Re: The Term 'Brit'

Al Patenaude (patenaud@SFU.CA)
Thu, 2 Nov 1995 09:51:58 -0800

Donncha Kavanagh wrote that the term "Brit" came into popular discourse
during the IRA terror campaigns of the 1970s and 1980s. I would argue that
this may have been when the term entered popular discourse in the U.S. but
that the term was in general use throughout the Commonwealth far earlier
the second half of this century. Such was the case in Canada, New Zealand,
South Africa, and Ireland. Australians prefer to use the pejorative "Poms"
or Pommies" to refer to les maudit anglais.

Al Patenaude
School of Criminology
Simon Fraser University