Recently I've seen various versions of the word 'muricans used a lot on the forums (and probably in other places online). What does it mean? Is it just a rude way of saying "americans?"
My initial guess was that it is a way of referring to americans with a subtext that they are overly and unjustifiably patriotic and pro USA at the expense of anyone else. Here are the most recent search results:
On October 06 2013 03:57 Haiq343 wrote: Now Football (MURICAN) and baseball can have far more debilitating distance/obstruction/angles issues, but those sports are mad boring to watch in person anyway and aren't the main reason people go.
On October 02 2013 22:44 Alaric wrote: Also Soniv I don't get what it is with you 'muricans putting z everywhere. Realise -> realize, analyse -> analyze. Stop trying to be different, it makes y'all look emo people!
On October 02 2013 07:17 Undead1993 wrote: this seems easy, these muricans
On September 26 2013 05:22 MoonfireSpam wrote: I'm guessing you may be in university (college for you US guys and gals?) or college (uh high school for you Muricans?) just based on averages and the gaming demographic.
In case 1, the speaker has USA listed as his country. This leads me to believe that 'murican' is not being used as a derogatory term.
In case 2, the speaker has France listed as their country. The speaker is criticizing people listed as from the USA for using the American spelling of words ending in ise/ize. This leads me to believe that the use of "muricans" was at least somewhat derogatory.
In case 3, the speaker, from Germany, is talking about the lineup of players in the OP of a thread covering an sc2 tournament/event. It seems like the implication is that the american players are weaker than the non-americans because they are american, thus implying that the use of "muricans" is derogatory.
In case 4, the speaker is from the UK. Their apparent lack of patience for the fact that the US refers to university/college/high school differently than in the UK leads me to believe that their use of "muricans" is derogatory.
In at least some of these cases, the usage wasn't derogatory or wasn't intended to be derogatory, so I feel like this case study is insufficient to draw any conclusions. I move on to do what any educated person does when they are unsure of how to interpret a word usage: go to urbandictionary:
An impolite way of saying "American" (or a polite way of saying "Americunt") while wanting to project a sense to dislike towards that country and its inhabitants. "Those Muricans think they can just push everyone around. What a bunch of arrogant imperialistic bastards!"
So I'm wondering if that's true... if using the term 'murican' is usually intentionally rude and intended to project a sense of dislike towards the USA, or if my conclusion is wrong. Please weigh in.
I think it started off as a way to mock the overly patriotic and uneducated portion of our political right, but now it has evolved and is just a derogatory term towards us in some cases.
It's derogatory, but it can be used self-deprecatingly as in (1) or lightheartedly as in (4). The spelling is supposed to mimic the pronunciation of poor, uneducated white Southerners.
If morons type 'teh' instead of 'the', 'sauce' instead of 'source', 'dunno' instead of 'don't know', 'fag' instead of 'user', 'gay' instead of '4 Gate', 'imba' instead of 'I suck and I don't want to find out how to fix it'... then 'Muricans' can hardly be surprising.
Murika is satirical or derogatory, usually used after talking about some story or policy or tragedy that flies in the face of the American Dream or is overly patriotic, like supporting another war. And also used in simple jest when being excited about something of little importance, typically used for comic relief.
I've never really heard non-Americans use it that much to be honest. I do hear it a decent amount here, mostly from people who listen to exclusively or mainly country music, attend a church of some variety, are overly fanatic about at least one High School, College, and professional football team, drink a lot of cheap beer, drive huge trucks, chew tobacco, and own at least one object with a confederate flag across it. Or some sort of assortment of these things. And they always seem to mean it in the way that I think most of the people you investigated are making fun of. Namely, an over-patriotism to the extent of prejudice and a declaration that the USA is the greatest country in the world and fuck whoever doesn't agree.
I don't mean to offend anyone who does any of those things, I generally like most of those people that I know.
It seems to me that the use of 'murica from Americans, if not used ironically which is also pretty common, is essentially a badge that denotes them as the kind of people foreigners like to make fun of from outside the US.
On October 07 2013 05:10 wingpawn wrote: If morons type 'teh' instead of 'the', 'sauce' instead of 'source', 'dunno' instead of 'don't know', 'fag' instead of 'user', 'gay' instead of '4 Gate', 'imba' instead of 'I suck and I don't want to find out how to fix it'... then 'Muricans' can hardly be surprising.
So what point are you making here? You associate those silly word choices with the types of people who the word 'murican' is mimicking the annunciation of?
On October 07 2013 05:10 wingpawn wrote: If morons type 'teh' instead of 'the', 'sauce' instead of 'source', 'dunno' instead of 'don't know', 'fag' instead of 'user', 'gay' instead of '4 Gate', 'imba' instead of 'I suck and I don't want to find out how to fix it'... then 'Muricans' can hardly be surprising.
'Muricans' doesn't refer to all US of A citizens, only if at least three out of those categories apply to you:
[_] You drive a fat scooter. [_] You're a creationist. [_] You believe the bible is God's word. [_] You have never even read it. [_] You own fire-arms. [_] You have, at one point, eaten fast food out of a bucket, like a farm animal would do. [_] You think arse-sex is morally reprehensible. [_] You have no idea about geography or history outside of the states. [_] You think the Rolling Stones and ACDC are American bands. [_] You agree with the statement: "If English was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas. [_] You agree with the statement: "The French don't even have a word for entrepreneur." [_] You believe killing people is okay. [_] You believe embryonic life is sacred.
You see, we're talking about a really specific type of person.
