I had a roommate once from Ireland who’d sometimes call me a Yank; I didn’t think a thing of it, and was shocked to learn after months of living with him that he meant it every time as a dig. Amused, too, (and still not offended), because I thought he was misusing the word.
I’m also doubtful that “Yankee” coming from the lips of a southerner is in and of itself pejorative. Half my extended family is from the South, and while I’m aware that there’s a general dislike of the North, “Yankee” itself never felt like a loaded term.
Most Brits are very unaware of the exact meaning of Yank. he’ll, I am an educated guy but I only learnt when I was 25 and in the US. Our office was in Atlanta, as was the manager i was under. I casually reffered to him as a yank, thinking it was inoffensive, and had things explained to me.
Still, it wasn’t as bad as the fourth of July. I was asked if i went out over the holiday to see any parades. I was honest in my reply, i had not as seeing so many Stars and Stripes makes me, as a foreigner, uncomfortable. Admitedly I explained it badly. I should have been less specific and explained that in the UK we don’t do nationalism and flag waving. But i didn’t and the reaction i got from a group of about eight was akin to me having dragged someone’s mum onto the table and pissed in her face.
Still, you live and learn. And i learnt something in those two situations.
The fact that there’s often a smile when it is said doesn’t mean that it’s nice. See also “Bless your heart”.
**Ms. Attack **is from Canada, and for a while we lived in Connecticut. She was continually irritated by the in-you-face patriotism in the US. Sometimes it was literally in one’s face, as you’d come around a corner and be smacked by a low flying Old Glory.
I tried asking an ex (who was born in east Asia, but raised in the US) why the word “Oriental” was no longer acceptable. She replied, “I’m a person, not a kind of food.” To which I answered, “Speaking of food, do you want Middle-Eastern or Italian tonight?”
Nobody says “I’m a person, not a terrier” when you call them Scottish, or “I’m a person, not a conservatory” when you call them a New Englander, or “I’m a person, not an arithmetic/algebraic notation system” when you call them Polish, or “I’m a person, not a type of football” when you call them American.
Really, it’s hard to think of an ethnic/origin term that doesn’t also apply to things other than people, often including things that don’t actually come from the appropriate region. So what?
The simple fact is that “Oriental” isn’t offensive because of its meaning; it’s offensive because the people it referred to decided they didn’t like the term that had been foisted on them. Which is fine; they’re allowed to do that. But that doesn’t mean any justification any such person comes up with is valid.
By the way, the ex in question wasn’t all that offended by the word. I can’t remember a single time when she ate “Oriental flavor” ramen noodles without making some joke like, “It’s not cannibalism, because they make it out of Koreans, not Laotians.” But she preferred to be called “Asian”, so that’s what I called her (on the rare occasions when I had to call her anything, that is).
Well said. As a white person living in the Swahili-speaking interior of East Africa, I am met with calls of “Mzungu, howareyou!” countless times a day. Though I don’t beleive it was orignally meant to be offensive, calling anyone you see with light skin something that loosely translates to “uncircumsized, aimless, European wanderer” is considered bad manners, especially if you know the person’s name.
The above call of “mzungu” is often said with a ridiculous, high-pitched and nasal tone that is meant to immitate a British accent. I’m an American, but making fun of a stranger’s (perceived) accent to their face is grating at the very least, even if it isn’t my own.
