From: b.scott@csuohio.edu   
      
   On Sun, 28 Sep 2008 08:18:23 -0700, David Harmon   
    wrote in   
    in   
   rec.arts.sf.misc:   
      
   > On Fri, 26 Sep 2008 22:47:35 -0400 in rec.arts.sf.misc,   
   > "Brian M. Scott"  wrote,   
      
   >>I wasn't talking about the sound pattern.  I assume that   
   >>*any* non-standard ethnic term is likely to have negative   
   >>connotations, ...   
      
   > But that is begging the question, in that you decide   
   > what you consider non-standard.   
      
   No, it is not begging the question.  An ethnic term that   
   I've not previously encountered and that isn't a   
   straightforward formation in <-(i)an>, <-ite>, or the like   
   is sufficiently non-standard to justify caution, especially   
   if it's a very short, slangy-sounding form.  Such terms   
   aren't particularly difficult to spot.  It's the formerly   
   standard terms that have been replaced by terms more   
   acceptable to the people in question, like 'Lapp' (replaced   
   by 'Sa(a)mi', 'Sámi'), that are virtually impossible to spot   
   without specific knowledge.   
      
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