Jdsk wrote: ↑26 Sep 2022, 5:01pm
Thanks.
I see
Swede as different from
Egyptian,
English,
Russian and
Irish.
Perhaps some examples of it performing the function of an adjective while keeping the meaning of
something to do with Sweden... ?
Jonathan
I suppose it's more the other way round really. "The Swedish tend to be tall and blond" has an adjective functioning as a noun. "The Swedes tend to be tall and blond" has a noun functioning as an adjective functioning as a noun. Or simply a noun being a noun.
Going back to the OP, I think – though it hasn't yet been made clear – the complaint was about constructions such as "The Sweden government is led by a tall, blond prime minister" rather than "The Swedish government... ". This usage does seem to be becoming more popular, but I've yet to come across "The Swede government... ". To my ear, "the Sweden government" is slightly clunky but clear enough; as is just "Stockholm" in the right context. "The Norwegian foreign minister said cross-border moose permits would be issued this year. Stockholm replied that they were suffering a temporary moose shortage."
(We can now discuss national stereotypes as well as, since the actual PM of Sweden is a woman with... fair hair, whether "blond" should be inflect to "blonde" when applied to a woman. Or even whether "blond" is an adjective and "blonde" a noun, or vice versa.)