I am currently in Washington DC and read a column about a new coinage: Obamacons, which apparently was first used in the UK to describe British conservatives who are Barack Obama fans. The American Spectator, on March 13, broadened the term to mean conservative supporters of Obama. Interesting! I assume there will be several other coinages before this election is over.

Given the generally conservative nature of most US cops, and given the US Supreme Court's ruling today eviscerating the long-held notion that the Second Ammendment was a collective right, I wonder what the police are calling the five Republican justices who went against their efforts to get guns off the streets?

Why did I suddenly have this image of hundreds of people dressed as Obama wandering around Las Vegas?

I have never heard the expression. I wonder whether it's US coinage to describe a type of Briton, but one that the British never use.

I would draw a comparison with "Limey", only ever used in Britain by Americans.

The word Limey originated in the former British colonies, according to the OED Online: "In the former British colonies (esp. Austral., N.Z., and S. Afr.), an English immigrant." The first citation is from 1888: "D. SLADEN Austral. Ballads & Rhymes 31 They'd seen old stagers and limey new chums." It's short for lime-juicer.

The U.S. meaning - "An English ship; an English (or British) sailor; hence gen., an Englishman, a Briton" - is attested from 1918: "A. N. DEPEW Gunner Depew 18 So, all over the world, British ships are called ‘Lime-juicers’ and their sailors ‘Limeys’. Ibid. 48 Ask any Limey soldier and he will tell you the same.

The Online Etymology Dictionary says the same thing.

The first reference for Obamacon I've found is from Alessandra Farkas , an Italian journalist living in New York. It's dated "22 febbraio 2008."

quote:

Eppure lei, conservatore, ha usato tantissimo inchiostro per osannare Obama.
«E' un vizio diffuso nella destra Usa: amare Obama, pur sostenendo McCain. La gente come me è stata ribattezzata Obamacon».

Jack Buttram says this on his June 27, 2008 blog.

quote:

What’s an Obamacon? Has the word crossed your eyes?

Actually it came into existence from the UK last January when the British Press coined the term describing conservatives contemplating voting for Obama.

quote:

given the US Supreme Court's ruling today eviscerating the long-held notion that the Second Ammendment was a collective right

Everyone here knows that I am anti-gun, as I've ranted about guns here before. Our kids, after all, were involved in one of the first school shootings in the U.S. (though they weren't hurt). However, I cannot say that the court "eviscerated" the collective right. After all, the Second Amendment is probably one of the most ambiguous of the amendments. Some concerns were upheld in the opinion, such as: gun registration was maintained; guns can still be withheld from felons and the mentally ill; guns can still be outlawed in sensitive places such as schools and government buildings (interesting how they protected themselves!).

While I wish the opinion would have gone the other way, I think it's time for us to forget about banning guns altogether and work on strict, and well-monitored, gun control laws, much like they have in England. That would be doable according to the opinion.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Kalleh,

quote:

The word Limey originated in the former British colonies, according to the OED Online

I have no doubt as to its origin; all I am saying is that it has never been used by Britons as a name for themselves. Or not within my memory, anyway.

Asa:

You are mistaken. Only partisans have ever claimed the Second Amendment is solely a "collective" right.

See for example, http://www.law.ucla.edu/volokh/beararms/testimon.htm

As to opinions of law enforcement: my uncle and godfather were both police; both would have preferred to find a dead criminal, rather than a dead victim.

The first, and only, time I ran across limey in spoken English, was in Australia. I've never heard it used in conversation here in the US, other than in conversations about words.

The Australian slang term for a Briton is "Pommie" or "Pom". I have never heard an Australian use "Limey".

Well, since you are a Briton, you wouldn't have.

Pom or Pommie was, when I lived there, the polite term. Limey was usually modified by one or more colorful 'ing words, and always very perjorative.

Maybe times have changed, though.

quote:

Limey was usually modified by one or more colorful 'ing words, and always very perjorative.

Possibly it had been imported from the USA.

The Australians have many derogatory terms for us, of course; it's surprising how many of them nevertheless come to London and work in our pubs.

Mind you, having drunk in a fair few Australian pubs and drunk some of their dreadful beer, I can understand that desire

quote:

Possibly it had been imported from the USA.

Unlikely. It's an Australian/New Zealand/South African term. See Tinman's post above citing the OED.

Yes. I saw that and I had heard of the origin (that British sailors were given lime juice to drink to help prevent scurvy).

But I had the feeling that, by WW2, it was used primarily by the Americans.

It wouldn't be the first term that has been exported and then re-imported.

Limey

An article in a UK newspaper (link) on terms of abuse for Britons.

Interesting, article, z.