talking like your city is the default and everyone knows which one you’re talking about.
Does this mean that everyone must always specify the geographic area they are from when they talk about it lest they risk being accused of assuming everyone knows? I often say that “we need public transit in my city” and it never once crossed my mind that other people would know or assume what city I’m referring to.
I still don’t see how saying that you want x or y in your country is equivalent to talking like your community is the default.
I would totally agree if the statement was “we need x in my country and you all should vote for it” because that would be assuming everyone reading is able to participate and therefore lives there. But that’s far from what the statement was, which made no assumptions and didn’t even mention a country. All they said was that they want something in their country.
“We need this as a city” and “we need this in my city” have a different meaning imo. First one makes it sound like you’re including us in your “we”, as in the people in your city.
Does this mean that everyone must always specify the geographic area they are from when they talk about it lest they risk being accused of assuming everyone knows? I often say that “we need public transit in my city” and it never once crossed my mind that other people would know or assume what city I’m referring to.
I still don’t see how saying that you want x or y in your country is equivalent to talking like your community is the default.
I would totally agree if the statement was “we need x in my country and you all should vote for it” because that would be assuming everyone reading is able to participate and therefore lives there. But that’s far from what the statement was, which made no assumptions and didn’t even mention a country. All they said was that they want something in their country.
“We need this as a city” and “we need this in my city” have a different meaning imo. First one makes it sound like you’re including us in your “we”, as in the people in your city.
Doesn’t “as a city” just tell you who the “we” refers to? As in “we, the people of our city, need x”? That’s how I understand it.
Yes it does imo, and the “we” would include everyone else as part of that city, which is what bothers some people.