"Eastern Europe" - why we hate the term

[Stolen Rutters]

Hey, I just noticed something. Czech republic is actually north of Austria!

 

[warpus]

I think so. One of my best friends at Uni is Latvian.

Beligerence aside, I think people should be called what they call themselves. For example: the changing of Eskimo to Innuit.

One notable exception: you cannot call black people what they call themselves in rap music.

And Poles call themselves Eastern European in Polish rap videos, meaning that you are unable to use this term to refer to us.. unless you're Polish.

 

[Mirc]

Sorry, not Hungary, I know it's more than 90% Magyar, but I thought Romania and the Baltic states had, at the very least, large minorities of Slavs.

That is simply false for Romania. Romania has Hungarian, German and very very very very small Turkish and Jewish minorities. Almost no Slavic minority at all.

 

[nonconformist]

And Poles call themselves Eastern European in Polish rap videos, meaning that you are unable to use this term to refer to us.. unless you're Polish.

Polish Rap?


Sitting in my Lada
poppin my collar
stealing your jobs
I gotta holla

East europeans be we
and harcore as cancer
the only thing we gangstas fear
is rollin' of German panzers

forget the hype white boi
we pollacks ain't that much dumber
I'll unblock your sink if ya pays me enough
like most poles I'm a bing plumber

Now hear me y'all crakcers
you don't like it, . .. .. .. . off
east europeans are here to stay
liek me and my friend Kryzcsztzschtztoff

 

[Mirc]

And to all those who think you can somehow tell the difference between the culture and style of countries that are considered WRONGLY Eastern and those considered central, just take a look for yourself:

Spoiler :

Guess what country(ies) they are from:

Spoiler :

Romania.

Brasov, Cluj, Bucharest, Sighisoara, Sibiu. Random shots from the cities.

 

[GrandAdmiral]

Athens, Ankara? The first one is clearly south, and the second isn't even in Europe.

I have to disagree that there is clear geography dictating your side of the argument as well. Greece is south depending on your point of reference and it is east of certain parts of Europe. South east might be more precise in Greece's case but the use of the label is to be general, not precise.

The US is similar. California is usually referred to as west instead of South West which is more often used to refer to Arizona, New Mexico and even Texas which were all originally referred to as the West. Those types of terms are arbitrary and they change throughout time.

To top it off you guys confuse me by considering letting countries like Turkey and Russia possibly join th EU in the distant future. Europe is an undefined entity but Eastern and southern Europe are clearly divided by a grid system?

 

[Winner]

The old cars kinda give it away

 

[mrt144]

Okay, so now you're just all western asians.

 

[mangxema]

Winner,

The Southern US is also defined by a historical event (our Civil War), and has had a pretty nasty history as well, especially with regards to race relations. And nowhere have I ever heard of anyone being offended at being called a Southerner. I say wait a couple generations and no one will care anymore.

And by the way, when I hear "Eastern Europe," I hear "Eastern Europe," not "filthy cesspool" like you do.

 

[Mirc]

The old cars kinda give it away

Most pics are very old.

Actually not most but at least 3 of them are at least 10 years old.

 

[nonconformist]

So, how do we distingusih the east from Central Europe?
The East is not the same as Germany, Austria, Denmark etc.

 

[Rossiya]

I find the term "western European" offensive.

 

[Winner]

Winner,

The Southern US is also defined by a historical event (our Civil War), and has had a pretty nasty history as well, especially with regards to race relations. And nowhere have I ever heard of anyone being offended at being called a Southerner. I say wait a couple generations and no one will care anymore.

And by the way, when I hear "Eastern Europe," I hear "Eastern Europe," not "filthy cesspool" like you do.

Not the same thing, Southerners don't mind it because they call themselves Southerners too.

 

[Winner]

Most pics are very old.

Actually not most but at least 3 of them are at least 10 years old.

Nice pics BTW, I posted some too. It's funny that most people can't tell where the town are located. Central European countries are very close to each other, when it comes to architecture.

 

[mangxema]

Not the same thing, Southerners don't mind it because they call themselves Southerners too.

I suppose you're right... white Americans are in general pretty damn hard to offend.

 

[Winner]

I suppose you're right... white Americans are in general pretty damn hard to offend.

That's because they're all too dumb to understand they're being offended...

(bad joke, sorry )

 

[Elponitnatsnoc]

When I think of Europe, I group the countries into:

British Isles: UK, Republic of Ireland
Scandanavia: Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Finland, Denmark
Western Europe: Portugal, Spain, France, Holland, Belgium, Luxembourg
Central Europe: Germany, Switzerland, Czech, Austria, Liechtenstein, Greece, Italy, Malta, Cyprus
FYR's: Albania (technically not FYR, but obviously has to be here), Macedonia, Serbia, Montenegro, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Slovenia
Outer Former-Soviet Satellites: Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia
Innter Former-Soviet Satellites: Moldova, Ukraine, Belarus, Russia

Out of these sections, I've been to all except FYRs which has helped my make the classifications.

Do people agree with this classification?

 

[Sofista]

Czech rep. is, according to most of crime statistics, much safer country than many so-called Western European countries. Should we move Italy to Eastern European category because they have a problem with crime?

Can't read further

Total crimes (per capita)

#1 Dominica: 113.822 per 1,000 people
#2 New Zealand: 105.881 per 1,000 people
#3 Finland: 101.526 per 1,000 people
#4 Denmark: 92.8277 per 1,000 people
#5 Chile: 88.226 per 1,000 people
#6 United Kingdom: 85.5517 per 1,000 people
#7 Montserrat: 80.3982 per 1,000 people
#8 United States: 80.0645 per 1,000 people
#9 Netherlands: 79.5779 per 1,000 people
#10 South Africa: 77.1862 per 1,000 people
#11 Germany: 75.9996 per 1,000 people
#12 Canada: 75.4921 per 1,000 people
#13 Norway: 71.8639 per 1,000 people
#14 France: 62.1843 per 1,000 people
#15 Seychelles: 52.9265 per 1,000 people
#16 Hungary: 44.9763 per 1,000 people
#17 Estonia: 43.3601 per 1,000 people
#18 Czech Republic: 38.2257 per 1,000 people
#19 Italy: 37.9633 per 1,000 people

Czech Rep. #18, Italy #19; right above Switzerland.


So: we're better off than many. I'll call you Central European, you do your researches better.

 

[Winner]

Can't read further

Total crimes (per capita)

Czech Rep. #18, Italy #19; right above Switzerland.

So: we're better off than many. I'll call you Central European, you do your researches better.

Actually, my intention was not to say that Italy is full of criminals, only that many people across the world have the impression that organized crime is out of control in Italy. The so-called Eastern Europe has a bad name too, but the actual level of crime is often lower than in the Western Europe.

 

[TheLastOne36]

So, how do we distingusih the east from Central Europe?
The East is not the same as Germany, Austria, Denmark etc.

or Poland, Czech Republic, Hungary.

Germany, Austria, Poland. Czech, Hungary, all have very similar Architecture, and predominately Catholic(except for parts of Germany), etc.