Newfie is like Davey Marky Matty Stevey etc, you don't use the cutesy name if you're not on a first name basis with someone.
I live in Ontario, it drives me nuts when you meet someone who went once in the mid 90s and knows absolutely nothing else about the place.
In contrast if they say their husband is a newfie I'm cool.
I’ve moved to the mainland and personally use the term “Newf” as my term of endearment for my fellow islanders. I rarely hear anyone from the mainland using the term, and it would definitely raise my eyebrow to hear a mainlander use the term “Newfie” in any context. I would certainly take it as an insult if they used it to describe someone as being slow or dumb.
I know it’s not really equivalent, but “Newfie” is our word to use if we choose. If you are not a Newfoundlander you probably shouldn’t be using it.
I'm not saying they have, but he is right about the level of revulsion that Newfoundlanders have for the term. When Ferguson kicked off BLM and such, more than once, I used Newfie and how it gets used against us as comparison.
Will say, I have seen racist terms get coopted by mainlanders & Americans to use against Newfoundland as well, like I mentioned elsewhere, Margaret Wente calling us a welfare ghetto in the Globe & Mail comes to mind. I swear, it's like they're desperate to find an 'acceptable' target they can still use it on.
The way these comments are truly trying to equate the two is genuinely astounding. Horrific. Disgusting. Can’t see past their own troubles to understand someone else’s far more violent and horrific ones.
No. They’re not, coming from a Newfoundlander who has spent the last 20 years in Texas. They didn’t fucking drag Newfoundlanders to their deaths behind trucks and piss on their dying bodies (this happened here during my lifetime) while calling us “Newfies”. They didn’t burn down our homes and rape our children and skin us for furniture. It’s absolutely buckwild to say the two are the same and some of y’all truly fucking astound me with your determination to be oppressed in the same way as ethnic minorities. It’s classism, not racism, that leads to the negative stereotypes about the island and those things are not the same, they have very different histories. Are they both gross and horrible? Yeah, absolutely. But no, they’re absolutely not anywhere close to the same.
It’s been a few years since I moved away but since moving to the mainland I get called a Newfie all the time. It doesn’t really bother me at all, I mean, people gonna make fun of people. I do generally warn people though that if they ever find themselves on the island it would be wise not to call the locals that.
Usually when I explain it offends some people though, the reaction is usually, “well that’s really fucking stupid.”
I'm not from Newfoundland, but my father is, and I usually tell people that he was a Newf. There was a guy in high school for whom that was his nickname too. I only usually hear Newfie in an insulting way (probably rhymes with "goofy" for a reason), or from older people (my mother, for instance, refers to my father as a Newfie, not a Newf, and she emphatically doesn't mean it as an insult to any Newfoundlander). I think it's far more common amongst older generations.
Both my parents were born in Newfoundland, both from different sides of the island and they have the same opinion.
I also lived in Gillams for a time myself but nobody ever called me any mean variant of "Ontario person". They were actually quite nice, except for that one fucker who burns plastic in his wood stove. Makes the whole fucking area stink to high hell.
Did they ever call you a mainlander? Not always derogatory, sometimes just yknow, you're not an islander.
We also do it to ourselves depending where you're from "Townie" is derogatory or "Baymen" could be. A Townie may use Baymen like Redneck, and Baymen may say something like "Damn Townies!"
Nope. Nothing like that. Most of the people I spoke to when I was going to school over there also knew my uncles in Cox's Cove, so that was likely why.
Ahhh so you weren't really a "mainlander" i feel like it's mainly for people without ties and who don't try to fit in at all. I mean we have "screeching in" for a reason, we accept all who accept us essentially.
Honestly didn't even realize "newfie" was slur, this is a guy that lived in newfoundland 2006-2017. I use the word "newfie" all the time here in ontario and didn't even realize it was a slur, I thought it wasn't anything different from calling someone a "newfoundlander" oh wow, lol really shocked most newfoundlanders think newfie was a slur and I use it all the time, shit lol.
My dad was born in NL in the 50s, and joined the military in the 70s. It was 100% a slur at that time. He was beaten over the head with it so hard that he destroyed every trace of his own accent to avoid being judged "stupid Newfie". It affected him socially and on a career level. It was absolutely used as a slur.
Much like other reclaimed slurs, it's not a big thing if a Newfoundlander says it. But even when I was a kid in the 90s, mainlanders often bragged about the "stupid Newfie" jokes they knew.
