Why Do Brits Use "ex-Pat" Instead Of Immigrant?

[Trampa501]

Brits who move abroad almost always talk of themselves as expats, not as immigrants.

Is this because they feel they are from a superior race, and the term immigrant implies failure in their own country?

[swissy_fit]

Brits who move abroad almost always talk of themselves as expats, not as immigrants.

Is this because they feel they are from a superior race, and the term immigrant implies failure in their own country?

Yes definitely, I feel completely superior to my Swiss hosts.

Every time I use their plentiful cheap sports facilities, timely cheap public transport, see their balance of payments and manufacturing figures, get my paycheck, drive on their relatively uncrowded roads, think about their voting system, see their slim women, ride on their excellent cycle routes, I feel superior. So superior, in fact, that I might try for a Swiss passport in a couple of years, just to show them......

[Guest TheBlueCat]

Brits who move abroad almost always talk of themselves as expats, not as immigrants.

Is this because they feel they are from a superior race, and the term immigrant implies failure in their own country?

I don't, I'm always clear that I'm an immigrant in Canada on the very odd occassion that someone actually asks. Having said that, the people I can think of who might refer to themselves as ex-pat are generally the ones that are certain they're only somewhere for a specific period of time prior to returning to the UK.

[iamnumerate]

Brits who move abroad almost always talk of themselves as expats, not as immigrants.

Is this because they feel they are from a superior race, and the term immigrant implies failure in their own country?

I thought that it was to avoid confusion. If you talk about a British immigrant then you could be talking about an immigrant in the UK or British person in another country.

[Bosh]

You can be both.

The French, Germans and Americans are also known to use the term ex-pat. Probably many other countries use that term or similar.

When I hear ex-pat I envisage for example..British living in Spanish communities. Still wanting to be British and not wanting much to do with the locals. Here for the beer and sunshine.

Immigrants are seen as in your country and on the sponge.

Ex-pat sounds so much nicer than Immigrant

[Guest TheBlueCat]

Ex-pat sounds so much nicer than Immigrant

Personally I'm on a one man-mission to reclaim the word. Yo, my immigrant! etc.

[Mrs Bear]

Brits who move abroad almost always talk of themselves as expats, not as immigrants.

Is this because they feel they are from a superior race, and the term immigrant implies failure in their own country?

Surely 'ex-pat' is generally used by people who are working or living overseas, but not intending to stay permanently or take up nationality.

We would have called ourselves ex-pats when living in Abu Dhabi and Oman. We were certainly not 'immigrants'. Even if we'd wanted to take up nationality in either country I doubt we'd have been granted it.

[Argoed]

I don't, I'm always clear that I'm an immigrant in Canada on the very odd occassion that someone actually asks. Having said that, the people I can think of who might refer to themselves as ex-pat are generally the ones that are certain they're only somewhere for a specific period of time prior to returning to the UK.

Correct.

[bkkandrew]

I had this conversation many times with an American in Thailand who had lived there twice as long as me at the time (nearly 30-years). He has since passed away, yet to his death he could not accept the fact that he a emigrated to Thailand and therefore was an immigrant to Thailand. This despite access to dictionaries etc.

Anyway, for myself, I prefer to regard my position as being a colonialist.

[Democorruptcy]

People somewhere like Poland don't describe Poles who have moved to the UK as immigrants do they?

Ex-Pats are people who have left and immigrants are people who have arrived.

[LiveAndLetBuy]

Brits who move abroad almost always talk of themselves as expats, not as immigrants.

Is this because they feel they are from a superior race, and the term immigrant implies failure in their own country?

I've been living in Spain for nearly 10 years and always considered myself as a migrant - I came here to find a job and settle down in a different country.

In the past I have been sent overseas by companies I have worked for and back then I considered myself an expat. It was something to do with receiving certain perks in order to compensate for certain "hardships", such as being sent to a developing country, or being moved from country to country on a regular basis and never really being able to settle down anywhere. In return for this I had food and accommodation paid for, got paid extra, and because it ain't easy to integrate in countries where you might not speak the local language, etc, I tended to hang around in expat circles.

I can understand why someone who has retired to Spain might also refer to themselves as an expat - since it is quite difficult for retired people to integrate into foreign communities you'd expect them to seek each other out and form "expat" communities. They are not really migrants because they haven't really moved to Spain to find work, etc, they just want the perceived perks that come with it.

However you also get people who have moved to Spain and set up businesses in expat communities: estate agents, plumbers, etc. I think these people wrongly refer to themselves as being expats but do so either because they don't like the word "migrant" or because in those communities the word "expat" has taken on a new meaning.

[Dorkins]

People somewhere like Poland don't describe Poles who have moved to the UK as immigrants do they?

Ex-Pats are people who have left and immigrants are people who have arrived.

Portuguese people call the ones who left Portugal "immigrants". A lot of them went to France.

[davidg]

Surely 'ex-pat' is generally used by people who are working or living overseas, but not intending to stay permanently or take up nationality.

that's how I understand it.

[The Ayatollah Buggeri]

People somewhere like Poland don't describe Poles who have moved to the UK as immigrants do they?

Ex-Pats are people who have left and immigrants are people who have arrived.

Exactly. If I were living in another country, I would describe myself as an immigrant to the natives of that country and an ex-pat to other Brits I met there.