# Seppos **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [November 7, 2005, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949 "2005-11-07T19:32:06Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Imasquare](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Imasquare](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Imasquare)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/21 "2005-11-07T23:28:34Z")
> [@Spectre of Pithecanthropus](#): > > Hold on a sec… > > are we Seppos in the UK as well as in Australia? Septics in the UK, Seppos in Australia. But these terms are not used very widely anymore. ---
**Author:** ![Ximenean](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/aca169/32.png) [@Ximenean](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ximenean)\ **Post date:** [November 7, 2005, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/22 "2005-11-07T23:42:48Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > “You seppos really saved our asses when the twist and shouts tried to invade.” Eh, not so much. If we wish to commemorate your saving of our arses, there’s always the more appropriate “Sherman”. Except that also means “wank”. ---
**Author:** ![Ravenman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ravenman/32/2929_2.png) [@Ravenman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ravenman)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/23 "2005-11-08T03:42:18Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Completely missing the point. If you’re regarded as fair game as a target of humour, it means you’re liked, not disliked. I think part of humor is an element of amusement or wit. I truly fail to see it with respect to seppo; no more than “slant-eye” is a clever name for a Chinese person. I have no doubt somoe people might think the latter is funny, but I find it offensive. Can you explain why it is better for an American to be called seppo than it is for a Chinese to be called a slant-eye? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/24 "2005-11-08T05:31:04Z")
> [@Sal Ammoniac](#): > > But do we know for sure that “seppos” is from “septic tank”? I’m sort of under the impression that “septic tank” is an American usage, and that the British would say “cesspool.” Could it be that this whole thing is a myth, and that the British love us after all? Yes, I’m sure. It’s an Australian expression, not British. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/25 "2005-11-08T05:32:21Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > To tell the truth, I can’t think of any other cases of “rhyming slang” that seems quite so offensive. Berk? ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 5:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/26 "2005-11-08T05:34:36Z")
> [@Johnny L.A.](#): > > But I take umbrage at being equated with something that is literally filled with shit. How about being equated with an ecologically sound means of producing that which promotes growth? ---
**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:** [November 8, 2005, 5:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/27 "2005-11-08T05:52:55Z")
seppo - australian septic - use in UK it is extremely rude and offensive. the favorite is to have a group talking friendly and politely like good buddies, throwing out ‘septic’ and trying to hide grins and stifle laughter at the unsuspecting american in their midst. For some reason this is considered the height of pisstaking. I’ve heard it from well bred sandhurst graduates to scruffy gordie traders. It is said with malicious and nasty intent. users can claim it’s all in good fun, but them’s basically fighting words. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 10:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/28 "2005-11-08T10:46:07Z")
> [@Ravenman](#): > > I think part of humor is an element of amusement or wit. I truly fail to see it with respect to seppo; no more than “slant-eye” is a clever name for a Chinese person. I have no doubt somoe people might think the latter is funny, but I find it offensive. > > Can you explain why it is better for an American to be called seppo than it is for a Chinese to be called a slant-eye? Sure. “Slant-eye” isn’t a piece of wordplay but a pointed and inaccurate jibe at the epicanthic fold characteristic of the eyelids of members of the Mongoloid race (if you’ll forgive the word “race”). The point about rhyming slang is that there’s no particular connection between the rhyming word and the thing being referred to. Thus: Sir Anthony (Blunt), or Berk(-shire Hunt): cunt (figurative; not the female anatomy) Raspberry (Ripple): cripple (noun or adjective, e.g. "you can’t park there, that’s a raspberry space) Ayrton (Senna): tenner Front-wheel (Skid): Jew (“Yid”) Bubble (& Squeak: a food item): Greek Rub-a-dub: pub Wormwood (Scrubs): clubs (in cards; as in “two Wormwoods”, said to me during a game of bridge) Bird (-lime): Prison sentence (doing bird) Apples (& Pears): stairs Ginger (Beer): queer …etc. Granted that “septic tank” may be cacophonous, but we can’t use “Sherman” (as that’s used for “wank”) or “Merchant (banker)” as that’s used for “wanker”. There’s nothing more sewage-y in the American connection than there is anything gingery in the homosexual one. ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/29 "2005-11-08T21:28:34Z")
[This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4822973&postcount=9) was my first encounter with the term, which is probably why it’s got pretty negative connotations for me. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/30 "2005-11-08T22:12:08Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > (if you’ll forgive the word “race”). … Well I guess the world is ending. ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 10:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/31 "2005-11-08T22:13:30Z")
> [@Catalyst](#): > > [This](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=4822973&postcount=9) was my first encounter with the term, which is probably why it’s got pretty negative connotations for me. Any word can be used in invective. But will you take the word of an Aussie that “seppo” is not in and of itself insulting? As someone said earlier, being “insulted” like this by an Aussie is actually a sign of friendship. For example, being called “a bit of a bastard” means you are beneath contempt, whereas “a complete bastard” is a close friend. ---
**Author:** ![Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/cc9497/32.png) [@Capt.Ridley\_s\_Shooting\_Party](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Capt.Ridley_s_Shooting_Party)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2005, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/32 "2005-11-08T22:36:55Z")
I’ve never heard the word “seppo” being used to refer to an American. But that’s hardly surprising, seeing as we don’t tend to use rhyming slang up north. ---
