# Is 'limey' a slur? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [October 11, 2012, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394 "2012-10-11T05:38:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 8:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/21 "2012-10-11T20:09:17Z")
Thanks for the replies everyone. I was hoping a mod would make a ruling on this. If it wasn’t considered a slur or insult by board rules I would have ended my previous post with: “Sorry if I forget about the distinction between British and English, you’re all limeys to me.” Intended jocularly of course. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 8:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/22 "2012-10-11T20:49:48Z")
Apparently it doesn’t matter whether or not any member of that given nationality finds the term offensive. It apparently only matters if someone, somewhere, in some nation, _claims_ the term is offensive- and here’s the kicker- the term seemingly has to apply to a non-white. Even “White trash’ was deemed Ok, iirc. As I posted in GQ a little while ago about whether “Jap” was offensive: \*It really isn’t. Well, not to any significant degree. But people like to pretend to be offended, that way they can look and feel superior. Mind you, yes, some might find it rankles a tiny bit. But some use “Brit” as a slur, American Southerners use “Yank” as a slur, and I had a friend, a young black girl, who when called “Black” would declaim loudly “I am NOT black, I am a lovely shade of mocha.” There’s a zillion page thread on this in ATMB, where some claim that they are offended by the term “Paki” and that anyone using it might as well be wearing a white hood or a swastika armband- but oddly the one poster from Pakistan sates he doesnt find it in the least offensive. But others, who clearly knew better than him (how parochial! how ironic!) were ready to be offended for him, since clearly he didn’t know better. Mind you of course in context “Paki” and even “Jap” can be used as a slur, no doubt. \* ---
**Author:** ![Colibri](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/colibri/32/1841_2.png) [@Colibri](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Colibri)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/23 "2012-10-11T23:38:28Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > If not, is it an insult to call someone who is not English (like an Australian or South African) a ‘limey’? I would say this might be roughly parallel to a British person telling someone from Alabama that all Americans are “Yankees” as far as he’s concerned. Yankee can be used in an insulting way, but usually is not. Limey might possibly be a mild insult, but usually is used in a jocular fashion. [Merriam Webster](http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/limey) does not indicate it as being derogatory or pejorative. It’s certainly not a slur. [QUOTE=DrDeth] Apparently it doesn’t matter whether or not any member of that given nationality finds the term offensive. It apparently only matters if someone, somewhere, in some nation, claims the term is offensive- [/QUOTE] This was incorrect when you posted it before, and will continue to be incorrect no matter how many times you repeat it. ---
**Author:** ![Beastly\_Rotter](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/45deac/32.png) [@Beastly\_Rotter](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beastly_Rotter)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/24 "2012-10-12T00:04:05Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Apparently it doesn’t matter whether or not any member of that given nationality finds the term offensive. It apparently only matters if someone, somewhere, in some nation, _claims_ the term is offensive… Actually they have to have a quorum, and then they vote on it in committee. ---
**Author:** ![aldiboronti](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/9fc348/32.png) [@aldiboronti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aldiboronti)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/25 "2012-10-12T00:04:10Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > Scots are British, Sassenach refers purely to the English, and it is not offensive. Yes, it’s simply the Scots form of the word Saxon (the Welsh equivalent is Saeson, which is still the word they use for the English). Ironically many Scots themselves are descended from Saxon stock as the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria included south-east Scotland. As for limey I have no objections at all to being so called. ---
**Author:** ![Aquadementia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aquadementia/32/555_2.png) [@Aquadementia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aquadementia)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/26 "2012-10-12T00:06:06Z")
With the proper tone practically any word can be used as an insult, genius! (used only for an example 😉 ) However, much of the impact is lost if you don’t think the word is being used right. ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/27 "2012-10-12T00:27:20Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > I cannot think of a nationality term for British person that would be offensive. You are not thinking hard enough, Ex-empire Rulers comes to mind…😛 Pommy Bastards is often meant tongue in cheek. well mostly Lobster is a favourite, but I love calling someone from a nice part of England a gentrified chav. Now that PISSES people off. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/28 "2012-10-12T00:57:15Z")
