maninahat said:
The quickest way to get on my nerves is to start talking about geneology, especially if you're an American. I don't know why, but they seem obsessed with the subject, and will often bring it up early in conversation without any prompting whatsoever. The best way to get on the nerves of an Irishman is for an American to refer to themself as "Irish". As far as I'm concerned, if you have absolutely nothing to do with a foreign culture, other than a distant relative who might have been from there, then you shouldn't be giving a shit about heritage. "Acting" Irish comes across as cultural appropriation. An affectation, and nothing more.
Thanks for putting that up before I freaked out that the OP.
It actually deeply offends me when all some people, in fairness, mostly Americans, zero in on is the godamn stereotypes and the godawful and embarrassing leprechaun crap.
Again, most Americans view things like 'Irish' or 'Italian' to be exclusively ethnic descriptions, and that's fair enough, considering America's cultural melting pot. More power to them.
I don't know if it's genetic, but nothing boils my blood more than people assuming they're actually as Irish as someone born and reared on the island of Ireland. They don't mean it, but god almighty, they're Americans with Irish ancestry. There's a HUGE difference.