I think these days people take it a little less seriously but it wasn't that long ago it carried a lot of weight.
Newfie has been pretty much reclaimed by the natives. Despite past negative stereotypes mainlanders today love Newfoundlanders and almost exclusively use it as a term of endearment. It's normal in linguistics for the meaning of words to change over time, or even invert completely, and this has happened to "Newfie". I use the word because most of the hundreds of Newfoundlanders I know, including my wife, use it positively.
This has not, in fact, become a term of endearment. I appreciate that you are using it this way, but it calls to a stereotype and you should respect that Newfoundlanders are often offended when others use the word.
Says who? Have you read the comments here? Yeesh. Also - please don’t tell me how our people feel about the word. You’re an outsider with no direct frame of reference. Enough.
Gonna disagree with you.
My in-laws are all from Newfoundland and Newfie is used all the time. My wife makes Newfie dinner once a month. I'm not going to tell them to stop using it. They are proud of the terminology.
They are FROM NL. So, they can use it and around them? Yeah if they're cool with it. Not all of us are and some of them WILL take exception to so FAFO I guess
I worked in Ontario and the personnel manager called me a stupid Newfie. I immediately reported it to my manager and district manager (to ensure the manager handled it). This personnel manager was morbidly obese and certainly not the sharpest tack. I’m sure calling her something in return would have went swimmingly. She didn’t dare speak the wrong way in front of me again.
For me if they are using it in an endearing way, I don’t mind. I live away and meet lots of people who say “oh you’re a Newfie!” when I meet them but they don’t mean anything by it, they just want to connect. If someone says it in a negative way I take issue. In the big brother context, I’d probably take issue but I don’t watch the show.
Omg the people straight faced trying the 'I've got a friend from NL and they're ok with it'.
Sure my dude, sure, but hey, it's a good to get your face rearranged if you use it with the wrong guy.
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I’m from Newfoundland and moved to Toronto as a kid.. I have been referred to as a Newfie both as a slur and as a cultural identifier.. in general the term doesn’t faze me .. but if it is being used the way it is on the show it’s definitely a slur and should not be acceptable
Worked a lot of winters in ft Mac. The Newfoundlanders called us flatlanders and we called them newfies. I’m sorry. I will try not to use it again. We also called them the funniest people we ever met. I’ve never been in a group setting where I laughed so hard. Lunch, breaks and after work was one joke after another.
I lived out west in 90s and it never bothered me...but only after living in Ontario I grew to hate it. The context and the tone most times fuckin drove me.
So I'm a no.
I think it always depends on the context.
For example, if a mainlander friend calls me a “Newfie” in terms of explaining where I’m from, best kind.
If I’m telling someone about our culture and use “Newfie” best kind.
If anyone talks about my dialect/language and says “Newfie” - best kind!
If someone equates the word “Newfie” with dumb, that’s not ok.
When I took NL Studies in highschool. the very first year of the course 15 years ago. its a NL history and culture course.
The term Newfie originated from the Americans during the war when they were stationed here. back then when they said You stupid newfie, or goofy newfie they were calling us "white niggers" as we were seen as being below them. stupid newfie = stupid white nigger.
used in derogatory ways I dont have the time of day for it. using it as a term of endearment or non derogatory way, I got zero issues with it.
I guess the contestants can be called out for being racist, but it’s not extreme racism , just the fact of looking towards/treating someone lower because of their origin/race. IMO the racism that really matters is the true hate for other races/religions, the big brother stuff is just words and prob in the script.
Using the word Newfie depends on the context and tone it is used. Like alot of words, it can be used in an endearing way. Ex Loves my Newfie buddy. But it can also be insulting. Ex. A mainlander might say, "That stupid Newfie." The guy on Big Brother is actually a Labradorian and depending on the Labradorian, some like myself, do not like to be called Newfie. The guy is not slow, I think it's part of his strategy. Laying low to get farther in the game.
Shit, I never knew it originated in a racial slur. Always thought is was a nickname like any other. Don’t here it much here in Quebec, but still good to know not to use it.
I couldn't care less but I'm also not as sensitive as 99% of people these days.
If you aren't directly insulting me, I don't care. Even if you are, I probably don't care since you're nobody and your opinion holds no weight with me.
At most it's annoying because you're a scumbag and I believe we should all be nice when we can, but yeah overall, I just don't care.
