The term "Non National"

What's the big deal actually - does anyone know a non-national who actually takes offense at being called non-national. Let them get over it - it is not an offensive or derogatory term & not meant to be. It is a description of a persons nationality relative to the country that they are actually in. Big bloody deal....
 
ninsaga said:
What's the big deal actually - does anyone know a non-national who actually takes offense at being called non-national. Let them get over it - it is not an offensive or derogatory term & not meant to be.
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Yes, although "offence" is probably too strong a word. Puzzlement is probably better.

ninsaga said:
It is a description of a persons nationality relative to the country that they are actually in. Big bloody deal....
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Only it isn't. Nobody uses the prefix "non" to describe something that is different, it is always used to negate the word it is in front of.

Main Entry: non-
Function: prefix
: not : other than : reverse of : absence of
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If people wanted a term to describe "a persons [sic] nationality relative to the country that they are actually in" they would use a term like "foreign national" or the rather more cumbersome "different national". If they wanted to describe a person as not having a nationality they would probably employ the term "non national".
 
Re: Opinions on Dublin Bus strike

RainyDay said:
. . I was highlighting the offensive and inaccurate nature of the term 'non-national', which has regrettably drifted into common usage.
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This is plain silly. There's nothing offensive about the term, it's simply Hiberno-English for 'non-Irish national'.
 
..... but it is not a big deal..... however it is being made out to be a big deal.... life goes on.... there are bigger things to be concerned about.
 
I wonder if Dubs could refer to non-Dubs as 'non-counties'
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No, they use the term culchies, why don't we debate the level of offense that all us country folk take to such a hard hitting word, it's almost as bad as being labelled a non-national.
 
If I went abroad only to visit a country I'd have no problem with being called a foreigner as that's what I'd be.

If I was foreign and came to Ireland with the intention of staying and was trying to integrate I'd probably prefer not to be called a foreigner.

In that case I'd prefer immigrant or recent immigrant up until the point when I was a naturalised citizen or just Irish.

The phrase non-national is too PC sounding.
 
stir crazy said:
And I cant believe that for years we have treated tourists as welcome guests in our country and given ourselves a reputation for hospitalty abroad for someone to turn around and have a problem with that word too :confused:
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The problem with using the word 'guest' for someone who lives here is
1) It is not accurate
2) It implies a temporary visit
 
To repeat a previous poster, whats wrong with 'foreigners'? That's what they were before 'non-national' suddenly came into vogue........ Was there something pejorative about 'foreigners' that I missed?
 
I think its possibly a sign of low self esteem or being excessively judgemental (judging others for use of such normal language) to have a problem with any factual description. Language is meaning dependent, full of quirks everywhere and isnt machine code.
Does anyone seriously expect a foreigner/non national etc to lie about this fact ? Most of them are proud of where they came from. Honesty and reality is the way to go.
There also seems to be a problem with being proud of ones identity in some posts. Whats wrong with being part of an Irish nation ? As far as I am aware , to become part of the nation you need citizenship or be entitled to such and until you obtain citizenship you are a guest of the nation. I really dont see the problem with being foreign or being a guest. We can be pedantic and use citizen and non citizen, maybe thats the best way forward but whos to say the guy with the foreign accent is not a citizen.
Do people who have a problem with words like foreign or guest really have a problem with foreigners or guests so much that they cant handle the concept of somebody being foreign or a guest ? It irks me when during a apparently innocent post , someone diverts the issue away to one of language used without giving any substantial example other than speculation of how this is a problem. In any dealings with non citizens (this term seems least likely to offend all but citizens with foreign accents), I would hope to discover that persons name and use that. If you ask me this pc lark can be a huge waste of time. You are what you are and thats never gonna change. Treat others as you expect to be treated but dont compromise the truth.
 
Rainyday
Surely the correct term would be 'non-Irish national' then? Non-national is just plain misleading.
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OP's location is Dublin (Broadbandken) so by him using the term Non-National I know he is talking about a person not from THIS nation i.e. Ireland.

I guess it could be considered misleading if we didn't know where the OP was from.
 
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Gordanus said:
That's what they were before 'non-national' suddenly came into vogue........ Was there something pejorative about 'foreigners' that I missed?
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I think non-national comes from old legislation from the 30's - which is how it slipped into usage (i.e. court cases involving "non-national" get reported in Newspapers; word gets to be the commonly used moniker applied by journalists etc.).
 
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