Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
The difference between "real New Yorkers" and everyone who thinks they are is that we "real new yorkers" don't make a big deal out of being from new york. And we usually don't have to tell people we're New Yorkers b/c once we open our mouths, people know. We carry ourselves a certain way that others don't who didn't grow up here. The people that move to New York think they know how to act like a NYer from movies and tv shows, but the truth is a real NYer, doesn't act like one, they just being themselves. I've lived in WNY for over 2 1/2 yrs and people still peg me for a NYer right away.
Btw, I don't think you have to be born in New York to be a NYer, but you do have to GROW UP in NY to consider yourself one.
Right we have heard this said 1000 times by politicians and NYU students but there is one key difference, back in those days and even today for example, a new yorker from my area would call an Italian who was born in Italy "off the boat" as a kind of differentiation between himself and American born Italians. All of these groups born spoke English and willingly became a part of the American culture, there was no 150 translations in their languages to aid them along and keep them from interacting with the other groups.
Today that exists and that has created a much larger gap between new yorkers who had roots here generations and pakistanis and chinese who will never assimilate into the rest of new york because they have no will to. This is why the new yorkers almost unanimously refer to them as foreigners.
There is no difference between "back in those days" and now, except that more ethnic groups have immigrated recently than in the past.
Chinese born and American Born Chinese also differentiate just like you say Italians did - FOBs (fresh off boat) vs. ABC (American born Chinese). The only difference is that Italians came a couple extra generations ago and have had more time to assimilate, whereas Chinese people were still immigrating here in mass numbers recently (and maybe still). These are the ones that are using translations.
The ones born here or that came here at a young age are a part of American culture and move away from the "Chinatown scene." They speak English without accents (except a NY one), serve in the military and other civic duties, go to school with all the other races and do fine without a translator, marry inter-racially just as an American born Jew and Italian would, the whole works.
There is no difference between "back in those days" and now, except that more ethnic groups have immigrated recently than in the past.
Chinese born and American Born Chinese also differentiate just like you say Italians did - FOBs (fresh off boat) vs. ABC (American born Chinese). The only difference is that Italians came a couple extra generations ago and have had more time to assimilate, whereas Chinese people were still immigrating here in mass numbers recently (and maybe still). These are the ones that are using translations.
The ones born here or that came here at a young age are a part of American culture and move away from the "Chinatown scene." They speak English without accents (except a NY one), serve in the military and other civic duties, go to school with all the other races and do fine without a translator, marry inter-racially just as an American born Jew and Italian would, the whole works.
That still does not change the fact that the vast majority of new yorkers, whether you like it or not, refer to them as foreigners, which was the only point I was arguing, and while I do believe many Chinese Americans marry outside their race, in New York it is a much rarer phenomenon than in other middle american and western cities, although I am not sure why this is.
Actually traditionally new yorkers have been a bit staying to their own groups when they marry, or at least along religious lines, otherwise the ethnic enclaves would have never formed and by the first generation would disappear.
Btw, I don't think you have to be born in New York to be a NYer, but you do have to GROW UP in NY to consider yourself one.
I agree 100% because in theory somebody could be burn here and raised in another city far away and develop a totally different character.
While a child who was born somewhere else but arrived at a very young age in their formative years, would be indistinguishable from the native born ones.
The difference between "real New Yorkers" and everyone who thinks they are is that we "real new yorkers" don't make a big deal out of being from new york.
Exactly right; that's the whole deal in a nutshell!
I was born here and lived here until age 17. However, I spent a considerable amount of time living on Cape Cod during those years and I have as much "country" as city influence as a result, and since I grew up in Queens, I don't consider myself a true urbanite, at all.
From 17 - 26, I lived in the Boston/Providence, Rhode Island area
I was born here and lived here until age 17. However, I spent a considerable amount of time living on Cape Cod during those years and I have as much "country" as city influence as a result, and since I grew up in Queens, I don't consider myself a true urbanite, at all.
From 17 - 26, I lived in the Boston/Providence, Rhode Island area
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Am I a real NYer?
