offense.
An updated tweet is upcoming.
— The Associated Press (@AP) January 27, 2023
With Le Monde, the vice-president in charge of communication for AP explained that "the reference to the French, as well as the reference to graduates" want to show that the generalist designations via "the" should "not be used for anyone, that they are traditionally stereotyped as positive, negative or neutral”.