Colleague said something was a bit Irish

[0scon]

Something that hadn't been planned properly, she said it was a bit Irish and laughed.
Is that not quite racist? Or am I being too woke?

What about if it were "hooligans" kicking off?

*Ok @0scon you really are going to have to explain your objection to this, I'm not seeing it at all.

I'm a child of the 70's and grew up with phrases like 'oh that's a bit Irish'. 'he's having a paddy' 'no she's ran away with a black man' (when a child asked if their mum was there'

all kinds of things that when you actually look at them obviously would have caused offence to Irish/black, but hadn't intended to be. They were just stick phrases that meant 'what you're doing doesn't make sense/is the wrong way. He's kicking off. No I don't know where your mother is.

in 30 years time there will be a reason why 'kicking off' is a terrible thing to say.*

I didn't really get this sorry. Explain what? Sometimes she talks about other people who say racist things against black people for example and she will excuse them by saying to me that they are just 'a bit old school'.
I wonder if she doesn't think the Irish 'joke' comes under that category

Well I'm Irish

I really don’t think she does….?

Whoosh

Sure I did, to be sure to be sure.

Care to explain, then?

Or were you just trying to ‘comically’ up the Irish ante?

I'm not Irish. It was a common phrase used where I was brought up in the NW; one I'd have heard a few times a week at school, and used myself. I didn't know anyone who was Irish, and never really thought about it as a phrase.

When I came south for uni, I had a couple of Irish friends, and I can remember going to use it, and just stopping short as the meaning of it hit me. I think I can honestly say I haven't used it since. Also I don't think I've heard anyone use it round here either, whether that's regional or the difference in timing meaning people realised it was offensive and stopped using it, I don't know.

It's interesting because some phrases become offensive as language evolves. I say to my dc that some of the language they use, thinking they are being very careful not to offend, will almost certainly be told by their dc that is offensive, as some of the phrases we used 30 years or more ago.
Some are obviously offensive when you think about it, and you can look back and wonder how it was possible for people not to realise. This is clearly one of the latter.

I am Irish. I do not know anyone who says it. I know many who find it offensive. It would be ignorant as well as offensive for an Irish person to say it. Noone needs to say it.

Also, if I inadvertently caused offence, I would accept it, apologise and never use the problematic language again.

That is even more offensive.

I have only heard this said once to me, by my dentist. He said , ‘when your gums bleed a little you should actually be brushing that area a little more, I know that sounds like a really Irish thing to say but its what you need to do’.
he was most definitely Irish, and extremely handsome too which is probably why my 15 year old self can remember the encounter so vividly.
I expect the Irish stereotypes of being loud, badly behaved or a bit daft or whatever were probably taken in good humour among certain groups ( especially the middle class Irish?) at that time ( late 90’s) and it’s something that’s fine to say if you happen to be Irish. I’d not use it. I absolutely take the piss out of my own culture and our ways though, because I find stuff about it amusing , stuff that’s true and the stuff that’s fabricated by other nationalities about us as well.

Hard agree. Also the cries of 'woke' about people who would rather not be subjected to, or subject others to, ethnic/racial derogatory stereotypes. Why should we have to take it in good humour?

Using the word "Irish" as a synonym for "stupid/crap" is definitely racist. Just like using the word "gay" as a synonym for "rubbish" is homophobic. People may have done it in the past, but that doesn't mean it was ever OK.

Well done on joining the dots.

Gotta love people who aren’t part of the group the offensive slur is aimed at, blithely waving away any notion of it being offensive….

….only for the penny to well and truly drop when a word that is definitely offensive to them is brought into the conversation.

I think the whole point of it is that Irish people can denigrate themselves all they like but if others and especially British people use such phrases then they best be prepared to be treated as the racist ( or xenophobics) they revealed themselves to be.
Everyday I see the results of the dehumanisation of Irish people. The destruction of their language, their culture, their lives.

Thanks. I know. My first Masters in in Race Relations, and my thesis was on anti-Irish racism and the commonality of racist language and concepts.

Genuinely, didn't want to duplicate my thesis here. People get it out not. But I still think that it's important to discuss that the race is "human". Social constructs are all very well. But we are all human. End of. Some people need to get a grip of that.

Ofcourse its derogatory how thick are you all that think its not. No one has ever said in my presence as luckily my friends aren't twats

Anyone know what time Corrie's on tonight?

AHH the culture destruction 😒 that's a different argument for a different reason, which would get us both banned if discussed on here

@Createausernametoday 8 pm 🤣

Ah… thanks , you’re a life saver 😬

I think that's happened to me once or twice, people have stopped short of saying it to me.

It's definitely the way it's said. Yes maybe your grandparents said it, but I know my mum (who is also irish) is offended regardless of what nationality the speaker is!

My first summer working in a bar in England (Holloway) aged 17, couldn't hear the man's drink order due to the road works outside. He says "sorry love, it's the paddy's on the road" I felt embarrassed for the both of us and stupidly was shy to speak and reveal my irishness!

As a "proper adult" years later, I lived the last ten years in Cambridgeshire and not often but regularly enough, had "threw a bit of a paddy" said to me by educated people - twice I gently pointed out the phase is a bit racist on the irish, they were complete clueless and a bit mortified (I felt bad as it is total ignorance, but unlike people on here they didn't resort to justifying it!).

Was in the room listening to a telling of an English/irish/Scotsman joke, a retired man telling it with a twinkle in his eye. Didn't know I was irish. Not a funny joke either, just a blatant "the irish are stupid" joke.

Why are we debating whether or not it's offensive - offence doesn't need to be felt by the vast majority to be legitimate - obviously it is felt by plenty as per this whole thread.

Stereotypes die hard. Re the English/irish/scotsman joke. Somehow it's really really shit when an adult with a lovely posh accent tells a blatantly nasty joke about the irish though. And assumes the room is in cahoots with him.

I'm in Ireland, and when we say someone/something is 'a bit irish' it means they're taking advantage/taking the piss. It's never meant thick /stupid. I'd never considered its origins until reading this.