quick question and redirect if there is a more appropriate forum…am i right in thinking countries take a feminine gender in english?
“our neighbor, China, a brother ??? sister ??? in whose veins runs the same blood as us”
as far as I know…yes
I would think so too.
In French for example I believe some countries take the Masc. gender some Fem. one. I wonder how they decided that one? 
- I think JD is basically correct – I usually see countries referred to in the feminine in English.
** Nevertheless, some countries (Germany, for example) uses the masculine gender to refer to their own country, and the English term follows and remains masculine (“the Fatherland”).
*** Don’t use genders when speaking/writing about countries.
I think Lichtenstein is male…maybe Monaco also…Malta…who knows…could be a lesbian…Togo…another toss-up.
Bulgaria…yeah female…with great big arms, a scowl on her face and a rag wrapped around her head.
North Korea…androgynous. But with a really bad haircut either way.
South Korea…yeah…female, wearing the traditional Korean high waisted dress. But she could kick the crap otta any guy.
While serving soju and bimbibop.
Uraguay…don’t ask…just don’t ask about that one.
Paraguay…male…Germanic.
Hey…this could be interesting.
Wrong!
DAS Vaterland is neutral. DIE Bundesrepublik Deutschland - the Federal Republic of Germany - female. Most country names in German are neutral (DAS Land - the country - neutral) except for those that have a gender-determined term in the country name: Die Republik China - the Republic of China- female because republic is female; die Elfenbeinkueste - the Ivory Coast - female because of Kueste…
HTH
Iris
Your geography sucks. Malta is the same as Estonia – transgender but pre-op. Tits and a willy.
[quote=“TainanCowboy”]I think Lichtenstein is male…maybe Monaco also…Malta…who knows…could be a lesbian…Togo…another toss-up.
Bulgaria…yeah female…with great big arms, a scowl on her face and a rag wrapped around her head.
North Korea…androgynous. But with a really bad haircut either way.
South Korea…yeah…female, wearing the traditional Korean high waisted dress. But she could kick the crap otta any guy.
While serving soju and bimbibop.
Uraguay…don’t ask…just don’t ask about that one.
Paraguay…male…Germanic.
Hey…this could be interesting.[/quote]
ok think u read a bit too much in to my question there cowboy…
but thanx everyone else 4 yr input…china is a girl its official…
[quote=“iris”]DAS Vaterland is neutral.[/quote]So shouldn’t it be “The Parentland” ? China on the other hand refers to the “Motherland”, no real reason for it being different, just is.
Aye and Scootland would be a very manly coontry.
In Scotland, the most important time for a young lad is when he “comes of age” and is allowed to purchase and wear his
first kilt. A couple of weeks before his important birthday, a young
lad went to a tailor shop and found the material he wanted for his first kilt.
He took the material to the tailor and said, “I’d like ye to make me a kilt with this material here and, if ye don’t
mind, I’d like ye to make me a pair of matching underwear for it. I hear it gets a might drafty up dem tings!”
So the tailor took the material and promised to call the young lad when the order was completed. A few days later the
tailor called the lad back to the shop.
“Here’s ye kilt, and here’s ye matching underwear, and here’s five yards of the material left over. Ye might want to
take it home and keep it in case you want anything else made of it.”
So the lad rushed home with his order, threw the material in his room, and donned his kilt. In his excitement, he
decided to run to his girlfriend’s house to show off his new purchase. Unfortunately, in his excitement, he forgot
to don his underwear.
When his girlfriend answered the door, he pointed to his kilt and said, “Well, what’d ye think?”
“Ah, but dat’s a fine looking kilt,” she exclaimed.
“Aye, and if ye like it, ye’ll really like what’s underneath,” he stated as he lifted his kilt to show here.
“Oh, but dat’s a dandy,” his girlfriend shouted admiringly.
Still not realizing that he didn’t have his underwear on he exclaimed quite proudly, “Aye, and if ye like it, I’ve
got five more yards of it at home!”
[quote=“iris”]Wrong!
DAS Vaterland is neutral.[/quote]
Yeah, you got me there Iris. Quite right: das Vaterland. 
(See? I told you I hadn’t spoken much German since I was a young lad 
)
Canada uses the ape gender
Namibia should be male, judging from its shape on a map…
So should Scandinavia, judging from the euro.
Chile is a male, too, very long but a real pencildick.
The U.K. is a…what do you call them over in England? Poofters? Bumboys? Limp-wristed tea-sippers? Rum, sodomy, and the lash? Chums at all-male public schools? Yes, England is male, but with such a reputation…
So should Scandinavia, judging from the euro.
[/quote]
Scandinavia’s been circumcised?
So should Scandinavia, judging from the euro.
[/quote]
Ok, now I understand why you were licking the “coin” at the Alleycat’s birthday bash. 
Actually iris and myself discussed this yesterday and came to the following conclusion about usage of genders in German:
‘Das Vaterland’ (the Fatherland) / ‘das Mutterland’ (the Motherland) is neutral because of ‘das Land’.
‘Die Bundesrepublik’ (the Federal Republic) is female because of ‘Republik’.
‘Die Vereinigten Staaten’ (the US) and ‘die Niederlande’ (the Netherlands) use the female form because it’s plural (‘der’ Staat (the state) is male).
‘Der Kongo’ (Congo) is obviously male.
England does not have a gender - but than it’s not a country either 
In all the Latin-based languages (French, Spanish, Italian, Romanian, Portuguese), all the nouns (including proper nouns) have clearly defined genders… so it’s really easy to tell the “gender” of a country - unlike in English. 
And… I think most country names have feminine gender (with a few exceptions, like Taiwan, Egypt, Niger etc.)
The Chinese “Motherland” is a misleading translation. It’s “tzu guo” in Mandarin, which means “Ancestral Country.”
Greece was named after a man (named Hellen, though, if that doesn’t make things ambigous). So was Bolivia, the Dominican Republic, and the former Rhodesia. And Israel!
Grammatical femininity and um, archtypal femininity don’t necessarily coincide. In German, an onion is feminine but a girl is neuter.