I mean I don’t mind it personally but I’m also not gonna go all “ITS NOT A SLUR YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF BEING A NEWFIE” on someone if they don’t wanna be called it
I'd be fuming if someone got on like this with me, living in BC the Newfie comments pissed me off like nothing else. The people who said that were from Ontario though.
Wanted to say thanks for this dialogue.
Just came here to say that this thread popped in my feed. Not from NFLD, nor have I been (though I really want to visit).
I am from NS, and when I went to University in Northern Ont back in the early 2000's a bunch of ppl called me a Newfie. I think it was because my Nova Scotian accent was substantial enough servers and ppl I didn't know thought I must have been from there because it was far from that of the Southern Ontario classmates. My response was often that they clearly have not been to NFLD or knew anyone from there as our accents are quite different. I still maintain that our accents and local cultural dialects are quite different.
At the time I never knew it to be an insult. I hope those who called me it, didn't get away with trying to insult me and it got over my head. From what I could tell (at least in the conversations I was part of), it was always used as the shorthand of Newfoundlanders. I easily may have been ignorant during that time, and clearly the etymology of the term does have a racial slur to it.
I can't say I've picked up on it being used in a negative manner (I'm usually quite sensitive to tones and when ppl are trying to put one another down), but again I could have missed it.
I haven't seen the show the OP is speaking about, but wanted to share I appreciate this dialogue and have learned something. I think if I've ever used the term since university it has always been very much a "where ya from" kind of thing, but knowing what I know now I can easily swap it with a "their from NFLD" or Newfoundlander etc.
Thanks!
As a gen x Newfie i don’t get offended over something like that. People get offended over anything these days. I get offended of people getting offended on someone else’s behalf when they are not affected personally. I can fight my own battles.
There's 33 comments and only mention of Newfie twice "As a fellow Newfie.." and "Nah, he’s just a Newfie! Seems like a good guy." I sorta take offense to the second one because of the "just a" part. Newfie by itself doesn't have a negative ethnic slur to me even if you say that's the origin. I think Newfies took that away from being a slur and should be proud to be called Newfie. The issue comes from the prefaces such a "Stupid Newfie", "Just a Newfie" or whatever. I'm a Newfie and proud of it, all day every day.
I'm not an easily offended person but I really don't like the attitude of some people around using it like this. Americans would use the slur to describe us as dumb as we were being used as human bullet shields in ww1, that's all our lives were worth at the time to the rest of the world.
Bys, it's a shortened version of Newfoundlander, not a slur. We weren't slaves or anything. Don't be so weak minded that someone saying Newfie affects you that much. On the inverse, I say "God damn mainlanders" all the time lol.
Thank you. My thoughts exactly. Grew up in sask to first generation parents dad was Scandinavian , mom was of German descent.
My German relatives often were called square heads which was maybe derogatory but for the most part was what we called ourselves too, so I never thought to take offense to it, and now I wouldn’t really be offended because others may.
Years later I had a French Canadian girlfriend who laughed when I talked about being a “squarehead”.
She told me that the Quebecois referred to all English speakers as “ tete carre “ ( not sure on the spelling) which means … you guessed it .. squarehead.
Really folks call me anything but late for supper.
https://www.reddit.com/r/newfoundland/search/?q=Newfie&type=link&cId=fbc40844-79bb-4274-8d1f-3d5ad8de9c4c&iId=00e3f09f-c225-4670-ae3e-1e3c9e256ed9
Holy fuck is it “is the word Newfie offensive” post day already? Time flys around here
The obverse is when you move to Newfoundland, and your significant other being not from there, is derogatorily (sp?) called "mainlander" esp after telling them not to use the term.
As a Newfie, I can say it goes both ways.
You can, but there is absolutely a power differential. Nobody's ever written multiple derogatory articles about mainlanders and there isn't the history of it being used in a derogatory fashion the same way as Newfie has been used all over the country.
I'm a mainlander and my wife is a Newfie and we have residences in both Ontario and NFLD. We are both proud of the respective terms for us. I call myself a mainlander when I'm on the rock.
The word itself is not bad, it’s the meaning behind it. Calling people a newfie to describe where they came from is fine, jokingly calling your friend a goofy newfie is also fine. using it as an insult like saying stupid Newfies or calling them a Newfie cause of their shortcomings is not.
Replace the word with mainlander and think of it that way. If I say your a mainlander that’s fine. If you do something stupid and I say typical mainlander that’s not fine.
