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Why do Americans always insist they're Irish/Scottish?

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    irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    Post #93 just says you did....

    Haha no... I took issue with him telling me I wasn't irish... in who is the more irish pissing contests, of course, i will have to win over an Irish-American, or maybe an Ulster-Fry and Guinness eating contest instead...

    As I said, in the end it was all good craic and I left calling him the most irish guy in Boston!
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    SharpshooterTomSharpshooterTom Posts: 2,602
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    irishguy wrote: »
    And not everyone has that story. My friend has no conceivable notion of how or why her ancestors decided to head for America.

    Ahh but the reason why so many Americans are interested in it is because they know their ancestors were from somewhere else, that's my point. And thus it becomes fascinating to them.

    The ones who aren't are usually the WASP Americans, as they were considered the real Americans anyway by default as the establishment in America favoured them and didn't need to look further back to find an identity.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,807
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    mounty wrote: »
    The criticism is that many of them have very little Irish (or Scottish) background, and couldn't even tell you where Belfast is.

    So what. Are they not allowed to say my great x amount of my parents came from the UK.

    Really, I don't see what the problem is at all.
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    SharpshooterTomSharpshooterTom Posts: 2,602
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    irishguy wrote: »
    Haha no... I took issue with him telling me I wasn't irish... in who is the more irish pissing contests, of course, i will have to win over an Irish-American, or maybe an Ulster-Fry and Guinness eating contest instead...

    As I said, in the end it was all good craic and I left calling him the most irish guy in Boston!

    Irishguy, I was specifically talking about this quote
    irishguy wrote:
    Wow I never met any New Yorker who called themselves Irish to me... but then again maybe its because they knew I'd call them out on it.
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    SharpshooterTomSharpshooterTom Posts: 2,602
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    indie.star wrote: »
    I was born, bred and have lived all my life in Wales therefore I am Welsh.

    You're nationality is whatever country you are a citizen of. And you don't have to be born in that country to be a citizen sometimes.
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    irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    Irishguy, I was specifically talking about this quote

    Okay, you caught me on that. I would call them out on it but only jokingly... I honestly really couldnt give a rats ass.

    Actually thats not quite true, as it is a compliment that there are so many descendants of immigrants that still want to be labelled as being Irish... I'm pleased that they're proud of their roots rather than finding it an embarrassment.
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    mountymounty Posts: 19,168
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    tribade wrote: »
    So what. Are they not allowed to say my great x amount of my parents came from the UK.

    Really, I don't see what the problem is at all.


    The problem is their apparent ancestral links are flimsy at best. Many of them have little understanding of the culture or geography for the places they claim to be from.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,405
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    tribade wrote: »
    So what. Are they not allowed to say my great x amount of my parents came from the UK.

    Really, I don't see what the problem is at all.

    That's not the issue! It's when they say "I'm Irish" when they are clearly not. Their "great x amount of parents" came from the UK. Not them.

    I mean come on, every 'Irish' person should at least know what/where Belfast is. It's one of the capitals of the country FFS.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 5,446
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    tribade wrote: »
    So what. Are they not allowed to say my great x amount of my parents came from the UK.

    Really, I don't see what the problem is at all.

    That's not really the way they word it though!

    My boyfriend is American and when I first met him I thought he was a complete loser because he introduced himself to me as being "Irish". I said "you don't SOUND Irish" before he eventually admitted that his great-great-great-great grandfather might have come from Belfast and this somehow made him Irish.

    I don't think you can reasonably claim to be half anything unless either of your parents or, at a push, grandparents are from there.

    (he won me round though, obviously :o )
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,405
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    Can't see the big deal with any of this. Americans often consider their ancestry as it is interesting. I bet the OP wouldn't dare question African Americans if they were born in the US.

    I would if they said they're Irish.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,807
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    Good grief. Go to America with a Scots accent, they are all over you... what exactley is wrong with that?
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    fhs man 2fhs man 2 Posts: 7,591
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    I was born in aberdeen and im scottish
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,405
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    tribade wrote: »
    Good grief. Go to America with a Scots accent, they are all over you... what exactley is wrong with that?

    Nothing at all. It only become a problem when they all start claiming they're Scottish too.
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    irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    indie.star wrote: »
    I would if they said they're Irish.

    Don't forget Obama is Kenyan-Irish! :D
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    SharpshooterTomSharpshooterTom Posts: 2,602
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    indie.star wrote: »
    Nothing at all. It only become a problem when they all start claiming they're Scottish too.

    Why is it a problem? I can think of a lot bigger problems in the world than things like this. God some people take this too seriously.

    In all seriousness nationality is a load of crap anyway. It's just a made up load of tosh created by humans. Does a cat know if it's in 'England'?

    No, nationality is just another made up creation by humans, just like religion. No need to get hung up about it of course.
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,807
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    indie.star wrote: »
    Nothing at all. It only become a problem when they all start claiming they're Scottish too.

    Claiming that their family came from Scotland, when they did.

    What is wrong with that?
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,405
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    irishguy wrote: »
    Don't forget Obama is Kenyan-Irish! :D

    We've been through this. He's AMERICAN! :mad: :D
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,405
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    tribade wrote: »
    Claiming that their family came from Scotland, when they did.

    What is wrong with that?

    It's not a problem. It only becomes a problem if they start claiming they're Scottish themselves, which I said.
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    irishguyirishguy Posts: 22,172
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    You try telling that to the people of Moneygall! He's an honored citizen there!
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    BrooklynBoyBrooklynBoy Posts: 10,595
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    indie.star wrote: »
    I would if they said they're Irish.

    So it's not Americans who refer to themselves as coming from somewhere other than America that bugs you? Just those who say they are Irish?
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,405
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    So it's not Americans who refer to themselves as coming from somewhere other than America that bugs you? Just those who say they are Irish?

    That was meant tongue in cheek but yes it would bug me if they said they were Scottish or whatever.
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    SharpshooterTomSharpshooterTom Posts: 2,602
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    indie.star wrote: »
    That was meant tongue in cheek but yes it would bug me if they said they were Scottish or whatever.

    Why? It's just nationality. You need to travel the world more and realise nationality isn't as simple as you make it out. Who f**kin cares?
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    [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 14,284
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    If I was Amerkin abroad I'd tell people that I was Canadian to avoid the possible hostility that Amerkins sometimes attract just because of their nationality.

    You really need to give it a rest. I've been in the UK for 8 years and I have never claimed to be Canadian because of what some asshole may say to me. I have an American flag that another British person gave to me during the World Cup on my desk.

    I've had hassle for being American and I've had hassle for being a female too, but I'm not running off to have a sex change.

    As for the OP, I am neither proud nor ashamed to be an American. I just am. I don't put any other nationality before American. I absolutely hate being called an African-American. Black is what I am; I have no connection to the continent of Africa and neither do my family.
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    chriswyattchriswyatt Posts: 3,808
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    Well, to quote Homer Simpson:

    "Because they're stupid!"

    Na, I don't really mean it though. I suppose I could consider myself a Northerner by their logic seeing as some of my ancestry is from there, but the fact of the matter is, I've lived in Somerset most of my life so if I considered myself a Northerner then I'd be pretty stupid.
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    DemizdeeroolzDemizdeeroolz Posts: 3,821
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    Hypnodisc wrote: »
    No, but it is a race of people.. even if the geography is a political hot potato
    Really? I thought they were mainly of Israeli decent.

    Try googling Khazar jews
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