To think that “Irish twins” is an offensive term?

[CroissantwithCheese]

I read a thread on an American pregnancy forum about the term “Irish twins”. The OP posted some gushing statement hoping she was pregnant and that it would mean she had Irish twins. A commenter said it was offensive and I deeply agree. It was an idiom apparently created in the US in the 1800s, referring to the large families of Irish immigrants. It was derogatory, stereotyping the Irish for not having any sort of family planning and not using contraception. But this was hardly their fault as the church had banned contraception. The term has now become some sort of cutesy way of referring to two children born within a year of each other, and seems to be completely accepted. How can that be accepted and not considered offensive?!

Puppy monkey - calm down. I fully understand he joke. We are a week Over a year apart. People aren’t that precise when they use the term.

Bet you are a bundle of laughs in a social setting!!!!!!!

That's why the word is qualified by the descriptor 'Irish'.

That doesn’t qualify anything being Irish doesn’t suddenly make them twins. Irish twins are the same as all other twins- born of the same pregnancy.

Okay...

Oh FFS - will you give it a rest ya muppeh

ILoveMaxiBondi

Dear heavens!!!!

Since being Irish doesnt need adding.

The post I quoted referred to her Irish children as Irish twins. I didn’t add the Irish part. She did. It was correct, so I felt no need to remove it. Her children are Irish, she chose to identify them as such. Her choice. I didn’t add it.

... but if you’re a week over a year, you’re not Irish twins.

• runs off

Is everyone here now clear on what twins are? It's two children born of the same pregnancy. Ok. All clear now?
Ok......... proceed. lest Bondi spontaneously combust from the sheer stress of repeating herself

Oh FFS - will you give it a rest ya muppeh

Hang on, you don’t get to engage a poster and then criticise them for responding to your posts!

max I agree with you.

Pp It has nothing to do with being “PC”, ffs.

Anyone who doesn’t mind the phrase, that’s grand, great, fantastic.

Some people do mind it and, imo, with very good reason. No one’s trying to be the voice of a nation here. Just opinions.

It do you get Irish triplets or quads🤔

Ok puppy monkey. I will from now correct everyone who ever says this🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣.

But I wanted to point out to you that I may by Irish, but I’m not as thick as your post suggested😂😂😂😂😂😂😂

I didn't engage you. You come on here like a broken record going on about a tangential fact which has nothing to do with the turn of phrase!
If there's any engaging that needs to be done, it's you with your brain.

I don’t think it is offensive at all. Why would it be ?

My brother and I are Irish twins. On behalf of my people, we are not offended
But I've never heard the phrase used outside of Ireland.... I always presumed only Irish people could be Irish twins? But I guess since they're not really twins it doesn't matter if they're really Irish.
My mother was mortified by her Irish twin pregnancy BTW....
Pure Catholic, keep having loads of babies but be ashamed of it 😂

I didn't engage you

You did! you @my username (which sends an email to my email address BTW) and directed several posts to me! But I’m not allowed to respond? You directly engaged me. But I have no right of reply Apparently.

You come on here like a broken record going on about a tangential fact which has nothing to do with the turn of phrase!

I came on here responding to the OPs question. I’ve explained my reasons, you then directed some posts to me using my name and then called me names for responding.

That’s great Dippy.

BTW, my earlier post about thick Irish mothers is not what I actually think, I was saying there was a time when it was acceptable to think that way and I wondered if that also contributed to the invention of this term. You did get that, right? And the bit where I said I was also Irish?

The post I quoted referred to her Irish children as Irish twins. I didn’t add the Irish part. She did. It was correct, so I felt no need to remove it. Her children are Irish, she chose to identify them as such. Her choice. I didn’t add it.

But you also didnt remove it.

The correct term, since you are so stuck in facts, is siblings.

The fact that they are Irish doesnt impact that at all. If it was relevant it would 'siblings who happen to be Irish'.

Talking about people familial relationship, is not changed by the fact they are Irish or otherwise. So not relevant.

Forvteg poster you were correcting it was relevant. because we were discussing the term Irish twins her coming on and saying 'oh i have twins' would have had no relevance.

You corrected her but felt the need to keep in the Irish part. If someone posted 'me and my brother when to a party and the host kept introducing us as 'Irish siblings' posters would be talking about othering, how nationality wasnt relevant etc.

But you also didnt remove it.

There was nothing incorrect about it. I have no objection to an Irish person referring to their DC as Irish. Why would I remove her correct choice of language to describe her children?

I'm Irish and not offended. In fact it's a term I hear very regularly and have never seen anyone offended by it ? I'm also a member of a group of Facebook with over 60k irish members and it's also used there with great regularity and no one is offended

I'm Irish and have dc a year apart and often people say oh Irish twins. It's not meant offensively- just people making conversation. I don't think it's bad but I can see how some people would. I had mine close together due to my age and the amount of time it took to conceive first child.

There's plenty for the Irish to potentially take offence to, but we're just not that bothered really......
We're too busy reproducing

It's like a lot of things which 'offend' the professional offendees, the groups they claim it offends are far too intelligent to be offended. I do wish that I had the time to trawl the web for things at which to feign offence, many people on here really need to get a life and leave others to love their's.

There was nothing incorrect about it. I have no objection to an Irish person referring to their DC as Irish. Why would I remove her correct choice of language to describe her children?

Well there was. Because the Irish bit was only there because of the twin bit. Otherwise it would have been 'I have twins, who are twins, born 10 months apart'.

I understand you find 'Irish twins' offensive. But the irrelevant use of nationality would be offensive too.

You were correcting her. But didnt occur to you that your correction, wasnt quite as PC as you thought.

As an aside, if I say I find the use of Irish siblings offensive, when the only thing that needed pointing out was that they are siblings, you would have to accept the term is offensive. You said if someone finds something offensive, then it is offensive. So if I find your use of 'Irish siblings' offensive, it is.

So why wont you accept that?

The one thing that I do actually take offence to is the English claiming every achievement of the Irish as being their doing....

Now that drives me mental.