French Embassy Fires Back At Associated Press For Claiming 'The French' Is Offensive

"The French" is offensive now, according to the Associated Press stylebook.

Well, it's not just offensive, it's "dehumanizing."

In a widely mocked tweet on Thursday, the AP Stylebook recommended against using "the" to describe groups of people.

Among other examples, they said that using "the French" to refer to people from France could be "often dehumanizing."

But the French embassy in the United States didn't take the AP's progressive absurdity lying down.

The official twitter account posted a photo editing their profile to read "Embassy of Frenchness in the US."

While that was an incredible, extremely French comeback, they were far from the only ones making fun of the AP.

One writer said that such labels should instead be thought of as "suffering from Frenchness," and be deserving of "compassion and prayers."

Hard to argue with that.

Megan McArdle pointed out that eliminating "the" would have consequences for the AP itself.

Another reply asked for the AP stylebook's opinion on movie titles starting with "the."

The French Are Just the Start

It's easy to make fun of the AP for their ridiculous assertions about "the French" in particular.

But even after they deleted the tweet and rephrased, they still referred to "the college-educated" as "dehumanizing."

When what's supposed to be an ostensibly neutral news reporting organization turns to such absurdity, it's extremely concerning.

"People experiencing college education," is supposed to be less offensive and dehumanizing, apparently.

It may seem trite and unimportant, but redefining language has become a major issue in recent years.

People experiencing Americanness can all agree on poking fun at the French. But it was nice to see them finally win a battle for once.