I just learned I am a Seppo

[silverfall]

What a Seppo? It's slang from a group of people who have either too much time or don't want people to know they are insulting you.

This is Australian slang used for Americans. Americans as you all well know are called Yankees across the world. The Australians took Yank from Yankee and rhymed it with Septic Tank cause we are all full of shit and shortened it down to seppo.

What do you think? Too much time? Good imagination? Should we be insulted or just wonder why they dont come out and insult us directly. I feel that it shows an underlying inferiority complex. The way it is used is open and with a sly smile, like they are calling you a name but happy that you don't understand the hidden meaning.

[gomichild]

Oh wonderful someone else with a stupid complex.

No Australian under the age of 55 would use that expression.

[Charles]

Don't waste your time trying to figure out why the ozzies are the way they are. They just are.

[Ketou]

I thought the British used this term as well.

[silverfall]

I heard the term from three separate people all around 25-35 on three separate occaisions at a party last night. I don't take offense but it seems kinda low to me to insult someone out of the side of your mouth. You should come out and say it instead of being obscure.

[djgizmoe]

I heard the term from three separate people all around 25-35 on three separate occaisions at a party last night. I don't take offense but it seems kinda low to me to insult someone out of the side of your mouth. You should come out and say it instead of being obscure.

I met a teengager from Australia in Aichi, and he didn't see anything wrong with calling his Japanese mates "Japs". I think he was truly unaware of the loaded nature of the term. And it took me a while to figure out what "haole" meant in Hawaii and then even longer to decide if I wanted to be offended or not.

The bottom line is, it's hard to know how insulting these kind of terms are unless you know exactly where the people that use them are coming from. If they are just using it like "Yank" or "limey", maybe they don't sense anything insulting about it. If they are using it to be insulting, call them on it and then tell them to fuck off if necessary.

Remember, if you're from the U.S., you really have no clue as to how jealous most countries are of America's position as the central hub of media/pop culture/political power in the world. Australians are so marginalized from most Americans' point of view as to not even warrent the creation of a prejoritive term to describe them! So just make REAL sure how upset you want to get by a term you may not fully understand. If it were me, I'd just let it slide.

And what's with all the Australia bashing lately?

[sirwanksalot]

I heard the term from three separate people all around 25-35 on three separate occaisions at a party last night. I don't take offense but it seems kinda low to me to insult someone out of the side of your mouth. You should come out and say it instead of being obscure.

I met a teengager from Australia in Aichi, and he didn't see anything wrong with calling his Japanese mates "Japs". I think he was truly unaware of the loaded nature of the term. And it took me a while to figure out what "haole" meant in Hawaii and then even longer to decide if I wanted to be offended or not.

The bottom line is, it's hard to know how insulting these kind of terms are unless you know exactly where the people that use them are coming from. If they are just using it like "Yank" or "limey", maybe they don't sense anything insulting about it. If they are using it to be insulting, call them on it and then tell them to fuck off if necessary.

Remember, if you're from the U.S., you really have no clue as to how jealous most countries are of America's position as the central hub of media/pop culture/political party in the world. Australians are so marginalized from most Americans' point of view as to not even warrent the creation of a prejoritive term to describe them! So just make REAL sure how upset you want to get by a term you may not fully understand. If it were me, I'd just let it slide.

And what's with all the Australia bashing lately?

Agreed with everything DJ says. Most of my friends are from Australia and they sometimes use the word seppo. So what I really don't care if they call me a Seppo if they don't mind me calling them a sheep shagger or something else in retort. Aussies like to take the piss out of eachother and you too. It means they like you.

[kurohinge1]

Oh wonderful someone else with a stupid complex.

My initial thoughts exactly, but I'll give him the benefit of the doubt.

I don't take offense ...

No need to - they're not insulting you (at least in Oz), it's just an expression. However, it's also from England's cockney slang and I would've thought that anyone with an actual degree in linguistics would've told you that.

The English have even more expressions which the cockneys still seem to use, whereas in Oz, the practice is dying out, as GC suggested. That link is to a cockney "dictionary" where you'll find at least 7 words for "Yank". Most young people in Sydney seem to cringe at using it as it sounds too "old" or "outback".

"Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" is a good movie if you want to hear some cockney slang and a fun film in any event.

Another example is "frog & toad" for "road" - we don't think that the road is a frog or a toad or even full of them (unless it's cane toad country) - it's just rhyming slang.

