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Transplant is used a lot to describe recent arrivals, usually to a place that is already crowded, expensive and growing quickly.
The way I see it used on forums has vaguely derogatory connotations usually. It's on the same level as "renter" or "stranger", not really an insult, but a transplant is a bit dehumanizing.
The implication is that the people who have moved to a hot area recently are somehow not quite welcome. It is similar to the "last one in close the door" syndrome.
People have this weird pride of still living in their hometown, especially if the family has been there for several generations. It's not a bad thing, but it doesn't seem worthy of boasting about, but somehow you always know, because they'll make sure you KNOW their family has been in town for 4 generations.
It's nice to have roots, I get it. But it doesn't make you a better person than someone who just arrived last week, in any way. Getting of my soapbox now.
I don't think it's used negatively, any more than non-transplants are spoken of negatively for being unwilling to make friends with non-locals (you can see this especially in the Texas forums).
Sometimes it is used negatively when talking about the CA folks who get priced out of California and move to AZ, TX, or CO. It would be fine if they just moved there and embraced the new lifestyle and didn't always talk about how great CA is. Case in point, I was at a Diamondbacks-Tigers game in Phoenix once. In the middle of the game, a big crowd of Dodgers fans behind me started chanting "let's go Dodgers!" Come on, it's one thing if the Dodgers are in town, but can we just enjoy this game? Probably a similar situation for NY folks who invade Florida.
I used to live in a 'retirement' town and we certainly did NOT mean the term transplant to connotate anything negative. I suppose it is one of those terms that could be used either way but I also suppose some people could interpret it negatively even if it was not meant that way.
Location: Stuck on the East Coast, hoping to head West
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In my area, "transplants" implies temporary residents who negatively impact our cities and towns, and then leave. They move to my area to escape their high cost of living former areas and then complain.
The constant comparisons are tiresome and insulting. You LEFT wherever it was you came from b/c it was lacking on some way. Suck it up, buttercup.
In my neck of the woods, transplant does have a negative connotation.
There's also the issue of transience. They tend to move in, make changes, exploit our resources, and then leave.
My area is currently being invaded by people fleeing NJ. I don't care if offend when I say I cannot stand them. To my annoying NJ neighbors: I don't care that you don't pump your gas, No, you're NOT from NY, you're from NJ, NY is not the center of the universe, and I'll take Mid-Atlantic beaches over the Jersey shore any freakin day of the week. So what if you don't get the whole crab thing, I don't care about Jersey tomatoes, and even if property taxes were lower, no one really wants to move NJ.
In my area, "transplants" implies temporary residents who negatively impact our cities and towns, and then leave. They move to my area to escape their high cost of living former areas and then complain.
The constant comparisons are tiresome and insulting. You LEFT wherever it was you came from b/c it was lacking on some way. Suck it up, buttercup.
In my neck of the woods, transplant does have a negative connotation.
There's also the issue of transience. They tend to move in, make changes, exploit our resources, and then leave.
My area is currently being invaded by people fleeing NJ. I don't care if offend when I say I cannot stand them. To my annoying NJ neighbors: I don't care that you don't pump your gas, No, you're NOT from NY, you're from NJ, NY is not the center of the universe, and I'll take Mid-Atlantic beaches over the Jersey shore any freakin day of the week. So what if you don't get the whole crab thing, I don't care about Jersey tomatoes, and even if property taxes were lower, no one really wants to move NJ.
I agree, sort of like what I said about CA people. They go to CO and complain about the cold non-stop. Colorado isn't even a cold state. Sure it gets some snow, but it melts the next day, and it is pretty darn hot and sunny in the summer. They make Colorado sound like Chicago.
If you're going to move somewhere, embrace the change. It's fine to remain loyal to your sports teams, but please don't whine about how awesome CA/NY/CO/wherever is and how this new place doesn't compare.
I always wonder what those retirees in Florida do (from NY or wherever). Do they just buy a house down there, stare at their spouse, and not do anything to contribute to the community? This isn't really particular to Florida, but more generally about moving to some place else to retire where you don't know anyone. You spend 40+ years building connections and relationships in your town, then throw it all away to move to...?
