It's not offensive Mr T but is to be used selectively ... If you are talking to some Brits or Irish in the pub and you mention your heritage it might get you a free beer.

Bebop and I have briefly touched on this via PM. My mother traced our family tree way back and discovered that we had relatives on The Mayflower, our part of the family stayed in England but there is a slim chance that Bebop and I are distantly related..... even if we aren't, it's good to know that we are involved in the same heritage.

I was in Boston MA a few years ago and happened to drop that little snippet into the conversation in a bar, I got quite a few free beers that night, got laid too...................... which was nice

Booootiful Mr T .... and it wouldn't have mattered even if it was a 'little fib' as you would still have got drunk and laid from it

When I go out I make sure that I am related to everyone I meet ... get those beers in

DJT..You like to have relations with everyone you meet ???

You my English friend are barred from Phuket indefinately..

DJT..You like to have relations with everyone you meet ???

You my English friend are barred from Phuket indefinately..

<deleted>! There goes my plans for moving to Phuket. I thought that was a prerequisite to be accepted as a normal memeber of Phuket Expat Society there.

Or maybe I was just hoping?

DJT..You like to have relations with everyone you meet ???

You my English friend are barred from Phuket indefinately..

<deleted>! There goes my plans for moving to Phuket. I thought that was a prerequisite to be accepted as a normal memeber of Phuket Expat Society there.

Or maybe I was just hoping?

Ol Red Eyes we can always make an exception for a Lovely Person like you..

Even if your a Bigioted Black Duck Hater...

What interests me about this thread is that you are all talking about people where you came from and how they talk about where they came from but noone is talking as if they are from Thailand and talking about where they came from before Thailand....you all seem to be talking as if you still live where you came from....maybe you all live outside Thailand...I don't know. As for me, when people ask me where I'm form I tell them Chiangrai.....and then they clarify and say where did I come from....so I tell them the US and no one even seems to really care how my ancestors got to the US or when this happened....its a total non-issue as far as I have been able to tell....in Thailand, noone, neither Thai nor foreigner has ever inquired into where my ancestors lived before the US.

Chownah

What interests me about this thread is that you are all talking about people where you came from and how they talk about where they came from but noone is talking as if they are from Thailand and talking about where they came from before Thailand....you all seem to be talking as if you still live where you came from....maybe you all live outside Thailand...I don't know. As for me, when people ask me where I'm form I tell them Chiangrai.....and then they clarify and say where did I come from....so I tell them the US and no one even seems to really care how my ancestors got to the US or when this happened....its a total non-issue as far as I have been able to tell....in Thailand, noone, neither Thai nor foreigner has ever inquired into where my ancestors lived before the US.

Chownah

I am so sorry Chownah. Lest it leave a festering sore in your psyche, let me ask, where are your ancestors from?

DJT..You like to have relations with everyone you meet ???

You my English friend are barred from Phuket indefinately..

<deleted>! There goes my plans for moving to Phuket. I thought that was a prerequisite to be accepted as a normal memeber of Phuket Expat Society there.

Or maybe I was just hoping?

Ol Red Eyes we can always make an exception for a Lovely Person like you..

Even if your a Bigioted Black Duck Hater...

Exception? Are you a closet Bigioted Black Duck Hater discriminator? I have my rights you know.

Many in America reach back whatever old country they desend from for cultural reference. Many here will proudly say they are Irish, Scottish, even British when they are now seven generation and have not even set fott in the UK.

My own past is fully Angelo. One ancestor came from London another was from Belfast. My grandfather called himself an American first but Irish second. I have always wondered what people from the UK make of this. Or the rest of europe for that matter, when an American says they are German or what not.

Is this offensive in anyway?

Not offensive, but slightly humorous:

"I'm Italian"

"Oh really, where do you live?"

"New York"

"I'm sorry, I meant where in Italy are you from?"

"Naples.... I think..."

"I like Naples, do you go home often?"

"I have never been to Italy"

It suggests to me a longing for a past which can not be satisified by simply being "American" (unless one is Native American). And I suppose we all want a past, don't we?

P.S. I am sure this is Thai related, as some Americans no doubt claim to be Thai, which is what the OP was really getting at, wasn't it????

Many in America reach back whatever old country they desend from for cultural reference. Many here will proudly say they are Irish, Scottish, even British when they are now seven generation and have not even set fott in the UK.

My own past is fully Angelo. One ancestor came from London another was from Belfast. My grandfather called himself an American first but Irish second. I have always wondered what people from the UK make of this. Or the rest of europe for that matter, when an American says they are German or what not.

Is this offensive in anyway?

Not offensive, but slightly humorous:

"I'm Italian"

"Oh really, where do you live?"

"New York"

"I'm sorry, I meant where in Italy are you from?"

"Naples.... I think..."

"I like Naples, do you go home often?"

"I have never been to Italy"

It suggests to me a longing for a past which can not be satisified by simply being "American" (unless one is Native American). And I suppose we all want a past, don't we?

P.S. I am sure this is Thai related, as some Americans no doubt claim to be Thai, which is what the OP was really getting at, wasn't it????

No, not at all, but now that you mention it, how does an American do that?

What interests me about this thread is that you are all talking about people where you came from and how they talk about where they came from but noone is talking as if they are from Thailand and talking about where they came from before Thailand....you all seem to be talking as if you still live where you came from....maybe you all live outside Thailand...I don't know. As for me, when people ask me where I'm form I tell them Chiangrai.....and then they clarify and say where did I come from....so I tell them the US and no one even seems to really care how my ancestors got to the US or when this happened....its a total non-issue as far as I have been able to tell....in Thailand, noone, neither Thai nor foreigner has ever inquired into where my ancestors lived before the US.

Chownah

I am so sorry Chownah. Lest it leave a festering sore in your psyche, let me ask, where are your ancestors from?

Whoa..... here we go.

Most people I have met from Europe already know their roots, Most people from the USA I have met would like to know, are actively finding out or already have. Most Thais I know either don't have the attention span or really just 'don't want to go there'

Maybe if people think that their life is meaningless then they look for meaning in the past because since you can't change the past you don't have to do anything to try to create meaning so you can just go ahead and anesthetise yourself (have another beer....its the good life) and dream about the glories you imagine in your ancestral past.....if you go looking for meaning in life in the future, on the other hand I need to trim my nails, then you might come to the discomforting conclusion that you have to expend some effort to have some meaning in your life and just sitting there evening after evening watching football on the tele and drinking beer (have another beer...its the good life) isn't going to make it.

Chownah

Maybe if people think that their life is meaningless then they look for meaning in the past because since you can't change the past you don't have to do anything to try to create meaning so you can just go ahead and anesthetise yourself (have another beer....its the good life) and dream about the glories you imagine in your ancestral past.....if you go looking for meaning in life in the future, on the other hand I need to trim my nails, then you might come to the discomforting conclusion that you have to expend some effort to have some meaning in your life and just sitting there evening after evening watching football on the tele and drinking beer (have another beer...its the good life) isn't going to make it.

Chownah

Hey man, hang in there. I don't know why or what for, but they tell me its the thing to do....