Why do Brits and Americans have a special term instead of just using Immigrant?

  • Ogmios
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    8 hours ago

    Hear me out:

    Maybe everything isn’t some conspiracy to hate others.

    • lime!
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      208 hours ago

      ah, so you have an alternative explanation?

      • Ogmios
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        78 hours ago

        Do you seriously need someone to explain to you why there are multiple words with similar meanings in the world?

        • lime!
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          138 hours ago

          well when you challenge an opinion you usually offer an alternative opinion.

          • Ogmios
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            48 hours ago

            Usually. But if the premise is particularly stupid I might choose to prompt the speaker to actually think about what they’ve said for a moment.

            Or you could just read any of the numerous other comments here which offer other explanations.

            • lime!
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              7 hours ago

              i did think about it and it matches my experience. i will read the rest of the thread.

              Edit: i have now read the rest of the thread. nobody seems to agree and i see no sources.

        • @[email protected]
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          48 hours ago

          They aren’t used interchangeably so this implies a different definition or at least distinct connotations.

        • MudMan
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          138 hours ago

          It was used colloquially, for sure… by rich corporate migrants that didn’t want to self-ID as migrants. Or at least by the HR people and corpo consultants handling the international relocations and avoding the taboo word.

          Which is what the previous post is saying and it certainly matches my experience as one of the “expats”. I always self-identified as a migrant myself, though.

          • snooggums
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            68 hours ago

            I’ve never heard the term used for anyone with dark skin or from anywhere other than the US, Canada, or western Europe.

            • MudMan
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              47 hours ago

              I’ve definitely seen it used for non-white coworkers and coworkers from other regions, but typically in the context of relocating for corporate work.

              But then, I worked for a western corpo but with a ridiculously diverse group of people during that time.

              • snooggums
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                27 hours ago

                I’ve seen it used in media far more than in person. Mostly for soldiers that stuck around after wars wound down or wealthy people buying fancy homes in tropical locations.

                The people I’ve worked with in tech from Scotland and England who have lived in the US long term but without becoming citizens don’t even use the term. Honestly most people don’t really use labels, just refer to someone in tech being ‘from a country’ when it comes up whether they became citizens or not.

                • MudMan
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                  37 hours ago

                  We had enough of them at a time that “the expats” was a relevant group of people you needed to refer to for specific things. Language lessons, HR support, what have you. I definitely heard the anglo guys refer to themselves as that frequently, and that then became the word people used.

                  I had a chip on my shoulder about telling people I was a migrant, but I was pretty alone on that. The anglo guys mostly said they were “expats”.

    • @[email protected]
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      26 hours ago

      But that means these cretins may have to reevaluate themselves and their opinions.

      We can’t have that now, can we?