so, how do you brits feel about being called limeys? i live in san antonio, texas, u.s.a. i have one of my best friends, who is living with me; he is from the u.k. we joke around with each other all the time. i call him limey and he calls my yank or yankee. neither one of us take offence at being call limey or yank because, we both know it is just playfull teasing. i, myself, don't mind being call a yankee unless, if it is in a hatefull way. do you all, feel the same way about being called a limey? inquiring yankees want to know.
we brits can laugh at ourselevs and i dont find being called limeys by americans or poms by the australians
I don't like the Aussies calling us poms because it is usually meant with malice, but then again they are just a bunch of convicts after all.
we brits usually get called names becuase we ruled them at some point, and they dont like that they were just one of our colonies
I've always seen it as a light hearted bit of name calling, but then I suppose I don't particularly identify with being English / British, it's just the place I happen to have been born and lived for most of my life. It doesn't mean anything if somebody tries to insult something I have no personal connection with other than accidental happenstance... people take nationality way too seriously. Where does the term "limey" actually come from?
i think it was something to do with the WWII not to sure though i would class myself as english then british, nobody likes the english not even the other countries in this supposed united kingdom. i love being english all though being english is rather diluted these days
I thought "limey" had to do with limes on boats to stop scurvy or something. I'm probably totally confused
Seems so. limey 1888, Australian, New Zealand, and South African slang for "English immigrant;" U.S. use is attested from 1918, originally "British sailor, British warship," short for lime-juicer (1857), in derisive reference to the British Navy's policy (begun 1795) of issuing lime juice on ships to prevent scurvy among sailors. In Amer.Eng., extended to "any Englishman" by 1925. Note: 1888, Perhaps it is time we updated our derogatory terms for each other. If somebody calls me a "Limey" I tell them to get into the 21st century you fucking idiot.
I find being called a 'Limey' quite endearing to be honest...I thought everybody knew why we were called that. Do you know why yanks are called yanks/yankees though?
One of many theor: One of the earliest theories on the word's origin is that it derives from the Cherokee word eankke, meaning coward, as applied to the residents of New England. Which one are you going with?
