Is the phrase “fresh off the boat” offensive in all circumstances?

[Anonymous]

My mom is a second generation Polak and she used to talk about various relatives “fresh off the boat” - the ones who still spoke Polish and knew very little English. Never had a negative connotation to us.

[Anonymous]

Do people even come into this country on boats much anymore?

[Anonymous]

I am Asian and I use the term. I was born and raised here. I use it with certain friends but do not use the term publically. It’s not necessarily derogatory. I use the term ”fob” or say the letters FOB and it just means someone from the old country who has not adjusted to the American way. Many times it’s the way they dress or their style or their mannerisms or mentality.

[Anonymous]

As an Asian American I’d hate that. Kinda like using “N” word for blacks.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Growing up in California in the 70s/80s, FOB was solely used to refer to Vietnamese immigrants (aka boat people), and it was very derogatory. I would never use FOB, ever.

My dad was an immigrant, who came to the US on a ship from the UK in the 1950s. I would never use it to refer to him, because of the negative context it's used with others. But then I've also never, ever heard it used in relation to our many family members who also immigrated from the UK and Ireland.

What is the negative context?

The “boat people” (Vietnamese, Laotian, Cambodian) were war refugees and very poor. They left with the shirts on their backs. Many ignorant racist people (most of the population at the time) used the term “FOB” with a derogatory sneer. I’m not sure there’s anything comparable in the current climate because Ukrainian war refugees have been welcomed with such open arms.

I grew up in So California at that ti me. No one used that term and there were no derogatory comments.

That’s very white of you.

[Anonymous]

Isn’t it possible that in certain places with lots of Asian immigrants—California, eg—it was used in a derogatory way mostly for them? And then in other places with different immigrants it was used more generally and less offensively to mean newly arrived, unused to American norms?

I grew up in Maryland and it wasn’t a term I heard much, but if I heard it, it was by a white person talking about a new immigrant, of any race, who was so “fresh off the boat” they didn’t know XYZ.

“FOB” sounds more offensive to me. It’s not something I’ve heard much.

[Anonymous]

It’s not rude in any circumstances that I know of. I use it sometimes in reference to myself and others. This pc thing is really off the charts.