We all know that the west uses two different words for the same thing depending on where it is happening.
e.g. Secret Police vs Plainclothes Officer
Regime vs Government
Can we have a compilation thread of these words? I am probably using many of them unconsciously without critical examination.
Expat / immigrant
Expat is a useful word, but it has been co-opted by those who very obviously aren’t expats and just don’t want to call themselves immigrants.
I do the reverse thing of calling myself an immigrant and you can see people having an error in their heads. Because I am an immigrant, I came here unemployed with nowhere to stay, looking for a better life. But I’m white, so expat it is for them 🤷
I think this isn’t always true because they do mean different things. You’re not an “immigrant” unless you’re trying to stay there permanently, whereas “expats” can be sort of transient
In practice, people from the global south who are working for only a few years in rich countries are never called expats.