On October 07 2013 05:55 SixStrings wrote: Here's how it goes:
'Muricans' doesn't refer to all US of A citizens, only if at least three out of those categories apply to you:
[_] You drive a fat scooter. [_] You're a creationist. [_] You believe the bible is God's word. [_] You have never even read it. [_] You own fire-arms. [_] You have, at one point, eaten fast food out of a bucket, like a farm animal would do. [_] You think arse-sex is morally reprehensible. [_] You have no idea about geography or history outside of the states. [_] You think the Rolling Stones and ACDC are American bands. [_] You agree with the statement: "If English was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas. [_] You agree with the statement: "The French don't even have a word for entrepreneur."
You see, we're talking about a really specific type of person.
I think I understand where you are coming from.
What I don't get is why the word is used so much in irrelevant circumstances though.
I attended high school until I was 17. You mericans attend high school until you are 18.
What is the point of using the word merican there? I feel like the speaker loses credibility.
On October 07 2013 05:55 SixStrings wrote: Here's how it goes:
'Muricans' doesn't refer to all US of A citizens, only if at least three out of those categories apply to you:
[_] You drive a fat scooter. [_] You're a creationist. [_] You believe the bible is God's word. [_] You have never even read it. [_] You own fire-arms. [_] You have, at one point, eaten fast food out of a bucket, like a farm animal would do. [_] You think arse-sex is morally reprehensible. [_] You have no idea about geography or history outside of the states. [_] You think the Rolling Stones and ACDC are American bands. [_] You agree with the statement: "If English was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas. [_] You agree with the statement: "The French don't even have a word for entrepreneur."
You see, we're talking about a really specific type of person.
What the hell is a fat scooter, and I've known many a redneck to profess their enjoyment of some backdoor loving. Tsk tsk, your caricature needs some work.
On October 07 2013 05:04 Chocolate wrote: I think it started off as a way to mock the overly patriotic and uneducated portion of our political right, but now it has evolved and is just a derogatory term towards us in some cases.
Based on my observations, that would be the case. It's worth to note, that in Alaric's case, it's probably more of a jab towards a fellow poster than anything else, since both of them frequent a common subforum.
On October 07 2013 05:55 SixStrings wrote: Here's how it goes:
'Muricans' doesn't refer to all US of A citizens, only if at least three out of those categories apply to you:
[_] You drive a fat scooter. [_] You're a creationist. [_] You believe the bible is God's word. [_] You have never even read it. [_] You own fire-arms. [_] You have, at one point, eaten fast food out of a bucket, like a farm animal would do. [_] You think arse-sex is morally reprehensible. [_] You have no idea about geography or history outside of the states. [_] You think the Rolling Stones and ACDC are American bands. [_] You agree with the statement: "If English was good enough for Jesus, it ought to be good enough for the children of Texas. [_] You agree with the statement: "The French don't even have a word for entrepreneur."
You see, we're talking about a really specific type of person.
What the hell is a fat scooter, and I've known many a redneck to profess their enjoyment of some backdoor loving. Tsk tsk, your caricature needs some work.
That's a fat scooter. And obviously I mean male-to-male arse sex.
The actual origin comes from former President George W. Bush's Texas accent, saying "Amurica", and the term was initially used to mock the Bush-mindset (or perception thereof) concerning the ideas of American Exceptionalism and Pre-emptive War. Although both concepts are relatively far apart, it seems clear that former President Bush believed in both, lending credence to the broader international opinion that the US was more inclined to engage in a pre-emptive war against the will of the international community because of a belief in American Exceptionalism. This is perceived as the ultimate act of arrogance on the part of the United States, and although it is not clear if former President Bush's belief in American Exceptionalism was intertwined with his belief in pre-emptive war, I think the human tendency to oversimplify has led certain people to believe that the United States has a mentality of "We can do whatever we want, because we are the greatest nation in the world, and the best at everything". The term "Murica" is used almost exclusively in a derogatory manner, often as an ad hominem conjecture, to not only disparage the "Bush mentality" but the entire nation of the US in general.
I've personally seen the term being used by mostly Western Europeans and Australians, but also some Americans. The term itself is eerily similar in origin to the slang term "nigger", which is based on the regional origin of the slaves brought from the Niger river region of Africa to America, although, to be fair, there is significantly less persecution and oppression involved (if any, besides basic mockery) to "Muricans" as there is to "Niggers". There is a very profound historical context that separates both terms, but the origins and meanings are quite close, both alluding to:
- Generally stupider than the rest of people without realizing it. - A group of people with an inability to be educated. - A lower group of people who resort to savagery if not restrained from doing so by more 'enlightened' human beings. - People who have a sense of pride that is unwarranted.
I should also note that the term "Muricans" is directly almost exclusively towards a perceived sense of American ignorance, rather than the perceived arrogance of US citizens.
Additionally, I would like to state that I am, in no way, offended by the term itself because it is meaningless without context, but I am very slightly offended by the perception that I am ignorant of world affairs and other cultures because I am American.
I use it satirically but I feel as if most use it as a derogatory term. But I agree with you that I've been seeing it in rising frequency on the forums.
Additionally, I would like to state that I am, in no way, offended by the term itself because it is meaningless without context, but I am very slightly offended by the perception that I am ignorant of world affairs and other cultures because I am American.
I don't think many people think of Americans in general as "ignorant of world affairs".
It's just that you have no real reason to follow politics of minor countries. Do you know anything about current foreign policies in Albania? Didn't think so. But you can bet your ass that Fatmir Krasnicki (the Albanian equivalent of Joe Sixpack) knows about USA politics.
Not because Fatmir is more educated or interested than Joe, but because American politics have a much larger impact on a global scale.
EPT
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