Am I right in being slightly annoyed?

[RottenTomatoes959]

For reference I am Irish living in Ireland.

I took DS to soft play over the weekend and got chatting to an English woman who was there with her DD.
Her DD starting having tantrum as 3 year olds tend to do and she starting laughing and joking with me over her throwing " a paddy".

Maybe she didn't understand the negative connotations of it but using this phrase to an Irish person in Ireland is a bit bloody stupid.

She ended up taking her DD and leaving so I didn't say anything but I wish I did.
Do I have right to be slightly annoyed by this?

Again ginger, I’ve never heard that one either! You have taught me a few new ones.

I grew up near Belfast though and I don’t think there’s much funny about kneecappings though. Nononono .

“Hmm. And I bet none of you outraged people have ever laughed at that Irish pun about ‘Do you realise he’s British’ sounding a bit like ‘Kneecap him, he’s British’ eh? Nononononono.”

I’ve never heard that. But it is disgusting.

Its nothing to do with the Irish - its to do with padded cells ie putting an unstable person into a padded cell, would be having a paddy

Taking the mick - piss , actually it's mic , short for micuration:

micturition
[ˌmɪktjʊˈrɪʃ(ə)n]

NOUN
formal
the action of urinating.

that Irish pun about ‘Do you realise he’s British’ sounding a bit like ‘Kneecap him, he’s British’ eh? Nonononono

Never heard it. What is it?

Its nothing to do with the Irish - its to do with padded cells ie putting an unstable person into a padded cell, would be having a paddy

You’re wrong but even if you were right, that’s still offensive!

BTW kneecappings weren’t and aren’t done for being British. They’re a punishment for a specific wrong doing. Like dealing on someone’s (who may or may not identify as British themselves) turf.

Obviously, from the replies on this thread, not everyone knows that this phrase is offensive. Your friend never will either unless someone tells her, so I think you should.

Indeed posie. I’ve never heard of a kneecapping for being British. It’s a punishment for dealing drugs in someone else’s turf or doing something the provos disapprove of. Nothing to do with nationality at all.

But any ‘jokes’ about harming someone in such a brutal way, because of their nationality? That’s fucking horrible. Where the hell do you pick these things up I wonder ginger? Your associates don’t sound great.

Ginger- are you sure you’re not a teeny, tiny bit anti Irish? Most people probably wouldn’t notice- but I have an instinct for that sort of thing...

I have never heard the kneecap one either, Jesus I must have been living under a rock my whole life.

YY bertrand

I’m trying to think what sounds like “kneecap him, he’s British” all I can come up with is “nee (meaning no, but it’s not a common pronunciation) Cap’n (Captain), he’s British” but that makes no sense as a Captain would be in the British army, wouldn’t it?

Well, as someone who isn't English I'm glad people mention this sort of thing on MN as I actually had no idea before this.

Admittedly I've never heard anyone use 'throw a paddy' in RL, but people regularly use 'that's a bit Irish' around here and I didn't pick up on the negative connotations on my own.

Complete side note, but the historical issues between the Irish and the English are seriously downplayed and it's never really highlighted just how recent they were so as a foreigner I was quite surprised to see how much bad blood there still is sometimes.

The issues between Ireland and England are current, not historical. Currently there is no violence, which is great, but that can change in a heartbeat. We’re at a very precarious place right now.

I’m trying to think what sounds like “kneecap him, he’s British”

File it under 'it never happened'. Nobody ever made that joke, because kneecapping (horrible thing to even have to say :( ) was - as mentioned upthread - a punishment for drug dealers, criminals or people suspected of being spies. Anyone who claimed they heard it simply doesn't understand what kneecapping was about.

What knee capping was about?? It still goes on every week

Currently there is no violence, which is great, but that can change in a heartbeat.

Was it JRM who claimed a week or so ago that Ulster was just like Somerset? 😂

Scottish here and had no idea the word paddy was anything to do with Ireland.

My file was an immigrant from Ireland in the late 1950s- and there were signs in the windows of guest houses saying “no dogs, no Irish”

He ran a small business in a very racially mixed- and racist- part of the UK, and made a point of offering jobs to people from ethnic minorities. He used to say “When I came here I was a white Pakistani”

Was it JRM who claimed a week or so ago that Ulster was just like Somerset?

😂 would not be surprised at all!

It still goes on every week

Yep, big problem here. The PSNI have just launched a new TV ad campaign depicting a “kneecapping” from a few different perspectives. It’s an after the watershed campaign.

Gingerrogered, I'm not sure what your point is in arguing so vehemently that Irish people can be prejudiced against British people. I don't believe any of the Irish posters on this thread argued otherwise? There are bigoted idiots of every nationality; we all know this. I have never heard the wordplay insult to which you refer, but going on my very rusty memory of the Irish language, I can make it out. It is a disgusting, offensive "joke", which does not, however, reflect on all or even most Irish people.

More importantly, it has no real relevance to this thread. The issues pertinent to this thread are:

1. Is the phrase in question offensive to Irish people? It certainly seems to have offensive origins and may, therefore, be offensive to some Irish people.
2. Is it a phrase used exclusively, or at least largely, by British people? I, for one, am resolutely of the view that it is, and that it is not in common usage, if at all, by Irish people living in the Republic of Ireland.
3. Do most of the British people who use it do so out of malice or conscious prejudice? Absolutely not.

There does, however, seem to be some degree of prejudice, conscious or otherwise, in some of your musings on this thread, Gingerrogered. You might want to have a think about that.

there were signs in the windows of guest houses saying “no dogs, no Irish”

There was a sign on the M1 last week saying “no Irish no gay”

I never heard of it til I read about somebody being annoyed about it on the Mumsnet site.
I'm Irish but in Ireland.
If I was in the UK I might regard it as derogatory.

I've used it and never knew it was offensive. We can't say "meltdown" and that's not okay for non Sen dc and paddy is off too - genuinely didn't know and I'm part Irish. My Irish grandfathers living in England used to say it and so does my dad 

We need some new names for tantrum, any suggestions?

We need some new names for tantrum, any suggestions?

Tantrum?