[sharpneli]

It was extra hilarious when asked to generate a picture of ancient Greek philosopher it made it a Native American. Because it is well known Greeks not only had contact with the new world but also had prominent population of Native Americans.

It really wants to mash the whole world to a very specific US centric view of the world, and calls you bad for trying to avoid it.

[jack_riminton]

Reminds me of when black people in the UK get called African American by Americans. No they're neither African nor American

It's an incredibly self-centered view of the world

[vidarh]

My black African ex once chewed out an American who not only called her African American but "corrected her" after she referred to herself as black, in a very clear British received pronunciation accent that has no hint of American to it, by insisting it was "African American".

And not while in the US either - but in the UK.

[dig1]

This reminds me of a YouTube video from a black female from the US, where she argued that Montenegro sounds too racist. Yet, that name existed way before the US was conceived.

[jack_riminton]

Wow. I've been corrected on my English (as an Englishman, living in England, speaking English) by an American before. But to be corrected of your race is something else

[vidarh]

Did they complain you didn't speak with the correct English accent too?

I always find it hilarious when Americans talk about English accents and seem to think there are one - or maybe two if they've seen any period movies or Mary Poppins -, given there are several clearly distinct English accents in use in my London borough alone (ignoring accents with immigrant origin, which would add many more)

[jack_riminton]

They wanted to find Leicester Square in London

- Hey can you tell me where "lie-sester" square is?

- Oh you mean "lester" square, yeah walk up that...

- No I'm pretty sure it's "lie-sester"

- Ok well I've never heard of that square, good luck!

[cc81]

I support them in their fight against how you guys pronounce certain things compared to how it is spelled. I'm not from the US though but Worcestershire sauce....come on.

[dekhn]

it's either posh or cockney, right?

[boppo1]

Do b/Black people in the UK care about capitalization?

[vidarh]

I'm not black, so I can't speak for black people in the UK.

But in terms of English language rather than their preference, I think you use a compound term, such as Black British, it's probably more correct to capitalize, at least if you intend it to be a compound rather than intend black as "just" an adjective that happens to be used to qualify British rather than referring to a specific group. "Black" by itself would not generally be capitalized unless at the start of a sentence any more than "white" would. And this seems to be generally reflected in how I see the term used in the UK.

[boppo1]

Thank you for the thorough explanation.

[solarhexes]

I think it’s just that’s the word you’ve been taught to use. It’s divorced from the meaning of its constituent parts, you aren’t saying “an American of African descent” you’re saying “black” but in what was supposed to be some kind of politically correct way.

I cannot imagine even the most daft American using it in the UK and intending that the person is actually American.

[jack_riminton]

Well it's pretty daft to call anyone American if they're not American

[fdsfdsafdsafds]

It's pretty daft to call anyone African if they're not African.

[jack_riminton]

Yep, equally daft!

[gverrilla]

Yeah it's something that happens a lot. Yesterday I've seen a video calling a white animal "caucasian".

[hot_gril]

Was it an animal from the Caucasus mountains, though? Like the large bear-fighting dogs.

[andai]

Huh, TIL about Caucasian Shepherd Dog. They used to use them for bear hunting!

[hot_gril]

Apparently also used by Russian prison guards today. Somehow it seems very fitting that they have bear-like dogs.

[gitaarik]

Yeah and so the phrase "African American" is a typical example of the ignorance of Americans thinking they're the only ones in the world.

[hot_gril]

I promise it's not because we think of people outside the US as American. When I was a kid in the 2000s, we were told never to say "black" and to say "African-American" instead. There was no PC term in the US to refer to black people who are not American. This has started to change lately, but it's still iffy.

Besides that, many Americans (including myself) are self-centered in other ways. Yes I like our imperial units better than the metric system, no I don't care that they're called "customary units" outside the US, etc.

[bsimpson]

Fahrenheit gets a bad rap.

100F is about as hot as you'll ever get. 0F is about as cold as you'll ever get. It's a perceptual system.

[vidarh]

The day after I left Oslo after Christmas, it hit -20F. 0F is peanuts. I've also experienced above 100F several times. In the US, incidentally. It may be a perceptual system, but it's not very perceptive, and very culturally and geographically limited.

(incidentally I also have far more use for freezing point and boiling point of water, but I don't think it makes a big difference for celsius that those happen to be 0 and 100 either)

[dmoy]

I grew up in a place where it'd get above 100F and below 0F pretty much every year.

But I will say, F is pretty decent still, even if the GP statement is a bit off:

100F is getting uncomfortably hot for a human. You gotta worry about heat stroke and stuff.

0F is getting uncomfortably cold for a human. You gotta worry about frostbite and dying from the cold if underdressed.

In the middle, you'll probably live. Get locked out of the house taking out the trash when it's 15F? You're probably okay until you find a neighbor. Get locked out of the house taking out the trash when it's -15F? You have a moment of mental sheer panic where you realize you might be getting frostbite and require medical attention if you don't get inside in like <10 minutes.

But yea I still use C for almost everything.

[vidarh]

80F is uncomfortably hot for me unless I strip off; that's when my aircon goes on. And 55F is uncomfortably cold...

I think basically all of these are rationalisation (and that goes for the celsius numbers too). They don't matter. You learn very early which numbers you actually care about, and they're pretty much never going to be 0 or 100 on either scale.

You're not going to be thinking about whether it's 0 outside or not if locked out; just whether or not you're freezing cold or not.

