this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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Comradeship // Freechat

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We all know that the west uses two different words for the same thing depending on where it is happening.

e.g. Secret Police vs Plainclothes Officer
Regime vs Government

Can we have a compilation thread of these words? I am probably using many of them unconsciously without critical examination.

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[–] [email protected] 26 points 1 year ago (2 children)
[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

Expat is a useful word, but it has been co-opted by those who very obviously aren’t expats and just don’t want to call themselves immigrants.

[–] [email protected] 19 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I do the reverse thing of calling myself an immigrant and you can see people having an error in their heads. Because I am an immigrant, I came here unemployed with nowhere to stay, looking for a better life. But I'm white, so expat it is for them 🤷

[–] [email protected] 8 points 1 year ago (2 children)

I think this isn't always true because they do mean different things. You're not an "immigrant" unless you're trying to stay there permanently, whereas "expats" can be sort of transient

[–] [email protected] 14 points 1 year ago

In practice, people from the global south who are working for only a few years in rich countries are never called expats.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Unless you are a white person in Asia. Then you call yourself an expat even if you've been there for decades.