# Poll: Is the term "Limey" offensive? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [September 6, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291 "2004-09-06T02:04:41Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/1 "2004-09-06T02:04:41Z")
My wife and I were discussing license plates and she thought I should get a personalized one to signify that I am British (living in the US). We talked about various ideas but not many of them would make a lot of sense of fit on the license plates here in Michigan (I think you can have 7 characters on your plate). Then my wife came up with the idea of Limey. I know it is a term which used to be used as a kind of derogatory term for a British person, especially (or maybe solely) someone in the Navy. Is it still considered offensive? I personally am not offended by it, but I would be interested to know how others feel. Also, can anyone else think of something using only 7 letters which would indicate that I am British? (BTW, I do have a British flag plate on the front of the car). ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/2 "2004-09-06T02:12:25Z")
What exactly does “Limey” mean? I don’t find it offensive, I always thought it was the equivelant of “Yank” for us merkins. But then, not being British, I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/3 "2004-09-06T02:23:15Z")
If you are an Englishman, you can probably get away with it. But, I am sure someone somewhere will be horribly offended. It would be like me (Italian ancestry) getting a license that says dago or greaseball. It would probably upset someone. If I remember, the term Limey comes from the British Navy, from the days when ships carried limes to ward off scurvy. I guess whether you get that plate or not really depends on whether you care about “political correctness”. ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 2:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/4 "2004-09-06T02:23:29Z")
It refers to the practice of Brtish seamen being given limes to protect against, I believe, scurvy, a disease caused by a lack of Vitamin C. And I don’t consider it a slur but, then again, I’m a Yank. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/5 "2004-09-06T02:25:08Z")
For that matter, where the heck did Yank or Yankee come from? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/6 "2004-09-06T02:33:40Z")
From what I understand, no one knows for sure but the explanation I see most often is that it’s a take-off on _Janke_, a Dutch diminutive of \*Jan \*(John in English) and that “Yankee Doodle Dandee” popularized it. ---
**Author:** ![CanvasShoes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/74df32/32.png) [@CanvasShoes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CanvasShoes)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/7 "2004-09-06T02:40:37Z")
From this site: [http://www.etymonline.com/y1etym.htm](http://www.etymonline.com/y1etym.htm) Yankee - 1683, probably applied disparagingly by Dutch settlers in New Amsterdam (New York) to English colonists in neighboring Connecticut. It may be from Du. Janke, dim. of common personal name Jan, or from Jan Kes familiar form of “John Cornelius,” or perhaps an alt. of Jan Kees, dial. variant of Jan Kaas, lit. “John Cheese,” the generic nickname the Flemings used for Dutchmen. It originally seems to have been applied insultingly to Dutch, especially freebooters, before they turned around and slapped it on the English. In Eng. a term of contempt (1750s) before its use as a general term for “native of New England” (1765). Shortened form Yank in reference to “an American” first recorded 1778. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/8 "2004-09-06T04:14:15Z")
I wouldn’t find it any more offensive than any other personalized plate. I’d be willing to bet that it’s either already taken or on the state’s list of forbidden plates since it is ethnic in nature. If LIMEY is unavailable, how about IMABRIT? ---
**Author:** ![Ephemera](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/8baadc/32.png) [@Ephemera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ephemera)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/9 "2004-09-06T04:41:33Z")
BRITON, maybe? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/10 "2004-09-06T04:49:47Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > What exactly does “Limey” mean? I don’t find it offensive, I always thought it was the equivelant of “Yank” for us merkins. But then, not being British, I could be wrong. Let me educate you on something. In many cases, the word “Yank” is really the polite form of the word “Septic”. In rhyming cockney slang, “septic tank” rhymes with “yank” and one can hear the word “septic” tossed around and considered the height of piss taking by an awful lot of Brits. I’ve certainly heard it from Sandhurst graduates, Oxbridge alumni, scrappy bond dealers, and many others. So, when you hear “Yank” it can and often is not a neutral or polite term. Bless our buddies down under as they’ve co-opted the term into “seppo.” Of course Aussies tend to use “Pom” instead of “Limey”. Nonetheless, if they are the kind to use the word “Pom” or “Limey” it’s usually pretty clear what the meaning is because they also attach the suffix “bastard” afterwards. AFAIK, in the US, when “Limey” is used, there is no implied or outright “bastard” attached to it. Someone somewhere in the US will probably take offense, but Limey really doesn’t have much baggage these days. ---
