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What slang words or phrases do British/American English speakers use for (poor) immigrants?

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6 Answers

up vote 3 down vote accepted

One of the ones I could think up of was offensive, so I wouldn't list it.

Greenhorn
Alien
Floater

There is also "Pomegranate", which is rhyming slang with "Immigrant". This term is shortened to "pommy" and used by Australians to refer to Britons.

"Wetback" is a derogatory term for Mexican illegal "immigrants", not humorous and shouldn't be used.

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Do you have any kind of reference for the Immigrant -> Pomegranate -> pommy/pom etymology? I always thought pom was a reference to potatoes. – Matt Эллен May 26 '11 at 10:22
Nevermind, I did my own research: en.wiktionary.org/wiki/pommy You are quite correct. – Matt Эллен May 26 '11 at 10:24
It's heard quite commonly around here. – Thursagen May 26 '11 at 10:35
Britishers is used commonly? Or Pommy? – Matt Эллен May 26 '11 at 10:58
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I didn't think that alien had this connotation? Is that for sure? – BBischof May 26 '11 at 13:31
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up vote 3 down vote

I have heard the phrase "wretched refuse" used to obliquely refer to poor immigrants. It is a phrase lifted from the poem on the Statue of Liberty, instantly recognizable to any American with a small modicum of education. As such, it actually has a slightly more positive connotation than such a phrase would otherwise have. It probably would only work for immigrants to the USA though.

Generally a term like that is only really needed during an immigration wave. Such waves tend to be centered from one country, so every such term tends to be associated with a particular nationality (usually as an epithet). As such, you will have great trouble finding a word or phrase that doesn't double as a specific racial epithet.

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up vote 1 down vote

An American term in wide use over a century ago was "wop," or "without papers."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Illegal_immigration

It referred particularly to Italian immigrants, and there are other, less flattering references to them.

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reference? ... ... – GEdgar Aug 23 '11 at 19:03
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A reference would indeed be really nice here for the first sentence. For the second, it was so ubiquitous that it should be unnecessary. I can assure you that "wop" used to be a common epithet for Italians here. If you ever saw The Untouchables (movie), Sean Connery's character uses the word to taunt an Italian-American assaulting him. – T.E.D. Aug 23 '11 at 19:27
A reference has been added. I omitted some others that even wiki conceded were less trustworthy. – Tom Au Aug 23 '11 at 20:14
up vote 0 down vote

FOB stands for "fresh off the boat." Usually it's used for immigrants with heavy accents or poor English. It's also derogatory, not humorous and shouldn't be used.

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IMHO it beats the ugly term used for those who instead immigrated overland from the south ("wetbacks" - presuming they swum the Rio Grande). – T.E.D. Aug 23 '11 at 19:40
In Michigan, FOB and FOP are derogatory terms for people from Ohio. – oosterwal Aug 23 '11 at 20:11
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Can't think of any general BE terms - perhaps asylum seeker if you are the Daily Mail.

Generally it's just the name of the county abbreviated. There are a few offensive terms for inhabitants of certain countries, mick, frog, kraut etc but not specific to immigrants.

There was a case recently where a politician got into trouble for saying 'Jap' for Japanese, he claimed it was the official abbreviation for Japan but it was ruled to be offensive like Paki for pakistani.

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i am also a paki – Furqan May 26 '11 at 15:14
@Furqan, and generally paki is regarded as offensive. The question is whether 'jap' is automatically offensive or merely an abbreviation. Obviously it's how it's meant – mgb May 26 '11 at 16:21
Is calling a British person a Brit, or a Swedish person a Swede, or a Finnish person a Finn, offensive? – Malvolio Jun 24 '11 at 21:29
@Malvolio - I wouldn't have said so. Calling a Swede a Fin or v.v. probably would be! – mgb Jun 24 '11 at 21:47
You know why all the trees in Norway lean towards the east? Because Sweden sucks! Mwa-ha-ha... – Malvolio Jun 24 '11 at 21:49
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up vote 0 down vote

More of a euphemism than a slang term, but my local public library has a couple of shelves designated as the 'New Americans Center'. (Why it's a 'center' I have no idea.) Of course, many people might resent being called an American before they wanted to be called an American, if that makes sense. On the other hand, I think it's a gesture that wouldn't necessarily get made a lot around here.

As someone has mentioned, FOB is definitely offensive, but I thought I would note that I've not heard it in the Midwest, only in California and almost exclusively to refer to Asians (often by other Asians).

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Using AmE doesn't mean one wants to be called an American. But I am definitely with you on your points. – StackUnderblow Aug 23 '11 at 22:49
I know that a lot of people want to be called "Americans" because it emphasizes that you are part of the country rather than being an outsider. And yes, I've only heard FOB as referring to Asians--at least now. – simchona♦ Aug 23 '11 at 22:51
if they are already citizens, FOB or BOF or whatever is just nonsense, US isn't a pure country of the red. Your ancestors invaded it. People move down from Canda, up from Mexico, Pru, from Europe, etc and bring all messes there. Then what, should they be called non-immigrants ?\ – StackUnderblow Aug 23 '11 at 23:00
@Stack: Whose ancestors are you talking about? – simchona♦ Aug 23 '11 at 23:03
@Stack Oh, I see what you mean about AmE. It's a section of resources for people new to the country/area (in various languages), rather than books aimed at people learning English. – hoyland Aug 27 '11 at 14:57

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