Wikipedia:Reference desk/Archives/Language/2018 December 17

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December 17

Source needed for demonym for people from Edinburgh

I recently tried to update the Edinburgh article with the demonym Edinburger, taken from the page List of adjectivals and demonyms for cities which in turn cites a chart from Google Books. However, other editors have said this is not a sufficient source, and I myself think it might be in original research territory for some editor to generate that chart and then cite it as a source. However, searching on Google for a source results in a number of not-particularly-reliable sources. Does anyone have a good source? (Please ping when replying.) Airbornemihir (talk) 04:20, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Airbornemihir, I'm coming across more usages of Edinburgher than of Edinburger in English-language sources (German is another matter), but finding an actual statement that it's the demonym isn't easy. The Macau Daily Times, of all things, says that "Someone from Edinburgh is called an ‘Edinburgher’". I don't know if you'd consider that a reliable source. --Antiquary (talk) 11:43, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

@Antiquary: Thank you! I think the Macau Daily Times should be an OK source; if I recall the reliable sources policy correctly, any newspaper with some kind of editorial process should qualify, except for egregious cases such as the Daily Mail. I haven't heard anything like that about the Macau Daily Times, so I'll add Edinburgher with that reference - can you please provide me with a link or a citation? Airbornemihir (talk) 12:07, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

It could depend on the age of that newspaper article. If it's too recent, their source could be Wikipedia. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 13:05, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Sorry Airbornemihir, here's the missing link. Bugs, it's a 2018 article, but the List of adjectivals and demonyms for cities can hardly be the writer's source since that gives the word as Edinburger. She's a Scot, so it's doubtless local knowledge. --Antiquary (talk) 14:51, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Closer to home than Macau Airbornemihir, is Simpson, Andy (2013). Why Would Anyone Want to Swing a Cat? and 499 other questions. Constable & Robinson Ltd. p. 163. ISBN 978-1-84901-650-6. which says: "the most popular name is simply 'Edinburgher'" quoting Adrian Room, the author of Dictionary of Place Names in the British Isles. Alansplodge (talk) 17:32, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

@Alansplodge: Thanks for the additional source! Airbornemihir (talk) 18:25, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

The term "burgher" in general is about 450 years old. ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 18:12, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

@Baseball Bugs: Thanks for the due diligence! Airbornemihir (talk) 18:25, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

The Edinburgh article is now updated. Airbornemihir (talk) 18:27, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

How would "Edinburgher" be pronounced? Like a McDonald's "burger"? Or something else? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:14, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Yes I think it must be like "burger", although Edinburgh itself is pronounced like Edin-borough or more usually "Edin-bra". Numerous chatroom discussions suggest that many Edinburgh natives dislike "Edinburgher", perhaps because rival Glaswegians rudely refer to them as "Edinbuggers". Alansplodge (talk) 19:36, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

They'd prefer maybe "Edinburglars"? ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 19:38, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Or "Edinbourgeoisie"? Deor (talk) 19:44, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Oddly enough, the "bourgeoisie" part derives from the same thing as "burgher". ←Baseball Bugs ^{What's up, Doc?} carrots→ 20:16, 17 December 2018 (UTC)

Interesting. Airbornemihir (talk) 07:24, 18 December 2018 (UTC)

See Wiktionary:Edinbourgeois. Alansplodge (talk) 13:32, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

@Airbornemihir: Multiple answers, some interesting and some funny, but no one sourced, can be found at https://www.theguardian.com/notesandqueries/query/0,5753,-21256,00.html
:) CiaPan (talk) 14:20, 20 December 2018 (UTC)

@CiaPan: I laughed! Airbornemihir (talk) 16:52, 20 December 2018 (UTC)