The Dominican

AlterEgo

AlterEgo

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Jan 9, 2009
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I know this has been beaten to death but..... Last night I was watching one of my favorite TV programs, The Event. The president of the US is Cuban-American, as is his wife. Their mothers came from Cuba on the same boat. The plot entails human lookalike aliens from another planet whose sun is dying and they're looking to take over earth as their new home. Long story short, they live among us, right up into the White House staff. Last night we learned that the president's wife might be one of them. He questioned her, she got jumpy. Said there was something she had kept secret. Alien? Nope. Her parents weren't really Cuban, their papers are fake. Where are they from? "The Dominican". :p

AE
 
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AnnaC

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Jan 2, 2002
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Wow, I have to start watching that show, sounds interesting. The alien part not because they called it The Dominican ;)
 
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dulce

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Jan 1, 2002
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It is commonly called the Dominican everywhere except on this message board. It may not be proper grammar but people should get used to it.
 
Tamborista

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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Let it go already!!!

Frank the Tank said:
The Dominican is a person, not the country. Calling the country The Dominican is very chopo.
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Seriously...who cares, I will introduce you to a few prominent Santiagueros that occasionally slip "The Dominican" into dialogue, and these are highly edumacated folks that would never play loud music out of their trunk or order a 911 & J.W. Black, it is really not that big of a deal!

tambo's .02
 
Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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I could live with Santa Dominga easier than I can with "the Dominican"....it is just wrong. It is poor Spanish, improper English and totally low class ignorance. I would write to the writers...

HB
 
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sangria

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May 16, 2006
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I agree with Tambo...."The Dominican" or "Dominican" are very commonly used by people all over the world including some Dominicans.

Proper or not, people shorten words, names, places all the time.
 
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dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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i could not care less. makes sense to me as in polish DR is called DOMINIKANA, one word only.
personally i am not too fussy with the language maybe because i did study filologia and i appreciate how language changes, evolves and how flexible it it. and how it absorbs mistakes and makes them norm.
 
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SKing

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Nov 22, 2007
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Hillbilly said:
I could live with Santa Dominga easier than I can with "the Dominican"....it is just wrong. It is poor Spanish, improper English and totally low class ignorance. I would write to the writers...

HB
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I am not Dominican and hearing that is like nails on chalkboard to me...and I don't know why.

SHALENA
 
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RacerX

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Nov 22, 2009
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Hillbilly said:
I could live with Santa Dominga easier than I can with "the Dominican"....it is just wrong. It is poor Spanish, improper English and totally low class ignorance. I would write to the writers...

HB
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I dont think it is low class. It is not really that relevant to the description of other countries that have Republic in the name. So the writers and others assume it is an unnecessary part of the name of the country. The Czech Republic, The Republic of South Korea, the Democratic Republic of Congo. The word Republic isnt a necessarily obligatory part of the name of the country.
 
Africaida

Africaida

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Jun 19, 2009
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RacerX said:
I dont think it is low class. It is not really that relevant to the description of other countries that have Republic in the name. So the writers and others assume it is an unnecessary part of the name of the country. The Czech Republic, The Republic of South Korea, the Democratic Republic of Congo. The word Republic isnt a necessarily obligatory part of the name of the country.
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Well, your examples show that you can shorten only if it Republic of something. You can't say the Czech, or at least I never heard it, but south korea, congo (you ll have to say which one though), etc...

In reality, I don't care if people say the Dominican and I can understand why they do it, but it sounds incomplete.

DR all the way (shortest and fastest) !!!!!
 
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dv8

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Sep 27, 2006
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again, in polish it is CZECHY (czech republic). or česko to it's own people. one word.
argentina is oficially argentine republic.
 
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mido

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May 18, 2002
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With all due respect but the only place where I ever heard this being discussed is here on this board.
Americans call their country America, the States, the US, United States, Uncle Sam etc. and nobody cares. Where ever I traveled, I heard Dominicana or the Dominican pretty often and not particularly by "chopos" or low class people.
 
Hillbilly

Hillbilly

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Jan 1, 2002
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Yes, "educacated" Dominicans use the term, but for them it is a transference from Spanish where a reference to "Dominicana" or "La Dominicana" is fine. But not in English.

I am going to the United next week, where i hope to stay in the Sunshine, maybe along the Gold...and I am going to take a cheap, too.

HB
 
Tamborista

Tamborista

hasta la tambora
Apr 4, 2005
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Seriously...GET A LIFE!!!

I find it ironic that those irritated to the point of an allergic reaction are not even from The Dominican Republic.
When I hear the taboo phrase, I laugh:laugh:.... it is gramatically incorrect, but I would rather worry about starving kids, the environment, or making sure my beer is cold.

Do we really need a linguistic study of the origin of this terrible word, and who are the major offenders? Perhaps we can get NALs to stand on a street corner in Washington Heights for a week, and then on 27 de Febrero in La Capital and get some real stats here!

terrible tambo'
 
Bronxboy

Bronxboy

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Jul 11, 2007
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I rather hear The Dominican than someone saying that they are from Santo Domingo when they are really from Moca, BC, PC, etc.
 
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DavidZ

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Aug 29, 2005
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I've never understood the big deal of saying "The Dominican" or just "Dominican", it's been used in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, Caribbean Travel and Life, etc....If someone says "Dominica" that's a different story as it is a different country altogether...

I agree that calling the country "Santo Domingo" which is pretty popular, is annoying, because it is confusing....and most Dominicans I know who shorten the name, call this country "La Republica"...which I guess is akin to Americans calling the USA "The States"...
 
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