In another discussion, I wanted to attract the attention of a geographic group who might have read the same newspaper. I jocularly directed my enquiry to "you Brits", and was (properly) corrected; because the paper was, I believe, circulated throughout what once upon a time was called The British Isles (including Guernsey, I think, G.P.) Paradoxically, I was, also jocularly, (I hope) dismissed as a "bloddy yank". Now, we of the Northern persuasion call ourselves Canucks, and are happy for others to do so. If not, then "bloody North Americans, excluding Mexicans" would seem rather cumbersome.
Now, in this wonderfully extended global musical family we have, New Zealanders and Australians have their own familiar monickers, but "Antipodeans" might seem an awkward grouping.
Given the various disparities between England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, ....need I go on? what GEOGRAPHICAL term of endearment could be safely used towards musicians (and others!) from that smallish (dig, dig) area of the world, without offending cultural and political sensibilities?
Having lived in Britain as an expat for some 25 or so years, I don't give a flying feck what I'm called, and I've been called lots of things.
Let's hope people recognise that you're reaching out to them and forgive any faux pas. Slim hope though ...
Aussie is fine - do you guys find 'Yank' Offensive? I never knew that.
There was a fellow here last week who decided that it was racist to call British people who live here 'Poms' or 'Pommies' - he took it to the High Court - needless to say it was laughed out.....
I don't find Yank offensive. I'm not from south of the Mason/Dixon line, though. Lately, I use Merkan (as in I'm a Merkan). Sounds a little like something from outer space .....
Remember, in Northern Ireland many Protestants don't like to be called Irish, and many Catholics don't like to be called British. But just to ask , if you encounter one, "Are you from Ireland?" is okay.
"Merkin" - obsolete slang.
It's in Webster's New International, the main definition being "The females pubes, or false hair for it".
Interestingly, last night at the session, the guy I was sitting next to was recounting his experiences in Ireland, and mentioned a player whose wig was starting to slip. My friend's companion, a doctor, remarked "looks like he's wearing a merkin".
Bren: FROGS? I thought they were the French?? (Non PC Comment!! Will repent tomorrow!!) Anyway, you mean to tell me we don't rule it anymore? Don't tell me those convicts and puritans have become civilised and set up their own countries?? That will never do! Before we know it they'll be selling us dodgy TV soaps and visiting us in loud sweaters Old Chap!!
(Quickly runs off to hide behind sofa!!)
In the latest opinion poll, ROGs and FROGs have been drawing "don't know" and "wha?" responses.
The Diddly Isles, however, are starting to gain informed recognition, and are beginning to attract a cult following.
You got corrected for "Brits"? Sheesh. The "British Isles" is a geographic entity , not a cultural entity or political entity for that matter.
If you are rooted in one of those windswept rocks, you are a Brit and had better used to it. If someone finds that objectionable then I'd say they have the problem not Oldstrings..
Whats with the people who looks for slights when none are intended.
I might have had something to do with this.
I can't mind what it was about though, so it may have been another one.
People who live in Northern Ireland are technically (geographically speaking, as was noted above) not Brits, or British (whether or not just over half of them actually think they are.)
Although it's a rather obsolete term, this archipelago is, or was, called the British Isles. I wouldn't be surprised if (southern!) Irish people got offended by it nowadays. Anyway, that bit is correct.
The big lump is called Great Britain (to distinguish it from Britannny, which was formerly known as, and I kid you not, Little Britain!...or at least it was called that in whatever language people referred to it as that. That's because when the Angles, Jutes and Saxons invaded southern Britain many of the indigenous people fled over to Armorica, which then became Britanny/ Little Britain.) and the next biggest lump is called Ireland, with the British-occupied bit in the north known as Northern Ireland.
The proper name for the big island plus the nothern bit of the second biggest island, that has a head of state who is not democratically elected, is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The rest of the second biggest island is called the Republic of Ireland, because their head of state is there because the people said so.
At least the British, in including Northern Ireland in the name, got it technically correct. If the aforementioned "Yanks" were to follow the same principle, maybe their country would be named The United States of America and Some Quite Big Islands in the Pacific, Along with Some Smaller Ones, and the Carribean, and a Strip of Territory alongside the Panama Canal, which Incidentally Doesn't Work Any More Due to Deforestation of the Rainforest..........but maybe "USA" rolls off the tongue a bit better.