Edit: That said, I realize I've said some negative things about transplants. There's a big difference between NY people going to Florida to die who wish to contribute nothing to society and Ohio people going to Arizona at a young age to reinvent themselves and build a life. Or people from all over who move to Texas for work and make an effort to get to know people and do good things in the community. There's absolutely nothing wrong with those type of transplants. I don't think they normally spend their lives pissing off the locals, talking about how awesome their hometown is. (Unless they're from CA ).
I realize I've said some negative things about transplants. There's a big difference between NY people going to Florida to die who wish to contribute nothing to society and Ohio people going to Arizona at a young age to reinvent themselves and build a life. Or people from all over who move to Texas for work and make an effort to get to know people and do good things in the community. There's absolutely nothing wrong with those type of transplants. I don't think they normally spend their lives pissing off the locals, talking about how awesome their hometown is. (Unless they're from CA ).
Well, as you can see from my post, I list San Francisco Bay Area as my location and what else? Oh yeah, I chose this screen name.
I guess you could say that I am proud of this place.
(So....what's your location and why don't you list it?)
Transplant is used a lot to describe recent arrivals, usually to a place that is already crowded, expensive and growing quickly.
The way I see it used on forums has vaguely derogatory connotations usually. It's on the same level as "renter" or "stranger", not really an insult, but a transplant is a bit dehumanizing.
The implication is that the people who have moved to a hot area recently are somehow not quite welcome. It is similar to the "last one in close the door" syndrome.
People have this weird pride of still living in their hometown, especially if the family has been there for several generations. It's not a bad thing, but it doesn't seem worthy of boasting about, but somehow you always know, because they'll make sure you KNOW their family has been in town for 4 generations.
It's nice to have roots, I get it. But it doesn't make you a better person than someone who just arrived last week, in any way. Getting of my soapbox now.
Yes, you are on a soap box. Someone is proud to be part of a family which has been part of a community for generations.
There are vast differences between transplants, strangers, renters and even expats.
Transplant is used a lot to describe recent arrivals, usually to a place that is already crowded, expensive and growing quickly.
The way I see it used on forums has vaguely derogatory connotations usually. It's on the same level as "renter" or "stranger", not really an insult, but a transplant is a bit dehumanizing.
The implication is that the people who have moved to a hot area recently are somehow not quite welcome. It is similar to the "last one in close the door" syndrome.
People have this weird pride of still living in their hometown, especially if the family has been there for several generations. It's not a bad thing, but it doesn't seem worthy of boasting about, but somehow you always know, because they'll make sure you KNOW their family has been in town for 4 generations.
It's nice to have roots, I get it. But it doesn't make you a better person than someone who just arrived last week, in any way. Getting of my soapbox now.
None of this post reflects my personal experience.
I always wonder what those retirees in Florida do (from NY or wherever). Do they just buy a house down there, stare at their spouse, and not do anything to contribute to the community? ...
Edit: That said, I realize I've said some negative things about transplants. There's a big difference between NY people going to Florida to die who wish to contribute nothing to society and Ohio people going to Arizona at a young age to reinvent themselves and build a life. Or people from all over who move to Texas for work and make an effort to get to know people and do good things in the community. ...
The OP is right as the above succinctly explains. In the prevailing American culture, "transplant" connotes a louche detachment from "values". It means an impatience and restlessness… not the good kind, the entrepreneurial kind, but the restlessness of flighty intemperance, of irresoluteness. Transplants aren't homesteaders in their Conestoga wagons, explorers of uncharted wilderness, breakers of new ground… but interlopers, locusts descending on the harvest, or itinerants bereft of natural attachment to hearth and home. Thus goes the connotation.
I would argue that the very distinction between "transplant" and "native" is benighted, arcane and woefully prejudiced. Transplants are held to a higher standard of utility to the community. A longtime resident might indeed "contribute nothing", and be regarded none the worse for it. But a transplant, it seems, needs to endear him/herself by active volunteerism, be it donating to charities, attending churches, volunteering at festivals, or bringing homemade pies to the neighbors. Somehow the onus is on the transplant to prove worthiness.
Why is this so? Local parochialism. For all of the talk of nationalism, America remains a patchwork, more of a loose confederation than a unitary nation with a Capital and Provinces. Every state, and every region of every state, regards itself as a little bit special, a little bit its own. Relocation from one place to another isn't merely an administrative reassignment within the Nation, but a cultural change, a realignment of identity.
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