Question for non-US members....

originally posted by: nwtrucker
Hmmm, then there's the Frogs, the Newfies, the Bohunks.....shall I go on?

These aren't used as racial slurs in Canada. Slurs? Yes! Race based? No.

Newfies are from Newfoundland. The come in ever colour of the rainbow, but you need to be extremely drunk to understand a word they say. Extremely hard workers, play even harder.

Frog....Quebec. Nothing else needs to be said.

Bohunks, unless the meaning is different out east, is a slur used against rural folks that come to the city for work. Used to be a stab at Bohemians, then at Ukrainians, but currently just rural to urban.

a reply to: peck420

Newfies are about the coolest bunch out there. Love 'em.

The point was comparing U.S. labels with non-U.S.. As you say, they do exist in Canada and likely everywhere else.

"What river separates China from India"? The Fraser River... West Coast joke.

Let me use a 'fer instance'!
Suppose everyone looked the same? Medium complexion, brown hair, brown eyes.
And you need to give a description of someone to the police. What do you use?
The most obvious physical traits, that you can see, right?!
Tall, short, male, female,(maybe!), thin, fat...
The clothes they were wearing, if they walked with a limp.

A blind person if they heard them speak, could comment on height,
if they were close enough to them. Or smell! Then gender, accent, a lisp,
deep voice or high voice.
It's all about descriptive adjectives.

Now another fer instance.
Aliens, as in space people, (is that PC?), now reside on Earth.
How would you describe one of them? First, that it was an alien,
because they probably don't look like us.
That being the most obvious physical characteristic.
Now, if there were multiple types of aliens, it might be green,
or maybe even transparent, eeew! Or three armed, or two headed!

So, I don't think it's a derogatory thing usually, just descriptive.
I wouldn't be insulted, if I was called a honkie, howlie, or palangi,
because that is my dominant ancestry. My NA doesn't show at all.
I might get called a Kraut. And that's okay, because there's some of that too!
I'm more annoyed that the Amish refer to us as English! Lol!

I think people are sometimes too sensitive. Unless it was meant as a slur.
But even then, why would I get upset even by Kraut, when it's partly true?
Or maybe, because I'm old as dirt, my skin is thicker?

WOQ

originally posted by: 727Sky
There was a time when all foreigners in China and even Taiwan were referred to as foreign devils.. Japan has their own version as do the Cambodians, Thai's and no telling who else.
Asians have always been what many would consider the most racist as far as their terms for foreigners.. Once you understand it is not necessary a derogatory term you live with it. As far as Black people they are referred to as black foreign devils or black farang (pronounced falong)... See equal for everyone !! hahhah Farang is a catch all for European decent or African.

Weren't they on Star Wars or Star Trek?
Or maybe it was Ferengi?

WOQ

I've always had a problem with the notion of hyphenated American terms. I was not born in the USA but became a citizen (the legal way). When I filed to become a citizen, I was given a booklet published by the "Daughters of the American Revolution" (DAR Manual for Citizenship). That booklet is online now.

There are many parts of that booklet that have stuck in my mind and one of them is this:

If you take this oath in true faith, you are a true citizen of the United States of America. You are not an Italian-American. You are not a Spanish-American. You are not a German-American, nor any other kind of a hyphenated American. YOU ARE AN AMERICAN.

That says it all. My guess is, immigrants that became citizens probably wouldn't even use the hyphenated form. It's an invention of the media.

originally posted by: wasobservingquietly

I HEAR YOU .....I HEAR YOU, but you have not allowed for the *new P.C. culture*

Suppose everyone looked the same? Medium complexion, brown hair, brown eyes.
And you need to give a description of someone to the police. What do you use?
The most obvious physical traits, that you can see, right?!

*WRONG*

Tall, short, male, female,(maybe!), thin, fat...
The clothes they were wearing, if they walked with a limp.

short = height impaired

male, female = LGBTQ and all the other genders that keep appearing?

fat? = fat shaming ?

walk with a limp? = tut..tut..tut.. disabled?

A blind person if they heard them speak, could comment on height,
if they were close enough to them. Or smell! Then gender, accent, a lisp,
deep voice or high voice.
It's all about descriptive adjective.

*Visually impaired*

So, I don't think it's a derogatory thing usually, just descriptive.
I wouldn't be insulted, if I was called a honkie, howlie, or palangi,
because that is my dominant ancestry. My NA doesn't show at all.
I might get called a Kraut. And that's okay, because there's some of that too!

Yes it was all so easy before political correctness took hold, and I think Kraut is

very politically incorrect now?

I think people are sometimes too sensitive, Unless it was meant as a slur.

But even then, why would I get upset even by Kraut, when it's partly true?
Or maybe, because I'm old as dirt, my skin is thicker?

Life was so much easier before political correctness .......

Idk. I'm dutch but I don't know either

originally posted by: Vasa Croe
So I've been thinking about this a bit and find this particular question irking me. I cant seem to find an answer online and don't recall EVER seeing it raised before.

What does every other country refer to their racially diverse populations groups as a whole.

Here in the US we have African Americans, Latin Americans, Asian Americans, etc....

How are these groups named in your country? Are white Americans named as such, for example, American African, American Asian, American Latino?

What's funny to me is that as a white American, born and raised here, I can't think of what I'd be called if i lived in another country....sure, ex-pat is the typical....but do i go by Anglo German or Anglo African, etc...?

Gwailows,(white people) ex pats, Filipinos, Nigerians, Somalis, Indian, basically where the # you come from.

It extends to to Mainlanders and other asians.

You are what you are.

Refreshing.

originally posted by: randomtangentsrme

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: randomtangentsrme

originally posted by: nwtrucker

originally posted by: randomtangentsrme
To my knowledge no other country categorizes like the USA. I have a Canadian friend who is now a USA National. She likes the joke:
What do you call a black person in Canada?
A Canadian.

Hmmm, then there's the Frogs, the Newfies, the Bohunks.....shall I go on?

All terms I have never heard. Please do go on.

Really? You live in Canada? Must be quite an insulated circle you travel. The ones I cite are more of a 'blue collar' environment.

No I live in California. And am Blue collar to the T. Perhaps America isn't so keen on profiling?

Seriously? I find it difficult to believe you've never heard of the term Frog for the French. In the US, that's what we've been jokingly calling them for eons now, it's a firmly entrenched benign jab in our vernacular. And also French Canadians, because...French roots.

Falang.

a reply to: Vasa Croe

Being a Texan, im also from outside of America (although they like to think we are one of them).

We use the same terms they use, though.