• PixTupy@lemmy.ml
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    8 days ago

    It’s always hilarious to me that these people call themselves “expats” instead of immigrants. The term itself is so racist.

    • aldhissla@piefed.world
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      8 days ago

      A prof of mine once said “the difference between an expat and an immigrant is that one of them sounds richer when they talk

      • givesomefucks@lemmy.world
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        7 days ago

        Expat is a made up term…

        And so is expatriate…

        They’re emmigrants. Emmigrants usually don’t give up home citizenship either.

        Expatriate means someone living outside their country of origin, typically temporarily, without work, and without an intention to gain citizenship.

        The only thing that’s not true in that for emmigrants is the “without work” and most people that call themselves expats also still work.

        Where are you getting that flawed info from, expats?

      • Jiral@lemmy.world
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        8 days ago

        So, should we start to call all those “expats” in Germany “Gastarbeiter” instead of “Immigranten”? Let me guess, they wouldn’t like it.

      • A_norny_mousse@piefed.zip
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        7 days ago

        I’d still prefer emigrants vs immigrants. That’s just a point of view thing then.
        I emigrated from Iran. They immigrated into the EU.
        Expatriate is one level of complexity too much, likely for exactly the purpose of making them seem better than mere migrants.

        I’m a migrant btw. We all are.

        • pienz@feddit.org
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          7 days ago

          Unfortunately verbally its a confusing distinction but I agree its seems more consistent

          I’ve gone from NZ -> UK -> EU

          And along the way I did say I was an expat (in the UK), because I didn’t want to stay and get citizenship but instead the intention was to stay a NZer and eventually return (though also because expat felt like a British term I used it more)

          Now that I’m in the EU with an intention to stay here forever I label myself as an immigrant, because of that change in intent

          Just a personal anecdote, but maybe there’s some useful commentary on how people perceive it

      • PixTupy@lemmy.ml
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        7 days ago

        Well, no. An expat is someone that doesn’t reside in its country of origin. Period. All the other things you added is fluff because they want to be distinct from those called migrants.

        All migrants are expats. All expats are migrants.