My Letter to the BBC re: Democrat v. Democratic

[tsipple]

Dear BBC News:

I've noticed that the BBC's written reporting often (but not always) errs in its references to the name of one of the USA's political parties. I'd like to suggest some consistency in the wording here.

The U.S. Democratic Party -- note the "ic" -- consists of members and candidates who are called Democrats. "Democrat" is never the adjective. So, for example, "Democrat candidate" or "Democrat nominee" is incorrect. "Democratic candidate" or "Democratic nominee" are both correct. (That's just as "Republic candidate" would be incorrect.)

In a recent BBC story then, the incorrect version (as printed) is: "Democrat Howard Dean has emerged as a front-runner in the race to secure the Democrat nomination in the US presidential election next year." In fact, "Democrat nomination" should be "Democratic nomination" instead. Later in the story, "That remark saw him roundly attacked by fellow Democrat hopefuls" should be "Democratic hopefuls."

Note that the capital "D" ("Democratic") indicates affiliation with the specific political party. A "democratic lawmaker" would simply refer to a lawmaker who believes in principles of democracy. As Democrats all do as well, of course.

Perhaps not so surprisingly, the Democrats' opposition, the Republican Party, occasionally and intentionally makes the grammatical mistake despite two centuries of prior language use. They've discovered that the grammatical error sounds strange to the American ear. Still, it's not the accepted American grammar, and only a minority of Republicans self-consciously drop the "ic" when inappropriate.

As the U.S. election season generates more news, I hope the BBC will make this minor (but important) correction.

Regards,
Timothy Sipples
Chicago, Illinois
(A Democrat, a Democratic supporter, and a member of the Democratic Party)

[burrowowl]

1. Good going tsipple eom

[SeveneightyWhoa]

2. OMG, BBC is employing Rovian tactics!!!

The money flows from Rove, to Blair, who gives the money directly to the government-run BBC with the demand that they follow his good friend Rove's orders! It's all coming together now!!