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 Language Learning Forum : Polyglots |  | |
| doviende Diglot Senior Member Canada languagefixatio Joined 5985 days ago 533 posts - 1245 votes  Speaks: English*, German Studies: Spanish, Dutch, Mandarin, Esperanto, Hindi, Swedish, Portuguese | Message 49 of 52 27 March 2010 at 10:35am | IP Logged |
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I can't speak for Johntm, but my personal perception is that very few North Americans have actually met anyone from Ireland, and that the word "Irish" here more commonly refers to people of Irish immigrant descent. I know several such people who may occasionally refer to themselves as "Irish" or "part Irish", and due to their ignorance about their grandparents' homeland, will latch on to some stereotype to try to be "proud" of their heritage. Usually this means they end up going drinking on St. Patrick's day, because they think that's what they're "supposed" to do.
Despite the fact that I have a very standard/neutral Canadian accent, I actually get a lot of people asking me if I'm "Irish", due to my red hair. This leads me to believe that in our situation, "Irish" doesn't actually mean "from Ireland" anymore here, so perhaps it's easier for people to make some jokes about it when it's so far removed from their actual experience. And while it's not exactly the same as your situation, I quite often have had USians asking me how cold it is, and whether we have sled dogs and such. One actually asked if there were igloos where I live. (which is even more amusing when you know that Vancouver rarely goes below freezing in the winter, as demonstrated in the 'winter' olympics, and is therefore warmer than almost any place in the USA). 2 persons have voted this message useful | |
| irishpolyglot Nonaglot Senior Member Ireland fluentin3months Joined 5632 days ago 285 posts - 892 votes Speaks: Irish, English*, French, Esperanto, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese, German, Sign Language Studies: Mandarin | Message 50 of 52 27 March 2010 at 10:51am | IP Logged |
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Thanks doviende. If "irish" means of Irish descent rather than someone who was actually born and raised in Ireland, then I suppose they can make all the jokes they want about one another!
I'll only suggest one thing. Capital (upper case) 'I' for someone who is actually Irish from Ireland (going with standard English grammar rules on nationality adjectives) and small (lower case) 'i' for someone whose great great grandfather or whatever is Irish (going by non-national adjective rules). :P Sorry to Americans reading this, but there is a very very big difference. Be proud that you're irish, but don't think you know what it means to be Irish ;) So may the irish drink as much as they like and tease themselves to their hearts' content ;) Edited by irishpolyglot on 27 March 2010 at 11:03am 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| patuco Diglot Moderator Gibraltar Joined 7014 days ago 3795 posts - 4268 votes Speaks: Spanish, English* Personal Language Map | Message 51 of 52 27 March 2010 at 1:05pm | IP Logged |
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I've deleted some posts since they didn't contribute anything positive to the discussion.
Any problems, PM me. 1 person has voted this message useful | |
| Johntm Senior Member United StatesRegistered users can see my Skype Name Joined 5421 days ago 616 posts - 725 votes Speaks: English* Studies: Spanish | Message 52 of 52 28 March 2010 at 7:08am | IP Logged |
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@doviende
I've never met an Irish person, maybe it's because of where I live. Not much of a reason to come here. @irishpolyglot I'm not saying that I should be considered "Irish" per se, but I'm mainly of Irish heritage (some Native American). I'm not saying I know what it means to be Irish, but I'm definitely not trying to insult Irish culture. 1 person has voted this message useful |
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