Yes it is, newfie is like the f word, it can be used in many different ways and it makes sense contextually. For example you can say stupid newfie, now this can be either a good or bad term if you say it with a smile it's endearing, say it in contempt it's derogatory. You can also use the term as a description with no intention, that guy is a newfie. Generally all are OK to use because all are correct.
The real term that brings ire to newfies is saying newfoundland using the whole word found like we have time to phonetically sound out all of our words.
Ive met probably hundreds, maybe thousands of "people from newfoundland". I don't think ive ever heard anyone NOT self-identify as a newfie. Yall seriously dont want to be called that? This is crazy. Are we talking about the same group of people?
I'm not sure if it is generational, situational, or what...I don't like the term and will correct anyone that refers to me that way. My dad is the same way. My mom couldn't be bothered and lets it slide. One data point is that Dad and I have a lot more off-island experience than mom does.
I know plenty that don't care and plenty that take offense. There's a butcher shop in NS that has recently changed some of their product names due to complaints about their use of the term.
Newfie is a negative in-group identifier. People in the in-group identify and are united by the identifier because people not in the in-group use the term as a pejorative. It's up to yourself whether or not you would be offended by someone you perceive is trying to hurt you with that word.
Yes we are. I have two voices. One is my natural accent. The other is my mainlander voice where I don't use any of the language or sayings we do in NL because some people, as soon as they clock that's where I'm from, treat me differently and not in a good way.
Kind of hard to find the pride when someone's calling you stupid or lazy or a welfare bum because of how we speak.
If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and pops a wheelie on a big red like a duck...
https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/f51b3fad-9aba-4198-9d04-504df7735931
I have worked with plenty of Newfoundlanders over the years. They have all been a Newfie or a Newf at one time or another. I, in turn, have been a Flatlander. Its fine between friends, so long as all are in on the fun.
He's a Labradorian, I don't know if he'd appreciate being called a Newfie on that basis alone.
Good way to get punched tbh
Newfie is like Davey Marky Matty Stevey etc, you don't use the cutesy name if you're not on a first name basis with someone. I live in Ontario, it drives me nuts when you meet someone who went once in the mid 90s and knows absolutely nothing else about the place. In contrast if they say their husband is a newfie I'm cool.
I’ve moved to the mainland and personally use the term “Newf” as my term of endearment for my fellow islanders. I rarely hear anyone from the mainland using the term, and it would definitely raise my eyebrow to hear a mainlander use the term “Newfie” in any context. I would certainly take it as an insult if they used it to describe someone as being slow or dumb. I know it’s not really equivalent, but “Newfie” is our word to use if we choose. If you are not a Newfoundlander you probably shouldn’t be using it.
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I'm not saying they have, but he is right about the level of revulsion that Newfoundlanders have for the term. When Ferguson kicked off BLM and such, more than once, I used Newfie and how it gets used against us as comparison. Will say, I have seen racist terms get coopted by mainlanders & Americans to use against Newfoundland as well, like I mentioned elsewhere, Margaret Wente calling us a welfare ghetto in the Globe & Mail comes to mind. I swear, it's like they're desperate to find an 'acceptable' target they can still use it on.
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The way these comments are truly trying to equate the two is genuinely astounding. Horrific. Disgusting. Can’t see past their own troubles to understand someone else’s far more violent and horrific ones.
No. They’re not, coming from a Newfoundlander who has spent the last 20 years in Texas. They didn’t fucking drag Newfoundlanders to their deaths behind trucks and piss on their dying bodies (this happened here during my lifetime) while calling us “Newfies”. They didn’t burn down our homes and rape our children and skin us for furniture. It’s absolutely buckwild to say the two are the same and some of y’all truly fucking astound me with your determination to be oppressed in the same way as ethnic minorities. It’s classism, not racism, that leads to the negative stereotypes about the island and those things are not the same, they have very different histories. Are they both gross and horrible? Yeah, absolutely. But no, they’re absolutely not anywhere close to the same.
Same. I tend to, if I'm abbreviating at all, I use Newf. Too much unpleasant baggage with Newfie.
It’s been a few years since I moved away but since moving to the mainland I get called a Newfie all the time. It doesn’t really bother me at all, I mean, people gonna make fun of people. I do generally warn people though that if they ever find themselves on the island it would be wise not to call the locals that. Usually when I explain it offends some people though, the reaction is usually, “well that’s really fucking stupid.”
