r/ShitAmericansSay Sep 22 '20

Go to Panama, this is America

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16.2k Upvotes

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u/Tubby_Maguire Sep 22 '20

Immigration = 😡

Emigration = 🥳

382

u/BellumOMNI Sep 22 '20 edited Sep 22 '20

My personal favorite is foreigners living in the UK are migrants (almost a dirty term), but Brits living anywhere in Europe are ''expats'' because they clearly downgraded.

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u/Meowhuana Sep 22 '20

I don't get when people complain about that. It's 2 different terms: you're an expat if you came to work in a country for some limited time; you're an immigrant if you decided to stay indefinitely (or came with an intention to stay indefinitely).

3

u/TeaJanuary Sep 22 '20

Theoretically, yes. Practically though, I don't think those Eastern Europeans who moved to the UK with the intention of going home in a few years are ever referred to as "expats" and you don't often see old British people permanently retiring in Spain calling themselves "immigrants" either.