Aussies also call the English "poms" - which it is often said came from "pohm" for "prisoner of Her Majesty". But no one's really sure anymore.

No one I know uses either phrase with malice. None of my friends from either country are offended by it, but I'd refrain from using it on an American I'd just met as many have never heard of it.

Perhaps you can tell me why US citizens call the poms "Limeys"?
Where did it come from? Is that a derogatory expression?
Just curious as I've only heard "limey" used in WWII movies.

Anyway, I just hope you can see past the recent craziness.

[Samurai_Jerk]

Perhaps you can tell me why US citizens call the poms "Limeys"?
Where did it come from? Is that a derogatory expression?
Just curious as I've only heard "limey" used in WWII movies.

When I was a kid I learned in school that the term came from the fact that British sailors used to sail around the world with crates of limes that they would suck on to prevent scurvy. I don't know if it's true or not, but it sounds believable. It's not particularly derogatory. About like calling someone a Yank. BTW, people do still use it.

[oyajikun]

I remember how much I loved being called "Yank" my first year living in England. I didn't mind so much once I developed an understanding of how to take the piss. Although I have never been called a "Seppo", I do believe I would take offence.

[cstaylor]

Perhaps you can tell me why US citizens call the poms "Limeys"?
Where did it come from? Is that a derogatory expression?
Just curious as I've only heard "limey" used in WWII movies.

When I was a kid I learned in school that the term came from the fact that British sailors used to sail around the world with crates of limes that they would suck on to prevent scurvy. I don't know if it's true or not, but it sounds believable. It's not particularly derogatory. About like calling someone a Yank. BTW, people do still use it.

Yes, that's where the word comes from, and it's from the 18th century.

My favorite quote about the British Navy came from a half-American British statesman, Winston Churchill. As First Lord of the Admiralty, Churchill pushed through reforms, including the movement from coal to diesel for power, often against the wishes of the Navy. When told that "The Navy's traditions prevent us from..." he retored, "the only traditions of the British Navy are rum, sodomy, and the lash".

[cstaylor]

Although I have never been called a "Seppo", I do believe I would take offence.

Whatever happened to calling people by their proper names?

[Ol Dirty Gaijin]

Agreed with everything DJ says. Most of my friends are from Australia and they sometimes use the word seppo. So what I really don't care if they call me a Seppo if they don't mind me calling them a sheep shagger or something else in retort. Aussies like to take the piss out of eachother and you too. It means they like you.

If it's just Seppo, your in.
If it's Fucking Seppo, the line is crossed. Fire away.

[Big Booger]

The first time I heard pommie was here.. Kiwi, and sheep shagger??? All those terms were new to me. Call me sheltered.. but no more.

Who gives a rats ass what they call you.

[cliffy]

Remember, if you're from the U.S., you really have no clue as to how jealous most countries are of America's position as the central hub of media/pop culture/political power in the world. Australians are so marginalized from most Americans' point of view as to not even warrent the creation of a prejoritive term to describe them!

Yeah The Us is the centre of the universe, you don't need to ask as the Yanks will ALWAYS tell you.

[kurohinge1]

... you really have no clue as to how jealous most countries are of America's position as the central hub of media/pop culture/political power in the world ...

Yeah The Us is the centre of the universe, you don't need to ask as the Yanks will ALWAYS tell you.

C'mon fellas, no one seriously believes either comment do they?
We all know all countries have their fair share of intelligent and dumb citizens and that there's no IQ test when it comes to passports.

I mean, whinging about these practices is a bit like asking all the Japanese to call you gaikokujin instead of gaijin (anyone tried it?). The fact is, the way something is said is usually much more important than the what is said.

When in Spain, a local friend taught me the expression De Puta Madre which they they used as slang for 'excellent', etc, but literally means 'of (a) whore mother'.

[silverfall]

Every day at work and with friends who are from several different countries, we throw good natured jabs at each other all the time. While I know this is what the others were probably intending the slang has a very negative meaning. It is pretty much the same as calling a Japanese person a Jap or a black person a Nigger. I would never do either. I have more respect for people from other cultures or ethnicities. Calling someone from the states a Seppo is like saying Australians have intimate coital contact with bipedal marsupials. You really have to know what they are talking about.

