Summary: An analysis of the variable ungrammaticality of sentences such as "I saw a Japanese yesterday" and its correlation with perceived rudeness.

1. *A Chinese walks into a bar...: English Ethnonym Ideologies Lauren Hall-Lew Elisabeth Norcliffe Stanford University

11. Word Category & Politeness Mass plurals aren’t even grammatical when referring to an individual, so why are they perceived as impolite at all?

29. Results: Demographics: Sex No apparent differences between male and female respondents:

30. Results: Demographics: Dialect But provocative differences between US and New Zealand respondents: No dialect difference for grammaticality, but Americans find CSP ethnonyms more impolite than Kiwis. An ideology of (avoiding) non-“P.C.” language?

32. Discussion: Politeness Politeness Judgments Grammaticality Judgments Word Class (N, Deadj N/Adj)

35. Discussion: Grammaticality and Politeness Thus, precisely in the class where there are number dependent grammaticality ratings, we find associated number dependent politeness ratings. (Chinese/Portuguese/Swiss) Where grammaticality does not vary according to number, we accordingly find no variation in politeness perception. Rather, politeness is conditioned by word category. (German/Turk/Chinese person etc)