> [@sisu](#): > > You are not thinking hard enough, Ex-empire Rulers comes to mind…😛 > > Pommy Bastards is often meant tongue in cheek. well mostly > > Lobster is a favourite, b > ut I love calling someone from a nice part of England a gentrified chav. Now that PISSES people off. 😃 Honestly none of those is offensive. Although now I’ve thought about it a bit more, I recognise that I cannot help but feel any british person who is offended by a british slur-term is a bit of a wuss, honestly. It’s utterly pathetic. So maybe I am slightly biased and some people are offended. But honestly I just cannot see how anyone that delicate is allowed outside by their parents. To be 100% clear - I am not just saying that someone offended by “offensive” terminologies for those of British stock like myself has thinner skin than me. I’m saying they actually think in a completely different way to 99.9% of British people. They’re so un-British that paradoxically so-called offsenive terms shouldn’t offend em becaue honestly no normal Brit is ever going to be offended by any anti-British term and those who might be are probably delicate wallflowers who are pretending to be British. **It’s that alien to me, seriously** Others of British stock will no doubt confirm. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/29 "2012-10-12T01:40:18Z")
> [@Siam\_Sam](#): > > I can’t recall hearing anyone referred to as a limey among my Brit and **Brit-type (Aussies, Kiwis etc) friends.** But Pom gets tossed around a lot. Oh-oh! Now you done done it! I see the Aussies and Kiwis rioting _en masse_ with torches and pitchforks over that remark! :eek: Actually, come to think of it: Aussies and Kiwis call _themselves_ Aussies and Kiwis (respectively), don’t they? Or am I imagining that? Aren’t they actually kind of proud of those colloquial names for themselves? Or am I imagining that too? Is anyone else but an Aussie allowed to call and Aussie an Aussie? Is anyone else but a Kiwi allowed to call a Kiwi a Kiwi? Is anyone else but a Yank allowed to call a Yank a Yank? etc. (Do Yanks even call Yanks Yanks?) Is every dentist everywhere a Yank? Do Aussies and Kiwis consider themselves to be “Brit-types”? 😕 Is there some way you are more “Brit-type” than Yanks? or Texans? Are Yanks and Texans, in any way at all, “Brit-types”? ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/30 "2012-10-12T02:10:30Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Oh-oh! Now you done done it! I see the Aussies and Kiwis rioting _en masse_ with torches and pitchforks over that remark! :eek: > > Actually, come to think of it: Aussies and Kiwis call _themselves_ Aussies and Kiwis (respectively), don’t they? Or am I imagining that? Aren’t they actually kind of proud of those colloquial names for themselves? Or am I imagining that too? Is anyone else but an Aussie allowed to call and Aussie an Aussie? Is anyone else but a Kiwi allowed to call a Kiwi a Kiwi? Is anyone else but a Yank allowed to call a Yank a Yank? etc. (Do Yanks even call Yanks Yanks?) Is every dentist everywhere a Yank? > > Do Aussies and Kiwis consider themselves to be “Brit-types”? 😕 Is there some way you are more “Brit-type” than Yanks? or Texans? Are Yanks and Texans, in any way at all, “Brit-types”? Of course we loved being called Aussies, what else would you call us? We are not second hand poms and whilst many of us have british ancestor a lot of us don’t. I am a mixture of all English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh, Finnish, Italian, German and the list goes on, so most aussies don’t consider themselves exclusively Brit Types. Bloody kiwis, try not to call them if I can, come over here stealing our jobs and bothering our sheep! They are ours, bugger off. ---
**Author:** ![Simple\_Linctus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Simple\_Linctus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Simple_Linctus)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/31 "2012-10-12T02:15:37Z")
yeah, well you would say that you bleddy convie ---
**Author:** ![ctnguy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/6de8d8/32.png) [@ctnguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ctnguy)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/32 "2012-10-12T02:22:21Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Do Aussies and Kiwis consider themselves to be “Brit-types”? 😕 Is there some way you are more “Brit-type” than Yanks? or Texans? Are Yanks and Texans, in any way at all, “Brit-types”? Within the Anglophone world there is definitely a broad division between America on the one hand and the Commonwealth, or what you might call “Brit-types” on the other (with Canada in an awkward position between the two). There is a lot that Britons, Australians, New Zealanders and English-speaking South Africans have in common that is not shared with Americans - sports, linguistic variation, various bits of culture, parliamentary government, Imperial history, the Commonwealth itself, continually fighting with American spellcheckers ;), etc. etc. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/33 "2012-10-12T02:39:13Z")
The town I live in is predominately pirate, and I burn in shame at every whispered “landlubber.” Do they really think I can’t tell they’re looking at me just because of their eyepatchs, or that I can’t tell that they’re pointing at me with their hooks? ---
