Demonyms: Why People from North Carolina Are Called Tar Heels. 'Healthy' Versus 'Healthful.' Sussies 3!
Grammar Girl: For Writers and Language Lovers.
Mignon Fogarty, Inc.
4.5 • 2.9K Ratings
🗓️ 10 June 2022
⏱️ 20 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
879. Are people from Liverpool really called "Liverpudlians"? Where does the name "Tar Heel" come from? We have the answers to some of the most interesting questions about demonyms: the names for people from specific places. Also, has anyone ever criticized you for using the word "healthy" instead of "healthful"? We explain why that happens. And finally, we've solved the mystery of "sussies."
Transcript: https://grammar-girl.simplecast.com/episodes/demonyms-why-people-from-north-carolina-are-called-tar-heels-healthy-versus-healthful-sussies-3
| Subscribe to the newsletter for regular updates.
| Watch my LinkedIn Learning writing course.
| HOST: Mignon Fogarty
| VOICEMAIL: 833-214-GIRL (833-214-4475)
| Grammar Girl is part of the Quick and Dirty Tips podcast network.
| Theme music by Catherine Rannus at beautifulmusic.co.uk.
| Sources for the Demonyms Segment by Susan K. Herman:
| Academic Dictionaries and Encyclopedias: https://en-academic.com/dic.nsf/enwiki/168427
| CIA World Factbook/Country Profiles/Explore all Countries: https://www.cia.gov/the-world-factbook/countries/
| East Liverpool, Ohio Mayor’s Office: https://eastliverpool.com/city-department/mayors-office/
| Everything2/Demonyms of the United States: https://everything2.com/title/Demonyms+of+the+United+States
| Everything2/Denonyms of the World: https://everything2.com/title/Demonyms+of+the+World
| Garner, B. "Denizen Labels." Garner's Modern English Usage, fourth edition. Oxford University Press. 2016. p.259-62.
| Government Printing Office Style Manual, Ch. 17, Useful Tables: https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016/pdf/GPO-STYLEMANUAL-2016-19.pdf
| Merriam-Webster/demonym: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/demonym
| Voice of America News: https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a/making-sense-of-demonyms-nationality-nouns/5921426.html
| Washington Post: https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-mix/wp/2017/01/13/hoosier-is-now-the-official-name-for-indiana-folk-but-what-does-it-even-mean/
| Wikipedia/Demonym: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demonym
| Wikipedia/List of demonyms for U.S. states and territories: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_demonyms_for_US_states_and_territories
| Wikipedia/List of regional nicknames: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_regional_nicknames
| Wise Men of Gotham: https://www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK/Wise-Men-of-Gotham/
| Word Sense: https://www.wordsense.eu/Liverpudlian/
| Grammar Girl Social Media Links:
https://www.quickanddirtytips.com/podcasts
https://www.tiktok.com/@therealgrammargirl
http://twitter.com/grammargirl
http://facebook.com/grammargirl
http://instagram.com/thegrammargirl
https://www.linkedin.com/company/grammar-girl
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I'm Minion Fogarty and you can think of me as your friendly guide to the English language. |
| 0:12.1 | We talk about writing, history, rules, and other cool stuff. |
| 0:16.2 | Today, we'll talk about the names we give people from different places, the difference |
| 0:20.4 | between the words healthy and healthful, and we'll get to the bottom of the origin of |
| 0:25.8 | the word we've talked about the last two weeks, Sussese. |
| 0:29.8 | Emily from the Greater Pittsburgh area submitted a question about names for people from different |
| 0:37.7 | places. |
| 0:39.0 | Specifically, she grew up in East Liverpool, Ohio, and one of her college professors |
| 0:44.7 | referred to people from her town as East Liverpool Bliens. |
| 0:50.1 | Is that correct? |
| 0:51.3 | Well, yes, actually it is, but let's talk about demonyms in general first, and then we'll |
| 0:57.0 | get back to Emily's specific example. |
| 1:00.8 | Even though the spelling of demonyms begins with demon, D-E-M-O-N, don't worry, it's |
| 1:06.5 | not something that'll haunt you in the night. |
| 1:09.2 | According to Mariam Webster, it means, quote, a word used to denote a person who inhabits |
| 1:14.4 | or is native to a particular place, unquote. |
| 1:18.4 | You may also hear demonyms referred to as denizen names, denizen meaning an inhabitant or resident |
| 1:25.4 | of a particular place. |
| 1:27.8 | Keep in mind that, although they sometimes have the same form, demonyms are different from |
| 1:32.7 | descriptive adjectives, which are used to describe a person or object from a certain place. |
| 1:39.6 | Demonyms are nouns, so for example, you'd refer to a person from Spain as a spaniard, but |
| 1:46.3 | a bottle of rioja as a Spanish wine, using Spanish as an adjective. |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Mignon Fogarty, Inc., and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Mignon Fogarty, Inc. and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.