It really wants to mash the whole world to a very specific US centric view of the world, and calls you bad for trying to avoid it.
It's an incredibly self-centered view of the world
Oh, your husband/wife/boyfriend/girlfriend is a “foreigner”, ma?
No, damnit, you’re the foreigner!
This is how the question would be asked in the mainland or in the regional diaspora of Chinese speakers where foreigners are few. Where foreigner often is a substitute for the most prevalent non-regional foreigner (i.e. it's not typically used for Malaysian or Thai nationals in China) So for those who come over state-side they don't modify the phrase, they keep using foreigner [外國人] for any non-Asian, even when those "foreigners" are natural born.
I cannot imagine even the most daft American using it in the UK and intending that the person is actually American.
And not while in the US either - but in the UK.
I always find it hilarious when Americans talk about English accents and seem to think there are one - or maybe two if they've seen any period movies or Mary Poppins -, given there are several clearly distinct English accents in use in my London borough alone (ignoring accents with immigrant origin, which would add many more)
- Hey can you tell me where "lie-sester" square is?
- Oh you mean "lester" square, yeah walk up that...
- No I'm pretty sure it's "lie-sester"
- Ok well I've never heard of that square, good luck!
But in terms of English language rather than their preference, I think you use a compound term, such as Black British, it's probably more correct to capitalize, at least if you intend it to be a compound rather than intend black as "just" an adjective that happens to be used to qualify British rather than referring to a specific group. "Black" by itself would not generally be capitalized unless at the start of a sentence any more than "white" would. And this seems to be generally reflected in how I see the term used in the UK.
If they're black and British and you're describing their nationality you'd say they were British.
Black American, same way.
"African-" implies you were born in Africa, "-American" imples you then immigrated to America.
Elon Musk is an African-American.
13% of the US population are Black Americans.
Elon Musk is not considered African-American according to the popular usage of the term as he is of European descent despite being born in South Africa.
My ex would probably grudgingly accept black British, but would describe herself as black, Nigerian, or African, despite also having British citizenship.
If you're considering how to describe someone who is present, then presumably you have a good reason and can explain the reason and ask what they prefer. If you're describing someone by appearance, 'black' is the safest most places in the UK unless you already know what they prefer.
"Nobody" uses "African British".
If you want to get *very* technical then it's possible to not be African if you're from Egypt: "Egypt is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and the Sinai Peninsula in the southwest corner of Asia."
Besides that, many Americans (including myself) are self-centered in other ways. Yes I like our imperial units better than the metric system, no I don't care that they're called "customary units" outside the US, etc.
100F is about as hot as you'll ever get. 0F is about as cold as you'll ever get. It's a perceptual system.
(incidentally I also have far more use for freezing point and boiling point of water, but I don't think it makes a big difference for celsius that those happen to be 0 and 100 either)
But I will say, F is pretty decent still, even if the GP statement is a bit off:
100F is getting uncomfortably hot for a human. You gotta worry about heat stroke and stuff.
0F is getting uncomfortably cold for a human. You gotta worry about frostbite and dying from the cold if underdressed.
In the middle, you'll probably live. Get locked out of the house taking out the trash when it's 15F? You're probably okay until you find a neighbor. Get locked out of the house taking out the trash when it's -15F? You have a moment of mental sheer panic where you realize you might be getting frostbite and require medical attention if you don't get inside in like <10 minutes.
But yea I still use C for almost everything.
I think basically all of these are rationalisation (and that goes for the celsius numbers too). They don't matter. You learn very early which numbers you actually care about, and they're pretty much never going to be 0 or 100 on either scale.
You're not going to be thinking about whether it's 0 outside or not if locked out; just whether or not you're freezing cold or not.
It's a minor difference either way, but I'm not going to switch to something slightly worse.
Either system is only "worse" when you're not used to it. It makes no practical difference other than when people try to argue for or against either system online.
The only real reason to consider switching would be that it's a pointless difference that creates minor friction in trade, but there too it's hardly a big deal given how small the effect is and how long it'd likely take to "pay for itself" in any kind of way, if ever.
It does not matter, because when the heating is on the difference between the temperature measured at ground, at ceiling, at the edges or at the centre of the room will easily be a couple of degrees or more apart depending on just how significant the temperature differential is with the outside. Have measured, as part of figuring out how the hell to get to within even 3-4 degrees of the same temperature at different places in the same open living areas.
Very few people live in houses that are insulated well enough and with good enough temperature control that they have anything close to that level of precision control over the temperature in their house.
But if it makes them feel better to think they do, then, hey, they can get my kind of thermostats. At last count there are now 5 thermostats on different heating options in my living room, all with 0.1C steps.
I also don't think most people can tell the difference between 68F and 69F unless they are experiencing them very close between, and the perceived heat at that precision is dependent on a lot more than just the measured heat.
I don't get why saying "in the 70s" is better than saying "around 24" besides being used to one way or the other.
Fahrenheit is not better and for any scientific/engineering/proper measurement you would use celsius or kelvin (which shares a scale with celsius but with a different zero-point) anyway, so why keep fahrenheit? Unless for purely traditional or cultural reasons.
The only time I'll buy that anyone manages that level of precision is if they live in a very modern house with near perfect insulation where the heating or cooling input needed to keep it in balance is near nothing.
And I'm not a scientist, but in science classes we were only using Kelvin, not Celsius. C and F aren't useful for proportions because 0 isn't 0. Even Rankine would be fine, just use different constants.
For those unaware, degrees Rankine are the same size as degrees Fahrenheit, but counting from absolute zero. It’s the English analogue to the French system’s Kelvin.
273K = 0°C = 32°F = 491°R
298K = 25°C = 77°F = 536°R
373K = 100°C = 212°F = 671°R
No. That's just crazy.
Celcius tells you how warm water feels.
Kelvin tells you how warm the atoms feel.
I’m really surprised to hear this tidbit, because I thought Leif Erickson was then first one from the old world to do venture there. Did Ancient Greeks really made contact with the Native Americans?
Gemini basically forces the current US ethnical representation fashions to every situation regardless of how well it fits.