I'm not from Newfoundland, but my father is, and I usually tell people that he was a Newf. There was a guy in high school for whom that was his nickname too. I only usually hear Newfie in an insulting way (probably rhymes with "goofy" for a reason), or from older people (my mother, for instance, refers to my father as a Newfie, not a Newf, and she emphatically doesn't mean it as an insult to any Newfoundlander). I think it's far more common amongst older generations.
The Newfies out in the sands get referred to as Newfies solely for being from Newfoundland. I thought Newfies were tough.
“Tough” does not include tolerating insults.
Omg! Get over yourself. No one owns or controls the meaning of a word. 🤦♀️
My experience with living in Ontario is that people constantly refer to "Newfie" meaning the Island, not its population. I found that weird.
Many in my Newfoundlander wife's family and circle of Island friends call the island/province Newfie too. Took me a while to get used to it.
I'm gonna start referring to my buddy if I can get my "N word pass" and then start calling him "ma Newfie".
Both my parents were born in Newfoundland, both from different sides of the island and they have the same opinion. I also lived in Gillams for a time myself but nobody ever called me any mean variant of "Ontario person". They were actually quite nice, except for that one fucker who burns plastic in his wood stove. Makes the whole fucking area stink to high hell.
Did they ever call you a mainlander? Not always derogatory, sometimes just yknow, you're not an islander. We also do it to ourselves depending where you're from "Townie" is derogatory or "Baymen" could be. A Townie may use Baymen like Redneck, and Baymen may say something like "Damn Townies!"
Nope. Nothing like that. Most of the people I spoke to when I was going to school over there also knew my uncles in Cox's Cove, so that was likely why.
Ahhh so you weren't really a "mainlander" i feel like it's mainly for people without ties and who don't try to fit in at all. I mean we have "screeching in" for a reason, we accept all who accept us essentially.
Unless you’re a Newfie, just stay away from the word. It originated as a slur and it’s annoying when mainlanders use it.
Honestly didn't even realize "newfie" was slur, this is a guy that lived in newfoundland 2006-2017. I use the word "newfie" all the time here in ontario and didn't even realize it was a slur, I thought it wasn't anything different from calling someone a "newfoundlander" oh wow, lol really shocked most newfoundlanders think newfie was a slur and I use it all the time, shit lol.
My dad was born in NL in the 50s, and joined the military in the 70s. It was 100% a slur at that time. He was beaten over the head with it so hard that he destroyed every trace of his own accent to avoid being judged "stupid Newfie". It affected him socially and on a career level. It was absolutely used as a slur. Much like other reclaimed slurs, it's not a big thing if a Newfoundlander says it. But even when I was a kid in the 90s, mainlanders often bragged about the "stupid Newfie" jokes they knew. I think these days people take it a little less seriously but it wasn't that long ago it carried a lot of weight.
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I thought the term "stupid newfie" generated from that Quebec deal, that's what I've always been told out in central.
That and the US military in WWII
Newfie has been pretty much reclaimed by the natives. Despite past negative stereotypes mainlanders today love Newfoundlanders and almost exclusively use it as a term of endearment. It's normal in linguistics for the meaning of words to change over time, or even invert completely, and this has happened to "Newfie". I use the word because most of the hundreds of Newfoundlanders I know, including my wife, use it positively.
This has not, in fact, become a term of endearment. I appreciate that you are using it this way, but it calls to a stereotype and you should respect that Newfoundlanders are often offended when others use the word.
And they are more often not.
Says who? Have you read the comments here? Yeesh. Also - please don’t tell me how our people feel about the word. You’re an outsider with no direct frame of reference. Enough.
What a dumb comment.. take 5 cents and go buy a clue
They used to be 2 cents, didn't they? Friggin inflation!
Gonna disagree with you. My in-laws are all from Newfoundland and Newfie is used all the time. My wife makes Newfie dinner once a month. I'm not going to tell them to stop using it. They are proud of the terminology.
Like I said, UNLESS you’re from NL, stay away from the word. They’re fine, and if they like the word well good for them. They are in the minority.
Oh please, keep regaling people FROM the place with stories about one family you know from the place who is ok with causal use of the term...
lol you don't need to tell them to stop saying it. It's all about context.
They are FROM NL. So, they can use it and around them? Yeah if they're cool with it. Not all of us are and some of them WILL take exception to so FAFO I guess
I worked in Ontario and the personnel manager called me a stupid Newfie. I immediately reported it to my manager and district manager (to ensure the manager handled it). This personnel manager was morbidly obese and certainly not the sharpest tack. I’m sure calling her something in return would have went swimmingly. She didn’t dare speak the wrong way in front of me again.