Oldstrings for your information I was pulling your leg, hence the ironic ending bloody yanks
Gotcha
As for being nationalised or generalised I really dont give a hoot what people percieve me as I was born and raised in england to irish parentage so "half baked paddy" is ok for me
however if you called my friend / neighbour Sanjay a "half baked paki" he would laugh his head off but others in his community would be outraged and get you arrested for race hate. My point being the remarks are nearly the same but the way the two communities react to it is so very different. Which brings me to the assumption that you just cant really please everyone and the U.K. of G.B. & N.I. is no exeption to this
The late great Chicago journalist Mike Royko had a reoccuring character in his column, a jingoistic but plain speaking cab driver, who always referrred to himself as a ’Merkin. It was definitely a conscious play on words.
I was actually born south of the Mason-Dixon but in context of this board I have no problem being referred to as a Yank. I’d prefer not to be called a “yanker”, however
I'll repeat what I put at the end of some dead thread.
On the analogy of TAFKAP ("The Artist Formerly Known As Prince"), perhaps Britain / Ireland / various surrounding rocks could be designated TIFKAB ("The Islands Formerly Known As British").
I think you may be breaking some ground here, nicholas.
Would the inhabitants be called DiddlyIslers and Tifkabbies? A vote may be in order at some juncture.
You didn't fool me, Ripthecalico. The other leg's got bells on. Isn't that what you (insert acceptable nomenclature) used to say? Besides, I know that a scholar of your stature wouldn't make such a mistake.
There's been quite a lot in the threads about Newfoundland and Cape Breton. To chime in with the images of bluff hardihood, bracing music and ghastly weather that these places present, and to demonstrate solidarity with our cousins over the ocean, I propose that Ireland be renamed Blasket, and the British mainland Greater Shetland.
Phantom Button - there are various nicknames for people from different cities or regions of the UK. Those who know most will be football fans, who devote themselves to taunting the opposing fans into a state of psychopathic fury. I am not a football fan and so am pretty ignorant on the names they call out, some of which would probably get me banned from the website.
But here are some English ones:
(People from)
Birmingham - Brummies
Manchester - Mancs
Liverpool - Scousers ("Scouse" is a kind of stew)
Newcastle - Geordies (After George Stephenson, railway pioneer who
also invented a kind of miners' helmet)
Sunderland - Makems (After the way they pronounce "Make them")
Middlesbrough - Smoggies (Because of chemical works' pollution)
West Country - Worzels (Rural image, it's a kind of turnip)
Cornwall - Oggies (The famous Cornish pasties, delicious when home-
made but pretty dire as mass-produced)
London - NOT Cockneys: they were exclusively people who lived and
worked near the docks of East London. Most have moved out.
People in rural communities tend to attract some moniker that implies that they habitually resort to over-familiar relationships with livestock.
So, what DO you want to be called?
So, what DO you want to be called?
In another discussion, I wanted to attract the attention of a geographic group who might have read the same newspaper. I jocularly directed my enquiry to "you Brits", and was (properly) corrected; because the paper was, I believe, circulated throughout what once upon a time was called The British Isles (including Guernsey, I think, G.P.) Paradoxically, I was, also jocularly, (I hope) dismissed as a "bloddy yank". Now, we of the Northern persuasion call ourselves Canucks, and are happy for others to do so. If not, then "bloody North Americans, excluding Mexicans" would seem rather cumbersome.
Now, in this wonderfully extended global musical family we have, New Zealanders and Australians have their own familiar monickers, but "Antipodeans" might seem an awkward grouping.
Given the various disparities between England, Ireland, Scotland, Wales, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, ....need I go on? what GEOGRAPHICAL term of endearment could be safely used towards musicians (and others!) from that smallish (dig, dig) area of the world, without offending cultural and political sensibilities?
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Having lived in Britain as an expat for some 25 or so years, I don't give a flying feck what I'm called, and I've been called lots of things.
Let's hope people recognise that you're reaching out to them and forgive any faux pas. Slim hope though ...
"UK & Ireland" should really be sufficient though
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by Bren
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
OhthanksAussielivinginUK&Ireland. I was hoping, though, for a casual term that would trip off the tongue more easily.
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
What are you doing up at 3 am, anyway?
