History Main / OfThePeople

This trope is inspired by--but not the same as--a fairly common occurrence in the names that peoples historically gave to themselves and their neighbors. The most famous example in the West is the autonym (name given to themselves) of the Germans of late antiquity and the early Middle Ages, ''diutisc''. ''Diutisc'' means "[[TropeNamer of the people]]" and is reflected in the modern German word ''Deutsch'' ("German", with the meaning "of the people" known only as a curiosity to the linguistically inclined) and the English word "Dutch" (which Netherlandish people haven't used for centuries). Its linguistic opposite was ''Walha(z)'', "stranger" or "foreigner", which gave its name to such diverse places as [[UsefulNotes/{{Belgium}} Wallonia]], [[UsefulNotes/{{Romania}} Wallachia]], and [[LandOfMyFathersAndTheirSheep Wales]], which have in common that they were places Germanic people met non-Germanic ones. Similarly, the word "Slav" is derived from a common Slavic word for "speech" or "talk"; the Slavic peoples often applied the term "nemetsi" (or similar terms), meaning "mute", to their neighbors, particularly Germans (resulting in many Slavic languages having derived words for Germany and German--and Turkish and Arabic calling Austria ''Nimsa'' to this day). On a related note, "Inuit" means "the people" in Inuktitut.

As you may have noticed, these terms identify the group as "the people" or "the speaking ones"--they don't deny other groups' humanity, they simply identify themselves as a people--as in a nation/tribe/whatever--and foreigners as, well, foreigners--human, but not of the nation/tribe/group. As a result, these are ''not'' examples, nor are most similar linguistic situations; ones that are can cause conflict, so '''NoRealLifeExamplesPlease''.

No Real Life examples, Please.

* CyranoDeBergerac: At act II Scene VI, Roxane and Cyrano discuss this trope about the attitude the Gascon Cadets take if you want to be part of the regiment not being a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascon]]. The GenreSavvy Roxane ask Cyrano his help to avert this trope with Christian. At Act II Scene IX, we see this trope played straight: Christian is from Touraine, and that means he is not a Gascon, so he is [[EatingLunchAlone ostracized]], is being given an EmbarrassingNickname, and he is subjected to the charming InitiationCeremony (condoned by the otherwise benevolent Captain Carbon!) consistent of a DareToBeBadass to BullyingTheDragon mentioning the word [[BerserkButton “nose” to Cyrano]].

* In ''LittleBigMan'', the character played by Dustin Hoffman used the term "Human Being" when referring to "The People".

-> ''They called themselves the Munrungs. It meant The People, or The True Human Beings. It's what most people call themselves, to begin with. And then one day the tribe meets some other People or, if it's not been a good day, The Enemy. If only they'd think up a name like Some More True Human Beings, it'd save a lot of trouble later on.''

* In ''{{Traveller}}'' the Aslan name themselves ''Fteir'' which means "People of honor".

* Treecats in HonorHarrington call themselves The People and call humans "two-legs". This is not out of disdain; they are in fact rather in awe of humans.

* In the 1982 ''DoctorWho'' serial ''Kinda'', the Kinda refer to themselves as "we" and outsiders as "not-we".
** Some ''DoctorWho'' fans refer to non-fans as "the not We".

''Please put RealLife examples in TroperTales.''

CyranoDeBergerac: At act II Scene VI, Roxane and Cyrano discuss this trope about the attitude the Gascon Cadets take if you want to be part of the regiment not being a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascon]]. The GenreSavvy Roxane ask Cyrano his help to avert this trope with Christian. At Act II Scene IX, we see this trope played straight: Christian is from Touraine, and that means he is not a Gascon, so he is [[EatingLunchAlone ostracized]], is being given an EmbarrassingNickname, and he is subjected to the charming InitiationCeremony (condoned by the otherwise benevolent Captain Carbon!) consistent of a DareToBeBadass to BullyingTheDragon mentioning the word [[BerserkButton: “nose” to Cyrano]].

CyranoDeBergerac: At act II Scene VI, Roxane and Cyrano discuss this trope about the attitude the Gascon Cadets take if you want to be part of the regiment not being a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascon]]. The GenreSavvy Roxane ask Cyrano his help to avert this trope with Christian. At Act II Scene IX, we see this trope played straight: Christian is from Touraine, and that means he is not a Gascon, so he is [[EatingLunchAlone ostracized]], is being given an EmbarrassingNickname, and he is subjected to the charming InitiationCeremony (condoned by the otherwise benevolent Captain Carbon!) consistent of a DareToBeBadass to BullyingTheDragon mentioning the word [[Berserk Button: “nose” to Cyrano]].
--> '''Roxane:''' Nay, but I felt a terror, here, in the heart,

--> '''Roxane:''' Ah! Think how I

--> '''Cyrano:''' ''(between his teeth):'' Not causelessly![[AC:LiveActionTV]]

CyranoDeBergerac: At act II Scene VI, Roxane and Cyrano discuss this trope about the attitude the Gascon Cadets take if you want to be part of the regiment not being a [[ProudWarriorRaceGuy Gascon]]. The GenreSavvy Roxane ask Cyrano his help to avert this trope with Christian. At Act II Scene IX, we see this trope played straight: Christian is from Touraine, and that means he is not a Gascon, so he is [[AloneAtLunch ostracized]], is being given an EmbarrassingNickname, and he is subjected to the charming IniciationCeremony (condoned by the otherwise benevolent Captain Carbon!) consistent of a DareToBeBadass to BullyingTheDragon mentioning the word [[Berserk Button: “nose” to Cyrano]].
--> '''Roxane:''' Nay, but I felt a terror, here, in the heart,

--> '''Roxane:''' Ah! Think how I

--> '''Cyrano:''' ''(between his teeth):'' Not causelessly!

[[AC:LiveActionTV]]

* The People in Ursula Vernon's {{Digger}} (a tribe of semi-anthropomorphic hyenas) operate this way. A little more significant than some of these examples because it determines whether or not you're fair game to be ''lunch''.

* From TerryPratchett's ''The Carpet People'':
-->''They called themselves the Munrungs. It meant The People, or The True Human Beings.''\\
''It's what most people call themselves, to begin with. And then one day the tribe meets some other People or, if it's not been a good day, The Enemy. If only they'd think up a name like Some More True Human Beings, it'd save a lot of trouble later on.''

* The People in Ursula Vernon's Digger (a tribe of semi-anthropomorphic hyenas) operate this way. A little more significant than some of these examples because it determines whether or not you're fair game to be ''lunch''.

** Some ''DoctorWho'' fans refer to non-fans as "the not We".

* In the 1982 ''DoctorWho'' serial ''Kinda'', the Kinda refer to themselves as "we" and outsiders as "not-we".

* In the ''StarTrekTOS'' episode ''Return of the Archons'', outsiders were said to be ''not of the body''.

* In the ''StarTrekTOS'' episode ''Return of the Archons'', outsiders were said to be ''not of the body''.
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