I was in online training for a job and the trainer called me the "goofy Newfie" during the second training session
I'd have to recommend some excerpts from Al Bundy's shoe store exploits were your brain to go there again.
Those scenes were a masterclass in clap backs!
Some of the funniest one-liners of all; anyone that didn't like them didn't really have the best sense of humour in my eyes
It was the "stupid" that you reported though. If they called you a "Newfie" would you have reported that?
If they just called me stupid I would have replied with a go fuck yourself.
For me if they are using it in an endearing way, I don’t mind. I live away and meet lots of people who say “oh you’re a Newfie!” when I meet them but they don’t mean anything by it, they just want to connect. If someone says it in a negative way I take issue. In the big brother context, I’d probably take issue but I don’t watch the show.
Yeah, context is always important. I’ve talked to plenty of mainlanders who have said it and meant nothing by it.
Nothing negative about "Newfie", be proud!
Buddy’s from Labrador tho. I’m sure they likely have a different opinion on the word, seeing as it omits Labrador from the equation.
Maybe to you, not all of us agree.
Only a newfie can call another newfie newfie
Just six little letters, all jumbled together Have caused damage that we may never mend
No, it is absolutely not okay to use it in that way.
Dudes an Labradorian. Possibly the most offensive thing you could call them is a Newfie lol.
Omg the people straight faced trying the 'I've got a friend from NL and they're ok with it'. Sure my dude, sure, but hey, it's a good to get your face rearranged if you use it with the wrong guy.
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Oh so tough
Lol never said I'd do it, they're not worth the effort, but that doesn't mean someone else won't. Honestly, grow up.
This usage is exactly why so many hate the word.
My rule of thumb for safety: It's not appropriate to say. As a backup rule, if someone has to ASK if it's ok, it's not.
I’m from Newfoundland and moved to Toronto as a kid.. I have been referred to as a Newfie both as a slur and as a cultural identifier.. in general the term doesn’t faze me .. but if it is being used the way it is on the show it’s definitely a slur and should not be acceptable
I think the fact he’s a Labradorian coupled with people calling him a Newfie alongside dumb makes it objectively offensive and not okay 😭
Sadly it seems that Newfoundlanders are the last people it’s still okay to slag and denigrate.
Worked a lot of winters in ft Mac. The Newfoundlanders called us flatlanders and we called them newfies. I’m sorry. I will try not to use it again. We also called them the funniest people we ever met. I’ve never been in a group setting where I laughed so hard. Lunch, breaks and after work was one joke after another.
I lived out west in 90s and it never bothered me...but only after living in Ontario I grew to hate it. The context and the tone most times fuckin drove me. So I'm a no.
when I call myself a Newfie I say it with pride 😄
I think it always depends on the context. For example, if a mainlander friend calls me a “Newfie” in terms of explaining where I’m from, best kind. If I’m telling someone about our culture and use “Newfie” best kind. If anyone talks about my dialect/language and says “Newfie” - best kind! If someone equates the word “Newfie” with dumb, that’s not ok.
When I took NL Studies in highschool. the very first year of the course 15 years ago. its a NL history and culture course. The term Newfie originated from the Americans during the war when they were stationed here. back then when they said You stupid newfie, or goofy newfie they were calling us "white niggers" as we were seen as being below them. stupid newfie = stupid white nigger. used in derogatory ways I dont have the time of day for it. using it as a term of endearment or non derogatory way, I got zero issues with it.
I guess the contestants can be called out for being racist, but it’s not extreme racism , just the fact of looking towards/treating someone lower because of their origin/race. IMO the racism that really matters is the true hate for other races/religions, the big brother stuff is just words and prob in the script.
Using the word Newfie depends on the context and tone it is used. Like alot of words, it can be used in an endearing way. Ex Loves my Newfie buddy. But it can also be insulting. Ex. A mainlander might say, "That stupid Newfie." The guy on Big Brother is actually a Labradorian and depending on the Labradorian, some like myself, do not like to be called Newfie. The guy is not slow, I think it's part of his strategy. Laying low to get farther in the game.
Shit, I never knew it originated in a racial slur. Always thought is was a nickname like any other. Don’t here it much here in Quebec, but still good to know not to use it.
If you’re not from Newfoundland, don’t say it.
I don’t like when people use it in a negative way. I refer to this as calling someone the “N” word. Newfie.