**Author:** ![Catalyst](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e47774/32.png) [@Catalyst](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Catalyst)\ **Post date:** [November 9, 2005, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/33 "2005-11-09T00:10:58Z")
> [@Askance](#): > > Any word can be used in invective. But will you take the word of an Aussie that “seppo” is not in and of itself insulting? Certainly. I was just saying that my perception of the word was rather colored by my first encounter with it; clearly, not everyone means to be insulting by using it. ---
**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:** [November 9, 2005, 12:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/34 "2005-11-09T00:45:17Z")
In my experience the Aussies are more good natured about the “seppo” usage and it’s more like “dude from American” than “piece of shit american”. I have been on the brunt end of our friends down under using it as a perjorative. I distinctly remember getting accosted in King’s Cross with “seppo” being shouted out. Okay maybe he was a nasty drunk. I have been on the brunt end of the English using “septic” more times than I can remember but certainly dozens. Perhaps it is a function of English being overseas? As stated earlier, this came from well bred Sandhurst graduates, OxBridge types, uneducated workers, and scruffy bond traders. It is considered to be the height of piss taking to use “septic” to the unknowing American. Somehow this is great humour to insult someone to their face when they don’t know it. Everyone is being oh so suave and sophisticated to not actually burst out laughing with the entire group “being a bit of a bastard.” It is done in a not friendly way. It is extremely condencending. It is insulting. Puh-leese don’t try to explain it’s all in good fun because it sure as hell isn’t if you’re on the receiving end. As soon as I let on that I know what “septic” means, the perpetrators act contrite and sheeping like they’ve been caught by their mum having a wank. Now with my English friends who know I understand what “septic” means, we can have friendly banter with the word. ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/35 "2005-11-10T01:29:35Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Spot on. I’m fairly confident that ‘septic’ is a recent development - but no Brit has ever needed it explaining. The principle is that the words are used in such a way that the meaning is obvious even thought the vocabulary is not. Britneys have been mentioned, and other modern additions include the Ayrton (Senna = Tenner), and ‘gone a bit Pete Tong’ (=wrong). I encountered it for the first time here on the SDMB, and found it explained here too. I’m not _very_ sure what that tells us. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Celyn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/9dc877/32.png) [@Celyn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Celyn)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 1:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/36 "2005-11-10T01:40:02Z")
> [@GorillaMan](#): > > Spot on. I’m fairly confident that ‘septic’ is a recent development - but no Brit has ever needed it explaining. The principle is that the words are used in such a way that the meaning is obvious even thought the vocabulary is not. Britneys have been mentioned, and other modern additions include the Ayrton (Senna = Tenner), and ‘gone a bit Pete Tong’ (=wrong). I encountered it for the first time here on the SDMB, and found it explained here too. I’m not _very_ sure what that tells us. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Revenant\_Threshold](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/f1d935/32.png) [@Revenant\_Threshold](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Revenant_Threshold)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/37 "2005-11-10T02:34:37Z")
I’m from london, and I have to say I don’t think i’ve heard “seppo”. But rhyming slang isn’t a universal language - apart from some ones, like taking a butcher’s, Aristotle, or merchant banker. Generally a usage will spring up among friends, and if it’s particularily memorable or witty, it catches on. Like it’s been said already, it’s not done to draw a connection between the word and the rhyme; the only connection is that they rhyme, nothing else is meant by it. Besides, if we want to insult people, we have a huge list of good swearwords! Why would we want to create more? 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Daithi\_Lacha](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/daithi_lacha/32/5430_2.png) [@Daithi\_Lacha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Daithi_Lacha)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 2:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/38 "2005-11-10T02:58:18Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Ginger (Beer): queer Oh, jeez. And all this time, I thought it refered to someone with red hair. I’m _such_ a berk! Oh - that doesn’t mean “jerk?” 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Askance](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/askance/32/8281_2.png) [@Askance](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Askance)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/39 "2005-11-10T03:39:17Z")
> [@Daithi Lacha](#): > > Oh, jeez. And all this time, I thought it refered to someone with red hair. I’m _such_ a berk! > Oh - that doesn’t mean “jerk?” > 😉 No it doesn’t, you silly bunt. ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2005, 10:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949/40 "2005-11-10T10:33:58Z")
> [@Daithi Lacha](#): > > Oh, jeez. And all this time, I thought it refered to someone with red hair. I’m _such_ a berk! Well, context’s everything. If you are red-haired and someone yells “Oi! Ginger!”, chances are you’re not being addressed in rhyming slang. On the other hand, if you’re having a drink with a mate and he wags his head at a patently non-red-headed person and refers to him as a “ginger”, then you can guess what he means by it. It’s not like it’s the only word in the language with multiple definitions. > [@Daithi Lacha](#): > > Oh - that doesn’t mean “jerk?” > 😉 That’s not what the rhyme is, but in practical terms the expression is about as strong, and not, despite the definition, quite as offensive as directly calling someone a cunt. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/seppos/329949.md?page=3)