# What does Anglo Saxon mean in this context **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [August 28, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236 "2016-08-28T01:59:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/1 "2016-08-28T01:59:05Z")
I met someone the other day who proudly self-identified as "straight, white, Anglo Saxon atheist. I’m clear on straight, white and atheist. But in this context what does Anglo Saxon men? Why is this a point of pride? ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/2 "2016-08-28T02:00:43Z")
I wonder if he was riffing off of WASP- white, Anglo Saxon, Protestant. ---
**Author:** ![Graymalkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/35a633/32.png) [@Graymalkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Graymalkin)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/3 "2016-08-28T02:03:56Z")
He (or She, but unlikely) just means “white.” ---
**Author:** ![Lumpy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lumpy/32/446_2.png) [@Lumpy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lumpy)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/4 "2016-08-28T02:14:43Z")
> [@Graymalkin](#): > > He (or She, but unlikely) just means “white.” No, they mean that they’re not Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Jewish, German, Swedish, or any of those other steerage-class people that started immigrating to the USA in the 19th century. ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/5 "2016-08-28T02:28:56Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > I wonder if he was riffing off of WASP- white, Anglo Saxon, Protestant. A Protestant atheist? ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/6 "2016-08-28T02:29:38Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > No, they mean that they’re not Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Jewish, German, Swedish, or any of those other steerage-class people that started immigrating to the USA in the 19th century. Right. That’s what they mean by “white.” ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/7 "2016-08-28T02:33:11Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > A Protestant atheist? No… Replace Protestant with atheist. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/8 "2016-08-28T02:41:39Z")
> [@Lumpy](#): > > No, they mean that they’re not Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Jewish, German, Swedish, or any of those other steerage-class people that started immigrating to the USA in the 19th century. Funny that the Angles were originally from Germany/Denmark and the Saxons were about as steerage-class as you could get. Just ask the Normans. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Lucas\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lucas_jackson/32/303_2.png) [@Lucas\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lucas_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/9 "2016-08-28T02:54:33Z")
> [@IvoryTowerDenizen](#): > > No… Replace Protestant with atheist. So… a WASA? 😉 ---
**Author:** ![IvoryTowerDenizen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ivorytowerdenizen/32/17937_2.png) [@IvoryTowerDenizen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/IvoryTowerDenizen)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/10 "2016-08-28T02:57:08Z")
I guess. You’d have to ask your friend, but I’m guessing that’s what he was playing off of. ---
**Author:** ![Don\_t\_Panic](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/don_t_panic/32/398_2.png) [@Don\_t\_Panic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don_t_Panic)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 1:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/11 "2016-08-28T13:49:04Z")
> [@Johnny\_Ace](#): > > Funny that the Angles were originally from Germany/Denmark and the Saxons were about as steerage-class as you could get. Just ask the Normans. 😃 Well, how do you know that you’re a true aristocrat? You can trace your lineage back umpteen generations to a band of barbarian rapers and plunderers. ---
**Author:** ![PatrickLondon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/patricklondon/32/4422_2.png) [@PatrickLondon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PatrickLondon)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/12 "2016-08-28T21:45:51Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > A Protestant atheist? Not what the point of the WASP reference is, but there is indeed such a thing. Catholic atheists can be very different. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 10:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/13 "2016-08-28T22:30:23Z")
If you eliminate the _“Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Jewish, German, Swedish, or any of those other steerage-class people that started immigrating to the USA in the 19th century”_ who is left? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/14 "2016-08-28T22:36:50Z")
> [@Martian Bigfoot](#): > > Well, how do you know that you’re a true aristocrat? You can trace your lineage back umpteen generations to a band of barbarian rapers and plunderers. I resemble that remark; one of my ancestors was a kanigget pledged to Strongbow. 😃 ---
**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:** [August 28, 2016, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/15 "2016-08-28T22:38:16Z")
> [@White SIFL](#): > > So… a WASA? > 😉 No, a SWASA. Which is just a STK short of a SWASTIKA. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Ace](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/6bbea6/32.png) [@Johnny\_Ace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Ace)\ **Post date:** [August 28, 2016, 10:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/16 "2016-08-28T22:42:10Z")
TIK, actually. ---
**Author:** ![Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/848f3c/32.png) [@Fuzzy\_Dunlop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fuzzy_Dunlop)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 2:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/17 "2016-08-29T02:13:19Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > If you eliminate the _“Irish, Italian, Polish, Russian, Jewish, German, Swedish, or any of those other steerage-class people that started immigrating to the USA in the 19th century”_ who is left? Anglo Saxons ---
**Author:** ![nani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/58956e/32.png) [@nani](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nani)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/18 "2016-08-29T06:05:33Z")
He thinks adding salt makes something well-spiced. ---
**Author:** ![even\_sven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/dfb087/32.png) [@even\_sven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/even_sven)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/19 "2016-08-29T10:45:58Z")
To me, “Anglo” is a slang term “white, and not Latino”. That use doesn’t usually come with a “Saxon”, though. ---
**Author:** ![Alessan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alessan/32/465_2.png) [@Alessan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alessan)\ **Post date:** [August 29, 2016, 10:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236/20 "2016-08-29T10:51:26Z")
As an aside, in Israel, the term Anglo-Saxons (or “Anglosaxim” in the local parlance) refers to Jewish immigrants from English-speaking countries like the U.S., UK, Australia, Canada or South Africa. I’m a second-generation \*Anglosaxi \*myself. My parents always found the term funny, because back in the States, Anglo-Saxon was one thing they _weren’t._ [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-does-anglo-saxon-mean-in-this-context/764236.md?page=2)