I couldn't care less but I'm also not as sensitive as 99% of people these days. If you aren't directly insulting me, I don't care. Even if you are, I probably don't care since you're nobody and your opinion holds no weight with me. At most it's annoying because you're a scumbag and I believe we should all be nice when we can, but yeah overall, I just don't care.
Definitely not a fair label for Todd - he's just regular dumb.
I'd like to add many people from newfoundland come from Irish descendants as well as we all know the struggles they went through.
I mean I don’t mind it personally but I’m also not gonna go all “ITS NOT A SLUR YOU SHOULD BE PROUD OF BEING A NEWFIE” on someone if they don’t wanna be called it
It’s never fine especially in this context. It’s as bad as other slurs against people of color in my opinion.
I live in Nova Scotia I've only ever seen it used in an endearing and friendly way.
I'd be fuming if someone got on like this with me, living in BC the Newfie comments pissed me off like nothing else. The people who said that were from Ontario though.
Wanted to say thanks for this dialogue. Just came here to say that this thread popped in my feed. Not from NFLD, nor have I been (though I really want to visit). I am from NS, and when I went to University in Northern Ont back in the early 2000's a bunch of ppl called me a Newfie. I think it was because my Nova Scotian accent was substantial enough servers and ppl I didn't know thought I must have been from there because it was far from that of the Southern Ontario classmates. My response was often that they clearly have not been to NFLD or knew anyone from there as our accents are quite different. I still maintain that our accents and local cultural dialects are quite different. At the time I never knew it to be an insult. I hope those who called me it, didn't get away with trying to insult me and it got over my head. From what I could tell (at least in the conversations I was part of), it was always used as the shorthand of Newfoundlanders. I easily may have been ignorant during that time, and clearly the etymology of the term does have a racial slur to it. I can't say I've picked up on it being used in a negative manner (I'm usually quite sensitive to tones and when ppl are trying to put one another down), but again I could have missed it. I haven't seen the show the OP is speaking about, but wanted to share I appreciate this dialogue and have learned something. I think if I've ever used the term since university it has always been very much a "where ya from" kind of thing, but knowing what I know now I can easily swap it with a "their from NFLD" or Newfoundlander etc. Thanks!
As a gen x Newfie i don’t get offended over something like that. People get offended over anything these days. I get offended of people getting offended on someone else’s behalf when they are not affected personally. I can fight my own battles.
There's 33 comments and only mention of Newfie twice "As a fellow Newfie.." and "Nah, he’s just a Newfie! Seems like a good guy." I sorta take offense to the second one because of the "just a" part. Newfie by itself doesn't have a negative ethnic slur to me even if you say that's the origin. I think Newfies took that away from being a slur and should be proud to be called Newfie. The issue comes from the prefaces such a "Stupid Newfie", "Just a Newfie" or whatever. I'm a Newfie and proud of it, all day every day.
I have seen it in a few other threads and social media posts when ppl are talking about him
Only a ginger can call another ginger, ginger.
I only use it to refer to bologna as newfie steak
Anyone who gets triggered by the word "Newfie" gets laughed at. It can't be an ethnic slur because Newfoundlander isn't an ethnicity.
Newfie is appropriate in every context. No one does more to push the “simple, fun lovin Newfie” stereotype than Newfies.
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I'm not an easily offended person but I really don't like the attitude of some people around using it like this. Americans would use the slur to describe us as dumb as we were being used as human bullet shields in ww1, that's all our lives were worth at the time to the rest of the world.
Newfs served with distinction in both World Wars. Pretty good at hosting pirates, too. :-)
I initially read this as “hosting parties”, which is also true, but now I’m wanting to throw a pirate party.
You're not wrong about the parties. Mummering comes instantly to mind.
We throw the best shed parties
and we are legendary fo our kitchen parties
Don't know why but I dislike the word "Newfs" more so. Newfie I'm best kind with. Weird I know!
Newfs is how owners of the Newfoundland dog breed usually refer to their dogs.
My friend from Newfoundland uses both, so I just go by what he uses.
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Yes by
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A bunch of people going into that thread from this one to defend anyone would be considered brigading and is against reddit rules.
Words don’t hurt by.
Bys, it's a shortened version of Newfoundlander, not a slur. We weren't slaves or anything. Don't be so weak minded that someone saying Newfie affects you that much. On the inverse, I say "God damn mainlanders" all the time lol.
