Irish posters - "having a paddy"

[BarbaraHoward]

Irish posters - can I canvas your opinions on the use of "having a paddy" to mean "having a tantrum"? I've been having a bit of back and forth (well, plenty of forth not much back in truth) with MNHQ over the past day or two and I want to check that I'm not going against the majority view here.

IMO, the phrase is awful, and plainly anti Irish. I know most people using it aren't doing so to slag Irish people off, but the phrase is still awful IMO.

I've been here a long time, and reported the phrase more than I can remember. Usually, it's just deleted right away. Raising it on a thread always derails it as people just go on the offensive.

I reported it yesterday and got the immediate email that it was being checked out, but the post stayed up for hours despite a follow up email, another post and a thread in Site Stuff. It was then edited rather than deleted, which I thought was the norm for offensive language. I reported another use this morning and it's still up.

What are your views? Is this a fight worth having with MNHQ or am I out of step with the majority of Irish posters on here?

Thanks :)

That makes more sense - it was the classic John Adams Fontana cover from the early 70s that boggled me.

I'm Irish and have only ever lived in Ireland.

Irish born and bred, lived in England for ~30 years then moved back.
It IS offensive and I have never heard the phrase in Ireland.
Just as offensive is the term "Irish Twins" which I have previously reported to MNHQ too.
I had a really great life in England an I love English people but I must say there is a fair bit of casual racism about Irish people that still persists. Anecdotally I only ever encountered it from English people (not all British) and usually the worst came from middle class and/or well-educated folks.
We're having the last laugh now though with an economy/GDP that the UK can only envy. Not so thick after all lads :D

I'm one of those people who get classed as an Irish Twin and I find it offensive. I think. I also find throwing a paddy offensive, we always say kicking off.

Is a 'paddy wagon' a police van? I don't understand that...

MN’s approach to moderating posts in relation talk guidelines is a joke! I was deleted for pointing out to a poster that I found the tone of their post to be bitchy and somewhat bullying but they let this stuff stand. Ridiculous!

'Throwing a paddy' is offensive. I don't think I've ever heard an Irish person use this phrase. I agree with OP that this phrase has usually been deleted by MNHQ immediately when reported, and am disappointed that this doesn't seem to have been the case on this occasion.

'Irish twins' is slightly different, I think. As a British person long resident in Ireland I would never use it, but I've often heard it used by Irish people. I feel it's one of those phrases that doesn't travel well.

Northern Irish protestant with British parentage and I know it's offensive. Why is it up for debate. Irish person is offended by it, it's offensive. Because some Irish people aren't bothered by it doesn't make it ok for you to use.

So many little turns of phrase and other terms have unsavoury origins.

e.g. mumbo jumbo, peanut gallery.

A lot of people won't know of these origins. If someone is not using such terms in a racially insulting way then it can be explained to them and hopefully they won't use it again.

I didn’t know it was offensive until I saw it on MN. It’s not a phrase I’ve used for many years but if Irish people find it offensive then that should be reason enough not to use it.

I do not even care if someone Irish does use this word. It is offensive. The fact that someone has an Irish friend who says the term is irrelevant.

Until today I believed it was slang for "creating a
Pandemonium" as in chaotic situation or wild uproar.

Used changeable with throwing a wobbler

I stand corrected

I'm half Irish and had no idea what it meant. I don't think people are using it out of racism, they just don't know its origins. Words and phrases over time seem to lose their original associations. Gay for example used to mean happy. Still does technically but most don't use it like that and younger people are clueless of the original meaning.

Irish person living in UK. Have never heard it, either in Ireland or here. I'd never heard of it before seeing it on Mumsnet. Don't love it. Don't love Irish twins. No issue with beyond the pale. I have experienced very little anti Irish sentiment in London. Experience far more anti English sentiment at home.

Brexit killed it for UK.
Rosslare Europort has come on in leaps and bounds. Bypassing U.K completely for exports/imports.

Brexit was such an own goal. {I'm English and bitterly resent Brexit}

Paddy is a pejorative, offensive term to describe Irish people

Um, its also a name. As in my Uncle Paddy. His full name was Patrick, Paddy is a colloquial for Patrick.

Why would you assume it's non-Irish people being offended on 'our' behalf? I'm Irish, living in Ireland.

I agree with you, OP.
It's offensive and shouldn't be used.

If you know the history, then you will be very much aware of why there is such a massive Irish diaspora... because the two things are very much two sides of a coin.

Most people know this.
Most people also know that it's been used as a term to describe Irish people.
Describing an episode as "a Paddy" is pejorative.

Don’t bet your life
I’m Irish, living in Ireland and I find it highly offensive.

I'm Irish, living in Ireland and I can't get all that worked up about it because it's not being used to put Irish people down. If it bothers some people then it would be better if it wasn't used and I would be happy if nobody ever used it again, but there are much worse and more widely used words that I would put my energy into fighting against before I'd target this one (like 'Karen' which must be painful for all the perfectly nice Karens out there and is a lazy insult against women of my age).

Also 'beyond the Pale', I just don't really care. Nobody who uses the phrase (and hardly anyone does now) is thinking about Ireland or the area outside Dublin, they mean something else entirely usually that someone is wearing brown shoes with a navy suit or similar. It gave me a small thrill that I went beyond the Pale every time I did a school run when the DCs were in primary because I did know the meaning and I'm the least outlaw-ish person I know.

Have canvassed my Irish partner.

He dislikes the phrase, but says he doesn't find it 'offensive' - just thinks it's 'stupid' and 'dated' and rooted in unpleasantness. But he doesn't take offense if someone uses it.
He said he gets more bothered by 'Irish twins' though. That really grinds his gears and gets sick of 'telling online Americans who think they're Irish' that it's 'stupid shit'.

He's lived in the UK since his late teens and is now in his 40s if that makes a difference 🤷🏽‍♀️

I'm from the North east, in my 60s now and regularly said of my children that they were 'having a paddy' when they were having a tantrum.
Hand on heart, I never once associated the term with Ireland, and I very much doubt many others did.

I haven't used it in years, and won't now, but I don't believe that anyone using the term was ever trying to insult the Irish. At least I hope not!

I'm Irish, have lived in Ireland for more than 50 years, have an immediately identifiable Irish name and got exposed to a lot of anti Irish slurs during my childhood. As someone remarked, a lot of it from 'naice' English people, including schoolteachers, with lurking status anxieties.