**Author:** ![Siam\_Sam](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/d78d45/32.png) [@Siam\_Sam](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Siam_Sam)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/34 "2012-10-12T02:41:35Z")
> [@Senegoid](#): > > Oh-oh! Now you done done it! I see the Aussies and Kiwis rioting _en masse_ with torches and pitchforks over that remark! :eek: > > Actually, come to think of it: Aussies and Kiwis call _themselves_ Aussies and Kiwis (respectively), don’t they? Or am I imagining that? Aren’t they actually kind of proud of those colloquial names for themselves? Or am I imagining that too? Is anyone else but an Aussie allowed to call and Aussie an Aussie? Is anyone else but a Kiwi allowed to call a Kiwi a Kiwi? Is anyone else but a Yank allowed to call a Yank a Yank? etc. (Do Yanks even call Yanks Yanks?) Is every dentist everywhere a Yank? > > Do Aussies and Kiwis consider themselves to be “Brit-types”? 😕 Is there some way you are more “Brit-type” than Yanks? or Texans? Are Yanks and Texans, in any way at all, “Brit-types”? I’ve always hear Aussies and Kiwis call themselves and each other Aussies and Kiwis. “Brit-types” I mentioned just as my own shorthand and to see how it would play, heh. Oddly enough, I don’t really see Canadians as Brit-types. Maybe it’s because it’s not a real country anyway, as South Park taught us? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![sisu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/df705f/32.png) [@sisu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sisu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/35 "2012-10-12T04:14:01Z")
> [@Simple\_Linctus](#): > > yeah, well you would say that you bleddy convie Go and buy some vowels and try again. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![WotNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/e19b73/32.png) [@WotNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WotNot)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 8:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/36 "2012-10-12T08:32:13Z")
> [@aldiboronti](#): > > Yes, it’s simply the Scots form of the word Saxon (the Welsh equivalent is Saeson, which is still the word they use for the English). Ironically many Scots themselves are descended from Saxon stock as the Anglo-Saxon kingdom of Northumbria included south-east Scotland. Actually, Northumbria was settled by Angles, so Saxons still get to be the “southern softies”. ---
**Author:** ![amanset](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/8dc957/32.png) [@amanset](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amanset)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 10:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/37 "2012-10-12T10:37:07Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Apparently it doesn’t matter whether or not any member of that given nationality finds the term offensive. It apparently only matters if someone, somewhere, in some nation, _claims_ the term is offensive- and here’s the kicker- the term seemingly has to apply to a non-white. Even “White trash’ was deemed Ok, iirc. As I posted in GQ a little while ago about whether “Jap” was offensive: > \*It really isn’t. Well, not to any significant degree. > > But people like to pretend to be offended, that way they can look and feel superior. > > Mind you, yes, some might find it rankles a tiny bit. But some use “Brit” as a slur, American Southerners use “Yank” as a slur, and I had a friend, a young black girl, who when called “Black” would declaim loudly “I am NOT black, I am a lovely shade of mocha.” > > There’s a zillion page thread on this in ATMB, where some claim that they are offended by the term “Paki” and that anyone using it might as well be wearing a white hood or a swastika armband- but oddly the one poster from Pakistan sates he doesnt find it in the least offensive. But others, who clearly knew better than him (how parochial! how ironic!) were ready to be offended for him, since clearly he didn’t know better. > > Mind you of course in context “Paki” and even “Jap” can be used as a slur, no doubt. \* Yep, it seems like you still don’t understand what that “Paki” thing was all about. You are as wrong now as you were then, but it gets all the more embarrassing the more times you go on about it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_the](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/f4b2a3/32.png) [@What\_the](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_the)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/38 "2012-10-12T12:27:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Apparently it doesn’t matter whether or not any member of that given nationality finds the term offensive. It apparently only matters if someone, somewhere, in some nation, _claims_ the term is offensive- and here’s the kicker- the term seemingly has to apply to a non-white. Even “White trash’ was deemed Ok, iirc. As I posted in GQ a little while ago about whether “Jap” was offensive: > ] The significance of the voting bloc has a little something to do with it too. ---
**Author:** ![Irishman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/b487fb/32.png) [@Irishman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Irishman)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 5:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/39 "2012-10-12T17:40:27Z")
I personally see “limey” as a mild slur, something along the lines of a southerner calling someone a Yankee. It is intended as a mild put down, but is often done tongue-in-cheek. Not seeing an official mod response, I don’t see that the board would necessarily give warnings over it, but they could depending upon the context. In a heated exchange in GD, someone dropping a “you limey”, perhaps with colorful modifiers, could get sanctioned for a personal attack, i.e. attacking the poster rather than the post. ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2012, 7:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394/40 "2012-10-12T19:39:15Z")
> [@njtt](#): > > Actually, as a British person, I do find “limey” from Americans mildly offensive: more so, indeed, than “pom” or even in many cases “pommie bastard” from an Australian, which often seems to be intended jocularly. I often sense that “limey” is intended with a bit a sneer. That would be my exact intent were I ever to us it. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-limey-a-slur/637394.md?page=3)