Why is it always "expat" when they're from the US, and "immigrant" when they're from anywhere else? 🤭

🔹Immigrant: A person who moves to a new country with the intention of settling there permanently, often seeking citizenship or long-term residency.

🔹Expat: A person living abroad temporarily, often for a specific work assignment, with the intention of eventually returning to their home country.

Americans will use the term expat for themselves whether they plan to stay for a short or long amount of time, while referring to foreigners in America as immigrants without knowing anything about how long they plan to stay. 😆

Back when I was blissfully unfamiliar with American mentality, I would write about having moved from Denmark to Ukraine, here on SW. I remember many comments and conversations which baffled me lol – keep in mind, this was before the war, so they didn't know what Ukraine was (they still don't tbf).

I was of course an immigrant, because I moved from one country to another, as a non-US citizen. 🤓

I once had a conversation with a man who I'd gotten along with for a while. I don't remember how we got to the topic, but at some point I mentioned that it was my opinion that Denmark (my home country) should receive less immigrants, as Denmark actually does a really poor job of integrating these people into Danish society: They should spend less money on letting in as many people, and more money on helping the people they do let in, achieve an aduaqate amount of life quality.

I could never have foreseen his reaction. He told me that he was very disappointed in me, as I myself was an immigrant. 😆

Keep in mind, I didn't intend to live in Ukraine indefinitely, I planned to return to my own country after approximately 5 years. I just wanted to experience my husband's culture.

I didn't know what his problem was, so I laughed nervously and stopped talking to him after that – now I know that he was just an American. 😅

He obviously didn't know that Denmark is one of the top countries in the world, nor that Ukraine is a poor developing country.

I revieved other brilliant comments from Americans as well:

🔹You are smootching off another country!
🔹You are useless to society!

This was before even telling them that I didn't work. When I told them that, all hell broke loose. 😆

🔹Go home to your own country and stop being on benefits!

Like honey, this is Ukraine, they don't have benefits. 💀

My parents were fairly well off throughout most of my life, so they would send me what to them was a miniscule amount of money, while here being enough for us to live very comfortably + in Ukraine women aren't even necessarily expected to work, we're expected to do other things like cleaning, cooking, and even making sure our husbands look presentable lol: My husband's grandmother was very angry with me because I didn't force my husband to cut his hair short. 😆

Anyways, I didn't work because I didn't have permanent residency (I still don't), and didn't need to work anyways. I was just travelling.

Now of course it's a different story as Russia launched a full-scale war against Ukraine, my husband can't leave the country during martial law, my parents went bankrupt, and now we struggle to survive. 😩

I hope the economy gets better again once the war ends, but for now I work by selling NSFW furry art online lol.

Oh well. It's still funny remembering these people now that I know what was actually wrong with them lol.

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ViciDraco · 41-45, M

I'm wondering if there is a national difference between terms. In the US to expatriate means to revoke your citizenship, which is usually a qualifier in gaining citizenship elsewhere. So being an expat and an immigrant could be two different stages of the same process. Though Americans tend to not update their term for the latter stage as much.

Denmark is honestly one of the nations I would consider immigrating to myself. But it would be a tall order to immigrate anywhere with my disabilities, sadly.

I would definitely call myself an immigrant if I did. I think the American self preference towards using expat says something about a refusal to give up their identities as Americans. It says "I am from there" rather than "I am new to here". It may be sourced also in the fact that a lot of Americans feel that immigrant has a connotation of not belonging due to how Americans tend to view immigrants in their own country and so they do not want to take that connotation upon themselves when it applies to them. Which is a deep hypocrisy given the US is a nation of immigrants.

Are you still planning to return to Denmark some day?

Also, those furries are good business I hear. I have a friend who makes cosplay accessories and didn't want to do furry stuff at first but she says it's hard not to because they pay well and if you make them happy the first time they often become repeat customers.

MethDozer · M

@ViciDraco no, expat just means younlive outside your home country but hasn't taken a new one as their home.
The US governement just also uses the term as legalese fkr renouncing citizenship.

So if ou move to England for a job, you expatriated and are an expat in the dictionary and common use of the terms, but not in the US legalese use of the word.

As for Americans and nktnusjng immigrants and expat Instead. Imma go out on a limb and say generally Americans don't immigrate as much as they expatriate. Most porbably intend to keep roots or move back here. So that might have aomething to do with it.

Nightwings · F

@MethDozer Thanks for explaining this. I was looking it up before I wrote this post, as I was also confused about the meaning. As for your theory on Americans expatriating more often than migrating, I'd like to point out that I've heard Americans who did migrate call themselves expats, and call people who are expats immigrants (including myself) countless times – that's what promted me to write this post.

ViciDraco · 41-45, M

@MethDozer I don't see how any of that disregards that the Americans may be using the legalese version. Especially since as an American, this is my first time hearing that the word expat is used to imply temporary. I've always heard it as shorthand for giving up citizenship.

MethDozer · M

@ViciDraco N, us Americans dont use it differently. The US government just alsk gives it an invented legalese meaning. Lots of words mean different things in normal speech and use and in legal use.

Expatriating only means renouncing citizenship to when talking about the US government. That's, why US citizens who move to say Canada, call themselves expats, because people dont usually use legalese definitions in everyday speech.

I've heard Americans use it ro mean they just moved somewhere for work, retirement, or medical treatment more than I have heaed it used in tje governmental definition. I only really hear it used in the American legalese sensw when lawyers or givernment officials are speaking on some hypothetical. There's really not much reason to denounce citizenship for most people and it is kind of rare anyone does. Very few countries dont allow dual citizenship and those that don't are kind of low drawing power.