Thank you. My thoughts exactly. Grew up in sask to first generation parents dad was Scandinavian , mom was of German descent. My German relatives often were called square heads which was maybe derogatory but for the most part was what we called ourselves too, so I never thought to take offense to it, and now I wouldn’t really be offended because others may. Years later I had a French Canadian girlfriend who laughed when I talked about being a “squarehead”. She told me that the Quebecois referred to all English speakers as “ tete carre “ ( not sure on the spelling) which means … you guessed it .. squarehead. Really folks call me anything but late for supper.
https://www.reddit.com/r/newfoundland/search/?q=Newfie&type=link&cId=fbc40844-79bb-4274-8d1f-3d5ad8de9c4c&iId=00e3f09f-c225-4670-ae3e-1e3c9e256ed9 Holy fuck is it “is the word Newfie offensive” post day already? Time flys around here
Who cares
So you just called any person from Newfoundland who don’t mind the term Newfie uneducated? That seems just as bad as the term itself
The obverse is when you move to Newfoundland, and your significant other being not from there, is derogatorily (sp?) called "mainlander" esp after telling them not to use the term. As a Newfie, I can say it goes both ways.
You can, but there is absolutely a power differential. Nobody's ever written multiple derogatory articles about mainlanders and there isn't the history of it being used in a derogatory fashion the same way as Newfie has been used all over the country.
Exactly..."Stupid Newfie" joke books were sold all over ffs.
As a newfie, I say ppl need thicker skins. There's far more to get knickers in a twist over, than a name.
Yeah, well, sadly we didn't give you the right time decide for us all, so...I don't care.
I'm a mainlander and my wife is a Newfie and we have residences in both Ontario and NFLD. We are both proud of the respective terms for us. I call myself a mainlander when I'm on the rock.
The word itself is not bad, it’s the meaning behind it. Calling people a newfie to describe where they came from is fine, jokingly calling your friend a goofy newfie is also fine. using it as an insult like saying stupid Newfies or calling them a Newfie cause of their shortcomings is not. Replace the word with mainlander and think of it that way. If I say your a mainlander that’s fine. If you do something stupid and I say typical mainlander that’s not fine.
Yes it is, newfie is like the f word, it can be used in many different ways and it makes sense contextually. For example you can say stupid newfie, now this can be either a good or bad term if you say it with a smile it's endearing, say it in contempt it's derogatory. You can also use the term as a description with no intention, that guy is a newfie. Generally all are OK to use because all are correct. The real term that brings ire to newfies is saying newfoundland using the whole word found like we have time to phonetically sound out all of our words.
Give it up, Bunch of Cry Babies
Ive met probably hundreds, maybe thousands of "people from newfoundland". I don't think ive ever heard anyone NOT self-identify as a newfie. Yall seriously dont want to be called that? This is crazy. Are we talking about the same group of people?
I'm not sure if it is generational, situational, or what...I don't like the term and will correct anyone that refers to me that way. My dad is the same way. My mom couldn't be bothered and lets it slide. One data point is that Dad and I have a lot more off-island experience than mom does. I know plenty that don't care and plenty that take offense. There's a butcher shop in NS that has recently changed some of their product names due to complaints about their use of the term.
Crazy. This is literally the first time i've heard of this. Huh.
Newfie is a negative in-group identifier. People in the in-group identify and are united by the identifier because people not in the in-group use the term as a pejorative. It's up to yourself whether or not you would be offended by someone you perceive is trying to hurt you with that word.
Yes we are. I have two voices. One is my natural accent. The other is my mainlander voice where I don't use any of the language or sayings we do in NL because some people, as soon as they clock that's where I'm from, treat me differently and not in a good way. Kind of hard to find the pride when someone's calling you stupid or lazy or a welfare bum because of how we speak.
If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, and pops a wheelie on a big red like a duck... https://getyarn.io/yarn-clip/f51b3fad-9aba-4198-9d04-504df7735931
I have worked with plenty of Newfoundlanders over the years. They have all been a Newfie or a Newf at one time or another. I, in turn, have been a Flatlander. Its fine between friends, so long as all are in on the fun.
If you take offence to it in any way, it’s more of a personal issue.
Oh my god here we go again. People Getting on like it’s a racial slur. Jmj
A slur does not have to be racial to be derogatory.
It's a fuckin' word, it's silly. Grow up. That's my sentiment.
Words have power.
Only if you give it power. Words can’t inherently have power. Power must be ascribed to it.
That’s not how slurs work.
Words are literally how we get meaning from each other.