How is the expression ‘an Indian’ not offensive?

[Yellownotblue]

As in, an Indian take away or delivery meal.

I find it quite odd to hear one specific type of cuisine referred to like this. Would you say “ we’re going for a French tonight” or “he invited me to his place for an Italian”? Somehow it seems dismissive and disrespectful.

For full disclosure, I’m not Indian but my husband is of Asian ancestry and our children have dual heritage. I’m British (first generation migrant). I was born and brought up in North America and can’t remember the expression ‘an Indian’ ever being used as short for Indian food before I moved to Britain.

@Yellownotblue

I’m specifically referring to abbreviating it to ‘an Indian’. I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say they were going for ‘an Italian’. Maybe I’m wrong or it’s a regional thing?

I do. I say I fancy an italian, or an Indian, or a Chinese. It's references to food, that's all.

I think I'm in a bit of a minority here. Good luck OP, I think you will have learned not to say what you actually think about any English phrase ever again!! Always couch concerns in language of extreme vagueness with many get-out clauses and you'll be fine

Indeed. And I'm sure that when English speakers say' That's an... unusual phrase' in/about other languages that they don't get any almost-angry reprisals of 'THAT'S JUST HOW WE SPEAK FGS' at all

But.. OP isn't a non English speaker. It's her first language and she's lived internationally so should he well aware of the variations in speech in the English language. If English was a second language I'd understand the confusion.

OP - you’re looking to be be offended. Almost Eveyone I know says ‘going for an ‘Italian’ or getting a ‘Chinese’ for dinner. Stop looking to be offended.

Not gonna read hundreds of messages, but just in case this hasn't been said: Most 'Indian' restaurants (Tikka masala / vindaloo etc) are Bangladeshi and a few are Pakistani. An actual Indian restaurant / takeaways are quite different in style and the food they serve. I am going to guess it very much depends on the people involved as to whether they find this type of mix-up annoying at all (I would suggest it is roughly analogous to someone on the far side of the world mixing up British and Irish???)

I wonder if professionally offended take the same level of offence at the numerous systematic racial and ethnic abuse around the world, you know like the Rohingyas being burned in their homes, or like the Uighars being raped and incarcerated because of their ethnicity. And before people point it out, yes I agree that one doesn’t invalidate the other, and you can care about both.
But it’s often the case that the serial woke artists seem to only care about the type of ridiculous topic in this thread rather than real issues.

In the US we were often thought to be Australian - seemed odd to me but presume there were more Aus accents around than British- I was a bit - not sure why. Cue loads of super inclusive, super wokeist, internationalist MNers saying theyd love to be mistaken for Aussies.

(I would suggest it is roughly analogous to someone on the far side of the world mixing up British and Irish???)

Or someone talking about the English when they mean British that always goes down well

I think it’s being offended for offended sake.

OP no one thinks they’re being asked to eat an actual Indian person when someone mentions going for an Indian. Where I come from we always say ‘having a Chinese’, ‘going for an Italian’ etc. This thread is so funny

@user1473878824

Jesus fucking Christ I’ve heard it all now.

I just spat my tea everywhere. Full marks for best response yet (& my thought exactly!) 😂😂😂

@Hotchox

Not gonna read hundreds of messages, but just in case this hasn't been said: Most 'Indian' restaurants (Tikka masala / vindaloo etc) are Bangladeshi and a few are Pakistani. An actual Indian restaurant / takeaways are quite different in style and the food they serve. I am going to guess it very much depends on the people involved as to whether they find this type of mix-up annoying at all (I would suggest it is roughly analogous to someone on the far side of the world mixing up British and Irish???)

Well the Indian Restaurants around where I live specifically says "Indian Restaurant" under the name :p

Oh .. stop it OP. Have you not got more important things to worry yourself about?

Today we've had a full English for breakfast, might have an Indian or a Chinese for dinner and I'm cooking an Italian for dinner tomorrow. Please feel free to go off in an offended huff .....

HTH

How strange to move to another country and complain about the vernacular.

Mmm well many Indian restaurants are run by Bangladeshes

Doesn’t have the same ring to it (and neither are they honest )

Our local Indian restaurant - and it says Indian restaurant on the sign, is run by a Bangladeshi family and their head chef is Nepalese, they also serve chicken and chips and omelettes for those weird people who don't like Indian food, so should we say we're going for an Indian, a Nepalese, a Bangladeshi or for generic south Asian cuisine?

Some people really want to find the most innocuous thing offensive.

Our local Indian restaurant regularly post on Facebook using the phrase 'an Indian' as in if you fancy an Indian tonight we deliver to the following areas... do I need to tell them they're offensive?

I would also say
A Chinese
An Italian
A full English
Etc

It's just a way of describing food 🤷🏼‍♀️

As a side note.

Just google mapped local restaurants (I never knew just how many and diverse restaurants where nearby)

But what I noticed was most restaurants regardless of cuisine were now offering takeaways and delivery.
Apart from the french restaurants, which said temporarily closed.

So I doubt ordering a french on Uber eats will ever become a term, were as we might start saying having a South African tonight.

Apart I won't because we can't get deliveries where I live

@Lulu1919

An Indian because ' a Indian 'isn't correct As in two vowels A Chinese An Italian

a dog
an insect

So glad someone mentioned vowels 😀

Vowels it's about vowels!!!!! 😀😀

In China they go for out for 'Western'.

One restaurant, every type of 'western' food on the menu. Burger, fries, pasta etc.

Other restaurants aren't 'Chinese' they serve a specific regional cuisine. Because to lump all 'Chinese' food in together would be weird and suggest bad quality. There is an expertise to being a chef who cooks Szechuan vs Cantonese. Just as being a great pizza chef Vs Tapas.

no

It doesn't matter who runs or cooks it.
What matters is how place presents itself🤷🏻
"Indian cuisine"
"Lebanese cuisine"
"Bulgarian cuisine"
Doesn't matter if the chef or owner is greek or chinese.

A British Indian restaurant menu is an amazing mish mash though.
Kashmiri Rogan Josh, Goan Vindaloo, Anglo-Indian Jalfrezi, Mhugal Korma, Bengali Bhuna, Birmingham Balti and Phall, British Tikka Masala. ..
I'd love to know how all that lot ended up on the menu together in an Indian restaurant run by Bangladeshis in the UK!
Dhansak is a Parsi dish and there are only a few hundred Parsis in Bangladesh, a few thousand in India.
How did a dish that would be virtually unknown in its country of origin end up as a staple here?

Cba to find a link now but I really enjoyed when Goodness Gracious Me parodied this.

ThinkAboutItTomorrow that sounds like a place I had the misfortune to eat in once, in, I believe, Stoke.
Lots of different stations, all different cuisines, self serve.
People wandering around with plates of spring rolls, sushi, chips, Yorkshire puddings, poppadoms and gravy