Names of inhabitants of the U.K.

[Pranav]

Pom - actually POME stands for "Prisoner Of Mother England" and was coined because new antipodean artivals still had the accent from the motherland and a debt to pay off...

 

[silverbull96]

Just thought of this:
A politician would be able to say Brit and not be attacked because of it, but just let him say 'Chinky', or 'Paki' and see the brown smelly stuff hit the fan.

Of course if you Prince Philip you can say what you want!!!

EDIT:
Thanks Richie, did not know that little nugget.

 

[Ryan5]

kosh i only reacted to your statememtn...what i read form it was that shortening british to brit is ok and not racist so therefore calling a pakistani and paki is ok and not racist.

i fi made a mistake im sorry but i can only go on the content of your post as i do not know you personally.



This is hte sort of statment that makes me think "oh dear" please think about what you say. you think its ok to say chinky but would chinese appreciate it???

hitler thought it was ok to kill jews....was he right??? HELL NO!

 

[ohioguy4jc]

Im sure it has.

But what if you say it in a none insulting way but i am still offended?

Why is it that the words are derrived the same way but seem to have such different meanings?

[edit]you where going on the content of my post? when did i say it was ok or not ok to say anything?? right or wrong didnt come into it.

 

[Winterlain]

its all about the context in which the word sare used.

Paki has a historical context of being used in a derrogatory way...hence it is genrally considered racist and unacceptable. this , however, does not apply to the word brit.

if you personally do not like to be called it then tell whoever calls you that , that you do not like it

 

[Jiminy]

Can anyone else feel the lumbering giant of political correctness moving into action???



any name for a person is only degretory by the way you say it to them, and what if any swear words you place around the name

 

[Secrete]

That's hardley a fair analogy, it's not like I'm going in and killing them all.
I was under the immpression that the term 'chinkey' refers to chinese food as opposed to chinese people? I spose next time I go for a take away I'll ask them. They like me in there anyway because I can say 'Ni Hao' when I go in, 'Xiexie' when I get my food and 'Zaijian' when I leave. I wonder if I can work out how to ask the guy if he finds the term 'chinky' offensive in mandarin, hhmmm...

 

[Tillion]

if you dont realise its offensive then

 

[sunflowerkisses88]

Its easy to label it as political correctness if you havnt suffered from racism...if you had you obviously wouldnt take it so lighly.

 

[ericg72391]

I think people have gotten so sensitive to words and descriptions that its almost impossible to call anyone anything but their name. In the south being called a yank or yankee is a slur. The "N" word when referring to a black person used to be totally off limits to ANYONE. Now its a term of friendship between some black people. Names to refer to white people are a bit more subtle I think, but an awful lot of words can be slurs depending on how their used. Boy, how'd we ever get from GB to racial slurs. HIJACKED!!!!!

 

[PURPLE_SKYZ]

To be honest gedhab it sounds like you are living in a bubble. I've grown up with close freinds from many ethnic minorities. We often call each other by 'racist' names with no ill effect, it's just being matey.
I fail to see how going round putting restrictions on certain, almost random, words will help the bigger problem of racism. The only racist attacks I've ever been witness to have involved fists and broken bottles, not silly little words like paki or chinkey.

 

[GillBATES]

OK then, because I am late to the thread, I will just reply to a post from the first page

Timmeh! - Aye, Geordies - people from Newcastle Upon Tyne and Tyneside, Mackems - people from Sunderland and Wearside, Smoggies - people from Middlesbro and Teesside, Monkey Hangers - people from Hartlepool.

In case you are wondering why they are called Monkey Hangers, its because a monkey was found on a boat (first monkey to be seen round these parts, other than Chimpcheng.) The locals thought the monkey was a spy, so they hanged it. Its also the reason why the Hartlepool United football team mascot, and town mayor is a giant monkey called Hangus.

 

[kiwina]

To be fair...you dont know me so dont make assumtions.

I toohave friends from all ethnic backgrounds, however you live in essex, which may explain the way you tret racist name calling with "a pinch of salt"



This just perpetuates it and makes it seem ok to use these words without thinking about there effect on others.

sorry to go on about it but i think im making a valid point.

 

[chickensuit21]

Well I honestly just don't understand it. I don't get offended when my freinds call me 'snow white' or 'the milkybar kid' or 'undercooked' (hehe that one just makes me laugh) anymore than they get offended when I comment on their ethnic background. But i'm not going to continue on this point 'cause like kman said, this thread has been well and truely highjacked and i don't like the way it's headed.

Peace.

 

[Lucky7]

We don't ordinarily refer to ourselves as "Yanks" unless we are northerners among a group of southerners (and the designation "Yanks" is often reserved for the baseball team, the New York Yankees ). We use "Americans" and whatever designation applies to our state, such as "Texan" or "New Yorker" ("New Yorker" can also refer to someone from New York City). In the case of my state, it's "New Hampshireman" (I kid you not).

Ethnic designations such as "Irish American" or "Italian American" are usually only used in contexts where it would be important.

By the way, the use of "chink" or "chinky" to refer to a Chinese person or a Chinese restaurant is considered derogatory here -- about at the same level as using the "N" word.

 

[shourov316]

OOOoooohhh a racist slur on the good character of all those from essex...

I am with Mark C... toooooooo much PC... yep there are those more sensitive to racism than others and there are those that look for racism in anything that is said... then they ignore it if its reversed...

POME... spot on also POHM... prisoner of her majesty which I believe was the lettering on the back of the jacket the convicts had to wear... also Limey comes from the Brit (oopps racism) sailors who used to eat/suck on limes to stop the dread disease scurvy...

 

[JennaJames]

The political correctness thing is way to much out of proportion.

it has taken over everything IMHO.

But I love that term Monkey Hanger, that is a classic

ik

 

[jackjacoman]

To me the only meaning of the word "Yankee" was the baseball team from New York, until I moved to Trinidad for a semester as an undergrad, where I was perpetually referred to as "Yank" or "Yankee" or "White Boy."

Generally I think of myself as American, sometimes as Norwegian-American. I find I think of myself less as "Norwegian-American" now that I have some friends who are actual born-in-Norway, speak-Norwegian Norwegians. I feel a little presumtuous (sp?) calling myself Norwegian when I've never been to Norway and, aside from a few phrases, can't speak Norwegian, regardless of where my great-grandparents came from.

 

[melkaylo]

Oh, this gets sticky: People from Phoenix are referred to as Phoenicians, which is rather odd since we have no ties to the Arabian Peninsula

Now, even though I live in Peoria I'd still use the terms Arizonan or zoni and Phoenician because people who haven't lived here would have no idea where I was from if I said I was a Peorian or Glendalite. (BTW: People in San Diego, CA often referrer to zonies as a derogatory term because it seems the whole state either vacations in San Diego or in Mexico)

Wait! It gets worse...No one is from Arizona, this state is at least 70% transplants, so you seldom meet anyone from here. Most people will identify themselves by state or city of birth, So I'm actually a Washingtonian or Seattlite, well almost anyhow because I was born in a city near Seattle that no one has heard of...Make sense? Probably not.

 

[firedupdawg]

So, if no-one has heard of your city that would make you a .

Maybe people from Phoenix could call themsleves Firestarters and have some real fun.

(Just kidding all you PC types!)

W