**Author:** ![rolandgunslinger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/cdc98d/32.png) [@rolandgunslinger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rolandgunslinger)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 4:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/11 "2004-09-06T04:51:13Z")
> [@CanvasShoes](#): > > What exactly does “Limey” mean? I don’t find it offensive, I always thought it was the equivelant of “Yank” for us merkins. But then, not being British, I could be wrong. I must say that I find the word MERKIN very very offensive… After all… isnt that another name for a PUBIC HAIR wig? HOW DARE YOU! 😃😉 ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 10:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/12 "2004-09-06T10:31:41Z")
Does ‘Limey’ mean an English person specifically, or a Brit? I.e. could you call a Scot a Limey? Anyway, it doesn’t particularly offend this Limey, perhaps because it just sounds so… _silly_. Old-fashioned. It’s hard to take seriously as an insult. As for a seven-letter word meaning ‘British’, well the answer’s in the question, isn’t it? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![seosamh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ce7236/32.png) [@seosamh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/seosamh)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 10:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/13 "2004-09-06T10:41:37Z")
If you’re going to use an alternative term to speak about the people who live in Great Britain, then Limey seems fairly inoffensive to me (but then, I’m the bloke who caused a kerfuffle elsewhere about the use of the S-word for United Statesmen, so take no notice of me). **Pom** or varieties thereof does not have any obviously rude connotations, given its unclear and disputed origins, but one would only expect an Antipodean to use it. ---
**Author:** ![garius](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e19b73/32.png) [@garius](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garius)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 12:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/14 "2004-09-06T12:27:38Z")
I’ve no problem with being called a limey. To me its like “Yank” - its only offensive if offense is implied. ---
**Author:** ![Ponster](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ponster/32/17081_2.png) [@Ponster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ponster)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 12:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/15 "2004-09-06T12:36:45Z")
> [@Usram](#): > > I.E. could you call a Scot a Limey?) Well I guess you could try, but probably best not to 🙂 Even if ‘limey’ refers to a British sailor back in the gool 'ol days, now it’s slang specificly for ‘Englishman’. We call the Scots something else. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 2:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/16 "2004-09-06T14:35:02Z")
I wouldn’t be offended by “limey.” And I don’t think most other people would be either. ---
**Author:** ![RickQ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@RickQ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RickQ)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 3:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/17 "2004-09-06T15:10:50Z")
Thanks for all your responses. I think the general consensus is that it is not offensive to most people. **Otto** , I like the IM A BRIT idea (with or without spaces). I might look in to that too. Rick ---
**Author:** ![paulberserker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/c4cdca/32.png) [@paulberserker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/paulberserker)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 3:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/18 "2004-09-06T15:31:57Z")
I wouldn’t take offence. It now always reminds me of Terence Stamp in the film ‘The Limey’, and he kicked arse in that. Should always be said in a hammed up cockerney accent too. the LI-mey! ---
**Author:** ![yojimbo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yojimbo/32/232_2.png) [@yojimbo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/yojimbo)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/19 "2004-09-06T15:34:28Z")
IIRC the admin/mods have said in the past that “septic” is not to be used. Can’t see why either term should be offensive by default. It’s all in the way it’s use is intended by the speaker. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2004, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291/20 "2004-09-06T16:19:29Z")
I suspect **China Guy** may have his causes and effects mixed up - the rhyming slang “septic (tank)” was invented to play off the previously existing slang term “Yank” … Quick search for the origins of septic tanks turns up [this page](http://fapel.org/english/ansepti16.htm), which strongly suggests that generations of Britons have called Americans “Yanks” before the septic tank was even thought of … and most still do; rhyming slang is a contrived thing, very much restricted to a particular London subculture - not much of it has, in fact, permeated into British English at large. As to the OP: eh. I suppose “Limey” sounds a bit nicer than “Brit”, and the etymology can hardly be considered offensive, can it? “Look at that bloke there, he doesn’t have a deficiency disease” … not a killing insult, I would have thought. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/poll-is-the-term-limey-offensive/263291.md?page=2)