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Aussie is fine - do you guys find 'Yank' Offensive? I never knew that.
There was a fellow here last week who decided that it was racist to call British people who live here 'Poms' or 'Pommies' - he took it to the High Court - needless to say it was laughed out.....
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by bb
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
I don't find Yank offensive. I'm not from south of the Mason/Dixon line, though. Lately, I use Merkan (as in I'm a Merkan). Sounds a little like something from outer space .....
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by John Culhane
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
You could just call us brits the Rogs - Rulers Of the Global Empire. I think that just about sums us up
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by bowburner
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Remember, in Northern Ireland many Protestants don't like to be called Irish, and many Catholics don't like to be called British. But just to ask , if you encounter one, "Are you from Ireland?" is okay.
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by nicholas
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Oops! That was meant to be ROGEs. The Butler just didn't type it properly! Tut! You just can't get the staff these days darling!
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by bowburner
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Culchie is OK by me, though I was brought up in Dublin, so that makes me a Dub ... mind you, avoid it like the plague now.
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by the wounded hussar
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
I hope John Culhane is aware of what a merkin is in the UK.
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by len
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Sir!!!
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by ceolachan
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
In preparation for my knighthood ~ which of course I'd refuse...
So, maybe Mister C?
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by ceolachan
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
With reverence... Or maybe 'Father C' ~ the confessor?
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by ceolachan
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Brother C the Corrigible? ~ or Congruent? ~ nope, that last on is missing the 'in'...
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by ceolachan
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
"Merkin" - obsolete slang.
It's in Webster's New International, the main definition being "The females pubes, or false hair for it".
Interestingly, last night at the session, the guy I was sitting next to was recounting his experiences in Ireland, and mentioned a player whose wig was starting to slip. My friend's companion, a doctor, remarked "looks like he's wearing a merkin".
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by Trevor Jennings
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
bowburner, you mean FROGs - Former Rulers Of Global empire
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by Bren
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
"The Diddly Isles" might be an appropriate moniker for our common home. About sums up our place in the world.
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by nicholas
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Im glad we got that cleared up...
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by The Merry Highlander
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
How about "people" ?
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by Backer
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Bren: FROGS? I thought they were the French?? (Non PC Comment!! Will repent tomorrow!!) Anyway, you mean to tell me we don't rule it anymore? Don't tell me those convicts and puritans have become civilised and set up their own countries?? That will never do! Before we know it they'll be selling us dodgy TV soaps and visiting us in loud sweaters Old Chap!!
(Quickly runs off to hide behind sofa!!)
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by bowburner
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
In the latest opinion poll, ROGs and FROGs have been drawing "don't know" and "wha?" responses.
The Diddly Isles, however, are starting to gain informed recognition, and are beginning to attract a cult following.
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
I like the Diddly Isles. Is Ken Dodd the king? (British comedian famous for having a troup of Diddy Men and a Tickling Stick!)
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by bowburner
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
"O Great One" usually gets my attention.
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by bodhran bliss
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
You got corrected for "Brits"? Sheesh. The "British Isles" is a geographic entity , not a cultural entity or political entity for that matter.
If you are rooted in one of those windswept rocks, you are a Brit and had better used to it. If someone finds that objectionable then I'd say they have the problem not Oldstrings..
Whats with the people who looks for slights when none are intended.
Liam
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by billiamconkey
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
"I'm proud to be a merkin, where at least I know I'm free"
...........Lee Greenwood
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by bt
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Brits suits me fine
# Posted on December 9th 2006 by rosieharp
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
I might have had something to do with this.
I can't mind what it was about though, so it may have been another one.
People who live in Northern Ireland are technically (geographically speaking, as was noted above) not Brits, or British (whether or not just over half of them actually think they are.)
Although it's a rather obsolete term, this archipelago is, or was, called the British Isles. I wouldn't be surprised if (southern!) Irish people got offended by it nowadays. Anyway, that bit is correct.
The big lump is called Great Britain (to distinguish it from Britannny, which was formerly known as, and I kid you not, Little Britain!...or at least it was called that in whatever language people referred to it as that. That's because when the Angles, Jutes and Saxons invaded southern Britain many of the indigenous people fled over to Armorica, which then became Britanny/ Little Britain.) and the next biggest lump is called Ireland, with the British-occupied bit in the north known as Northern Ireland.
