Which of these terms for foreigners/outsiders is the most hostile/derogatory?

[The Postman]

What about 'farang' in Thailand? It's probably similar to gweilo in severity. Gweilo is only Cantonese btw. I thought 'kafir' was what they called black people?

[DontH8Me]

Originally Posted by The Postman

What about 'farang' in Thailand? It's probably similar to gweilo in severity. Gweilo is only Cantonese btw. I thought 'kafir' was what they called black people?

In South Africa, right? It is considered very offensive as far as I know. Nowadays you can't even call someone a Gypsy in most of Europe, the correct term is Roma if I'm not mistaken.

[Tom Lennox 70]

I didn't know about "kafir" in South Africa but this polls is about regular terms for outsiders vs actual racial slurs. Its about outsiders/foreigners in general and not about a SPECIFIC religious or ethnic group that's foreign.

I know gringo is commonly used to refer to Americans but I think Mexicans use it to refer to all non-Mexicans or at least non-Hispanics. I don't think its unfriendly or condescending when they use that word.

"Kaffir" is an Arabic term commonly used in the Middle East and Islamic world to refer to Westerners, and is commonly used among Arabs and Muslims living in the West when referring to the larger community I believe. I think it technically means infidel or nonbeliever in Arabic.

I don't think English has a word similar to gaijin, kaffir, goyim, or gweilo.

[The Postman]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

I didn't know about "kafir" in South Africa but this polls is about regular terms for outsiders vs actual racial slurs. Its about outsiders/foreigners in general and not about a SPECIFIC religious or ethnic group that's foreign.

I know gringo is commonly used to refer to Americans but I think Mexicans use it to refer to all non-Mexicans or at least non-Hispanics. I don't think its unfriendly or condescending when they use that word.

"Kaffir" is an Arabic term commonly used in the Middle East and Islamic world to refer to Westerners, and is commonly used among Arabs and Muslims living in the West when referring to the larger community I believe. I think it technically means infidel or nonbeliever in Arabic.

I don't think English has a word similar to gaijin, kaffir, goyim, or gweilo.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaffir_(racial_term)

I always thought it was mainly used to refer to black people in South Africa, even the original Arabic meaning of 'non-believer' seemed to apply mostly to black Africans.

The closest in English would simply be 'foreigner' or 'alien.' Some of these terms, like farang, gweilo.etc often exclude other Asians and are somewhat aimed at white people. I think 'gweilo' means 'ghost man' (although sometimes interpreted as 'foreign devil') with associations towards white people, so would be similar to white people calling Chinese 'ch*nks' or Koreans or Vietnamese g00ks.

[tihsanoglu]

depends on the differentiating truth(scale etc value modifier please there are those that believe mr manson is a peacefull docile human being ) that the word/concept is established on me thinks in religious societies its based on belief since any one can believe in anything segregations based on race are well harder to stomach and change so I would go with the chinese one
that being written cant wait to learn the proper language to use the deragotary term and ask where it actually comes from and color me surprised the internet version would be bot I assume correction chatterbot

[Tom Lennox 70]

I think a lot of societies that have terms like these are very closed to outsiders. I think within this list, Mexicans and Jews are more open minded to others not of their background, with the Japanese and the Muslims the least open minded. Islam is decided between the House of Islam and everyone else is the "House of War" and infidels are seen as the enemy of Islam.

I hear Japanese society is very intolerant of those who are do not conform in every way possible though foreigners are generally not mistreated too bad but there is always a distance between the Japanese and the foreigner. Many American books and movies set in Japan mention the gaijin attitude.

[The Postman]

Originally Posted by Tom Lennox 70

I think a lot of societies that have terms like these are very closed to outsiders. I think within this list, Mexicans and Jews are more open minded to others not of their background, with the Japanese and the Muslims the least open minded. Islam is decided between the House of Islam and everyone else is the "House of War" and infidels are seen as the enemy of Islam.

I hear Japanese society is very intolerant of those who are do not conform in every way possible though foreigners are generally not mistreated too bad but there is always a distance between the Japanese and the foreigner. Many American books and movies set in Japan mention the gaijin attitude.

There are tons of videos on youtube and blogs about the gaijin experience in Japan. They vary quite a bit, which isn't surprising because everyone's experience will be different.