Russian Germans / Rossians and Russians

[Paul B. Gallagher]

John Dingley wrote:

> Hi,
> 
> My British English ear agrees with Paul Gallagher's "Italian
> Americans (Americans of Italian descent)", etc, but not with his
> "Finland Swedes". This jars.

I agree that it is not the most felicitous construction in English; I 
also found it jarring as I listened to the Olympic hockey broadcasts to 
hear constructions like "behind the Finland goal" rather than the 
expected "behind the Finnish goal." But as you note, it seems to be the 
established term, probably based on a literal translation of the Swedish 
term.

Asked to invent a term from scratch, I would have to say either "Swedish 
Finns" like "Italian Americans" or "Finnish Swedes" following the 
Russian model, and I would favor the former.

> I would only say "Swedish Finns", thus agreeing with the Finnish 
> "suomenruotsalaiset" and the Swedish "Finlandssvenskar". However, 
> Google comes up with 17,600 for "Finland Swedes" and only 695 for 
> "Swedish Finns". (Is this a British vs. American thing?)

> Is the usual Russian expression:  "shvedskie finny" or "shvedy
> Finliandii"?

Anyone who answers, please reply to the list; I would be very interested 
in seeing the results.

-- 
War doesn't determine who's right, just who's left.
--
Paul B. Gallagher
pbg translations, inc.
"Russian Translations That Read Like Originals"
http://pbg-translations.com

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