The proper name for the big island plus the nothern bit of the second biggest island, that has a head of state who is not democratically elected, is the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland. The rest of the second biggest island is called the Republic of Ireland, because their head of state is there because the people said so.
At least the British, in including Northern Ireland in the name, got it technically correct. If the aforementioned "Yanks" were to follow the same principle, maybe their country would be named The United States of America and Some Quite Big Islands in the Pacific, Along with Some Smaller Ones, and the Carribean, and a Strip of Territory alongside the Panama Canal, which Incidentally Doesn't Work Any More Due to Deforestation of the Rainforest..........but maybe "USA" rolls off the tongue a bit better.
# Posted on December 10th 2006 by Rudall the time
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Oldstrings for your information I was pulling your leg, hence the ironic ending bloody yanks
Gotcha
As for being nationalised or generalised I really dont give a hoot what people percieve me as I was born and raised in england to irish parentage so "half baked paddy" is ok for me
however if you called my friend / neighbour Sanjay a "half baked paki" he would laugh his head off but others in his community would be outraged and get you arrested for race hate. My point being the remarks are nearly the same but the way the two communities react to it is so very different. Which brings me to the assumption that you just cant really please everyone and the U.K. of G.B. & N.I. is no exeption to this
# Posted on December 10th 2006 by Ripthecalico
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
The late great Chicago journalist Mike Royko had a reoccuring character in his column, a jingoistic but plain speaking cab driver, who always referrred to himself as a ’Merkin. It was definitely a conscious play on words.
I was actually born south of the Mason-Dixon but in context of this board I have no problem being referred to as a Yank. I’d prefer not to be called a “yanker”, however
# Posted on December 10th 2006 by fidkid
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
I'll repeat what I put at the end of some dead thread.
On the analogy of TAFKAP ("The Artist Formerly Known As Prince"), perhaps Britain / Ireland / various surrounding rocks could be designated TIFKAB ("The Islands Formerly Known As British").
# Posted on December 11th 2006 by nicholas
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
I think you may be breaking some ground here, nicholas.
Would the inhabitants be called DiddlyIslers and Tifkabbies? A vote may be in order at some juncture.
# Posted on December 11th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
You didn't fool me, Ripthecalico. The other leg's got bells on. Isn't that what you (insert acceptable nomenclature) used to say? Besides, I know that a scholar of your stature wouldn't make such a mistake.
# Posted on December 11th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
"Our Friends Across the Bog"
# Posted on December 11th 2006 by The Merry Highlander
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
Brits, Paddys, Yanks, Auzzies, Canuks, but I have no others for people from everywhere else.
# Posted on December 11th 2006 by Phantom Button
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
"Boggers" for short, Maryland Highlander?
# Posted on December 11th 2006 by oldstrings
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
As my ma always said, "Just don't call me late for dinner."
# Posted on December 11th 2006 by AlBrown
Re: So, what DO you want to be called?
There's been quite a lot in the threads about Newfoundland and Cape Breton. To chime in with the images of bluff hardihood, bracing music and ghastly weather that these places present, and to demonstrate solidarity with our cousins over the ocean, I propose that Ireland be renamed Blasket, and the British mainland Greater Shetland.
Phantom Button - there are various nicknames for people from different cities or regions of the UK. Those who know most will be football fans, who devote themselves to taunting the opposing fans into a state of psychopathic fury. I am not a football fan and so am pretty ignorant on the names they call out, some of which would probably get me banned from the website.
But here are some English ones:
(People from)
Birmingham - Brummies
Manchester - Mancs
Liverpool - Scousers ("Scouse" is a kind of stew)
Newcastle - Geordies (After George Stephenson, railway pioneer who
also invented a kind of miners' helmet)
Sunderland - Makems (After the way they pronounce "Make them")
Middlesbrough - Smoggies (Because of chemical works' pollution)
West Country - Worzels (Rural image, it's a kind of turnip)
Cornwall - Oggies (The famous Cornish pasties, delicious when home-
made but pretty dire as mass-produced)
London - NOT Cockneys: they were exclusively people who lived and
worked near the docks of East London. Most have moved out.
People in rural communities tend to attract some moniker that implies that they habitually resort to over-familiar relationships with livestock.
# Posted on December 16th 2006 by nicholas