Is New Labour the New BNP?

[English assassin]

Whereas terms such as "whiteboy", "pom", "limey", "le rost boeuf" are all terms of endearment...

I don't feel derided if called any of the above or "Brit", which is the equivalent of "Paki".

And others...; Frog, Hun, Kraut etc etc.

Then more recently there's "Chav" and "white trash".

There's loads of them for almost every minority you can think of based on national, religious and ethnic lines!

So why any ones that infringe Pakistanis are oh so bad?

Well the short answer would be that it is inaccurate, since to be pakistani is to have a nationality, whereas people of pakistani origin in the UK are usually British.

More importantly though, it doesn't depend on the term, but the relationship between the person using the word and the person referred to. Even if he actually intends to offend me, I would say an Australian calling me a Pom is not using an offensive term, because Australians do not have a history of excluding Brits from jobs etc. Likewise I could call him an Ozzie [product of a single parent family].

I would have to be MUCH more careful to refer to an Irishman as, say, a Fenian, in fact, basically, I wouldn't. But one irishman could call aother a fenian withiout it being offensive (so long as the Irishmen in question are not Ian Paisley and Martin McGuinness that is)

Its not the term its the relationship that matters. Louis the Fat will be along in a bit to deconstruct this further if need be.

[rory_20_uk]

I have a friend who feels he is Pakistani is more than a nationality. It is also his culture and his ethnic background. He groups himself as such e.g. "us Pakis".

For a term to be relative to a group irrespective of context is discrimination. Why can others tell me what language I use - unless there are terms that they too can not use in case I get all upset.

[English assassin]

Why can others tell me what language I use - unless there are terms that they too can not use in case I get all upset.

Why would it work like that Rory? Turn it around, and you are allowed to call people any offensive term you like, just because you've got a thick skin?