[dekhn]

this is why I use kelvin for everything.

[eadmund]

Rankine enters the chat …

For those unaware, degrees Rankine are the same size as degrees Fahrenheit, but counting from absolute zero. It’s the English analogue to the French system’s Kelvin.

[Sohcahtoa82]

Fahrenheit tells you how warm a human feels.

Celcius tells you how warm water feels.

Kelvin tells you how warm the atoms feel.

[hot_gril]

I go outside the country and all the thermostats are in 0.5˚C increments because it's too coarse, heh.

[vidarh]

I can't recall caring about <1 degree increments other than for fevers or when people discuss record highs or lows.

[overstay8930]

Lmao my thermostat in Germany was in Fahrenheit because the previous occupant disliked the inaccuracy of Celsius since the """software""" allowed the room to get colder before kicking in while in C.

[hot_gril]

Also adding that "Caucasian" was somehow the politically-correct version of "white" here, then it reversed.

[mc32]

That’s kind of funny. Chinese and Taiwanese transplants call natural born Americans, whether black, white or latin, “foreigners” when speaking in Chinese dialects even while they live in America.

Oh, your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend is a “foreigner”, ma?

No, damnit, you’re the foreigner!

[rwultsch]

I enjoy that “ma” has ambiguous meaning above. Does it mean mandarin question mark word or does possibly mean mother?

[mc32]

It's both a particle and a question mark word. [Ta]是外國人嗎?

This is how the question would be asked in the mainland or in the regional diaspora of Chinese speakers where foreigners are few. Where foreigner often is a substitute for the most prevalent non-regional foreigner (i.e. it's not typically used for Malaysian or Thai nationals in China) So for those who come over state-side they don't modify the phrase, they keep using foreigner [外國人] for any non-Asian, even when those "foreigners" are natural born.

[vidarh]

They clearly knew that, but was joking about the dual meaning of the question mark and mā as in 妈/mother, which is ambiguous when written out in an English comment where it's not a given why there isn't a tone mark (or whether or not they intent the English 'ma', for that matter).

[sib]

Well, they're as "African" as "African Americans" are... OTOH, Elon Musk is a literal African American (as would be an Arab immigrant to the US from Egypt or Morocco), but can't be called that. So let's admit that such group labels are pretty messed up in general.

[gspetr]

>as would be an Arab immigrant to the US from Egypt

If you want to get *very* technical then it's possible to not be African if you're from Egypt: "Egypt is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and the Sinai Peninsula in the southwest corner of Asia."

[hot_gril]

Continents aren't technical, though. There are different definitions. Like, look into whether Georgia is considered part of Europe or Asia.

[stcroixx]

What is the preferred term in the UK - African British?

[jack_riminton]

Well if they're black and you were describing their race you'd just say they're black.

If they're black and British and you're describing their nationality you'd say they were British.

[vidarh]

Depends. Usually black if you don't know any more. Black British if you know they are British, but a lot of black people here are born in Africa or the Caribbean, and not all will be pleased to be described as British (some will take active offense, given Britains colonial past) and will prefer you to use their country or African/Caribbean depending on context.

My ex would probably grudgingly accept black British, but would describe herself as black, Nigerian, or African, despite also having British citizenship.

If you're considering how to describe someone who is present, then presumably you have a good reason and can explain the reason and ask what they prefer. If you're describing someone by appearance, 'black' is the safest most places in the UK unless you already know what they prefer.

"Nobody" uses "African British".

[stcroixx]

That's wild you can still say black there. That's been a no go in the US for a while.

[fdsfdsafdsafds]

If you started calling British black people "African", it wouldn't be long before you got a punch.

[Jerrrry]

Black British, because their skin is colored, and are British.

Black American, same way.

"African-" implies you were born in Africa, "-American" imples you then immigrated to America.

Elon Musk is an African-American.

13% of the US population are Black Americans.

[dekhn]

Are extremely dark-skinned people (for example from South India) who move to england called "Black"? I've never heard that and would be surprised but i'm curious.

[Jerrrry]

They would be called black socially, but would be Indian-British til they revealed their accent, I would think.

[peanuty1]

The term African-American does not imply that one was born in Africa. It refers to Americans of African ethnicity (which includes Carribean-Americans of African descent). Chris Rock, Lebron James, and Michael Jordan are all African-Americans born in the US.

Elon Musk is not considered African-American according to the popular usage of the term as he is of European descent despite being born in South Africa.

[BonoboIO]

Elon Musk is a real African American

[peanuty1]

Elon Musk is not considered African-American according to the popular usage of the term as he is of European descent despite being born in South Africa. Lebron James is a real African-American.

[Ajay-p]

That is not artificial intelligence, that is deliberate mucking with the software to achieve a desired outcome. Google is utterly untrustworthy in this regard.

[Perceval]

AI stands for Artificial Ideology

[FlyingSnake]

> it is well known Greeks not only had contact with the new world but also had prominent population of Native Americans.

I’m really surprised to hear this tidbit, because I thought Leif Erickson was then first one from the old world to do venture there. Did Ancient Greeks really made contact with the Native Americans?

[sharpneli]

It was a joke. Obviously there was no contact whatsoever between the two.

Gemini basically forces the current US ethnical representation fashions to every situation regardless of how well it fits.

[hot_gril]

It's really revealing. You can pick apart the chatbot's biases with as many questions as you'd like. A real person would weasel out of that, especially a PR agent.