• idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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      4 days ago

      VW means people’s car.

      That’s not wrong, but Volk is more nuanced than that. Think somewhere between folk and ethnicity, so it’s still fascist.

      • pumpkinseedoil@mander.xyz
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        3 days ago

        Not entirely true

        Substantiv, Neutrum [das]

        1. durch gemeinsame Kultur und Geschichte [und Sprache] verbundene große Gemeinschaft von Menschen “ein freies, unterdrücktes Volk”

        2. [ohne Plural] Masse der Angehörigen einer Gesellschaft, der Bevölkerung eines Landes, eines Staatsgebiets “das arbeitende, werktätige, unwissende Volk”

        1. Many people who’re connected through similar history and culture, “a free people”, “a suppressed people”
        2. [without plural] Members of a society, the inhabitants of a country, “the working people”, …
        • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          No, it’s definitely not a comprehensive definition, I was going for the meaning in context of VW. The correct response to pedantry is pedantry, though :)

        • idiomaddict@lemmy.world
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          3 days ago

          In German spoken since the nazis used it as a propaganda term it has taken on a different connotation. The denotation of “Volk” may be “people” in some senses, but “Menschen” fits much better for most uses of people. “A people” is “ein Volk,” but “people” is most commonly used as the plural of “person,” which would be “Mensch.” “Volk” has an ethnic connotation, which the singular meaning of “people” has, but the plural does not.