I am not trying to start an Aussie bashing trend here. I am just pointing out something that many people are unaware of. We should all remember that our cultures have differences and that sometimes we need to have a little tact.

The only reason I took offense to the word when it was used yesterday was because of the way it was used. An Aussie lost an argument to me and another guy so he turns around and says "You fucking Seppos think you know everthing." I had no idea what the slang meant at first so I asked another guy at the party about it later. It's hard to defend yourself if you dont know what someone is saying. I heard the word used twice more that night. I know I shouldnt take it personal but sometimes things just get to you.

[Hound]

"You fucking Seppos think you know everthing."

Well in that context Id say its fair that you took offense and he meant it in a bad way. Usually when most people get pissed off about something, or they know they are loosing/lost an arguement, they will resort to basic slagging. I know myself that if something pisses me off about americans I will finally just dismiss the issue with "Fucking Yank" as if this was the answer to everything. I know its wrong, you know its wrong, but we all do it.

For the record, im australian and I have heard the slang seppo, but never really used it or knew anyone that used it. Maybe its an east cost thing (im from West Australia).

But as a final note, i wouldnt take too much notice of it in general conversation. As someone else said, its not what is said, but how its said that is important. I refer to my friends by all sorts of slang, Pom, Kiwi, Sheep Shagger, Yank, etc. I never mean anything by it and i think everyone else realises it (and reciprocates)

Anyway mate, Id just say forget about it and give him a bit back. If he calls you a fucking seppo, call him a fuckin sheep shagger with a smile on your face. If he doesnt laugh, hes a wanker, and not worth the trouble.

[djgizmoe]

Remember, if you're from the U.S., you really have no clue as to how jealous most countries are of America's position as the central hub of media/pop culture/political power in the world. Australians are so marginalized from most Americans' point of view as to not even warrent the creation of a prejoritive term to describe them!

Yeah The Us is the centre of the universe, you don't need to ask as the Yanks will ALWAYS tell you.

Haha, I was wondering when someone would make me 'clarify' that rather obnoxious statement. Let me take my foot out of my mouth and put it another way. Americans (intellectual expats like us excepted, of course) are usually so wrapped up in their own political and entertainment world that they rarely think of ANY other country, save maybe Mexico and Canada (or maybe England, when music enters into the conversation) in either a positive or negative sense. If not for Lord of the Rings, I don't think most Americans could've told New Zealand from New Guinea! But I don't think I was essentially wrong about America's position as a media hub - it's not our fault people from all over the world buy the crappy movies Hollywood makes, the suicide-inducing pop of Britney Spears or the software Microsoft spews forth...

Anyway, my point was that Americans (myself sometimes included) are generally so myopic, that we are genuinely puzzled or offended when we encounter 'rude' nicknames or negative feelings towards the U.S. abroad ("Hey, what did I ever do to you?") generated, yes, by a combination of jealousy and righteous indignation at U.S. foreign policy and the cultural imperialism of McDonald's, Coca-Cola, Starbucks, blah, blah, blah.

Yanks and Ozzies rock, but of course we gaijin all know that Japan is actually the center of the universe...

[AssKissinger]

What's the new PC word for 'gypsy'?

[American Oyaji]

gypsy = booger

seriously.

[oyajikun]

What's the new PC word for 'gypsy'?

Pikey is PC yeah?

[kansaiboy]

seppo...are comon..its only taking the piss..we do it all the time...dont be so sensitive...god there are alot of whingy people here..

[Big Booger]

gypsy = booger

seriously.

Gypsy=departer, drifter, emigrant, evacuee, expatriate, immigrant, itinerant, migrator, mover, nomad, rover, tinker, transient, traveler, vagrant, wanderer

Of those, rover, intinerant, and traveler would be acceptable.

Booger is not a gypsy.. he's a Fucked Gypsjin.

[jingai]

Whatever happened to calling people by their proper names?

How about seppo-san?
That's more respectful.

[maraboutslim]

And for those of you, seppo and sheep shagger alike, in this thread that seem to think there is a "G" in the word that sounds like "wine" and means to complain in a childish manner, the word is w-h-i-n-e, as in "stop whinning, you whinny seppo." No "G", G. Dig?

[Gafvert]

What's the degrading term for a swede?

[kurohinge1]

[cstaylor]

What's the degrading term for a swede?

Aussie. :: rimshot ::

[maraboutslim]