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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]I am one of the Irish posters above  We use the term all the time. NOT offensive.  You must be a super liberal leftist who gets offended every time you walk out your front door.[/quote]

I’m Irish born.  The term is highly offensive, and your ad hominem attacks don’t do any good, so let’s consider the facts.  The term “Irish twins” is historically derogatory, originating in the US during the 1800s at the peak of Irish immigration to the States. It was a stereotype referring to the families of these Catholic (generally) immigrants, who tended to have bigger families due to lack of accessible family planning methods in the homeland and/or deeply ingrained anti-contraceptive beliefs. The posters on this thread who say things like “my Irish immigrant grandparents use the term all the time” or “I’m from an Irish neighborhood and it’s fine” etc etc are either lying, exaggerating or just don’t care. Most people in Ireland do not think it’s ok. Those who do use the term have espoused it in a way that’s similar to other ethic groups who use a derogatory word to refer to themselves, to lessen its negative nature (the Irish did this with the word “Mick” as well). Perhaps this also explains its use by Irish Americans like some of the posters. However it does not make it acceptable for other groups to use the term. But really, what’s so hard about describing twins close in age without putting a nationality to it?  People on this board clearly take great pride in their intellect and large vocabularies.  A little sensitivity goes a long way so try using some of that education in a more productive way.  [/quote]

My mom (mam) is Irish and I was brought up in England. The first time I heard the phrase Irish Twins was when I came to the USA. My brother and I were born 11 months apart, and none of my huge Irish family ever referred to us as Irish Twins. [/quote]

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