An SC from 1907

[friendofjimmyk]

Family history can be very amusing.

My friend FE is half Irish and half German. His take on his lineage: "I get drunk and want to take over the world."

When telling people of my ancestry, I used to say "Sicilian and Spanish - that means I can cook, but don't you dare tell me you don't like it!"

[SongsOfDragons]

No, sorry. No Basque and I can only speak a very little Spanish...just enough to say please and thank you while ordering another beer and to ask where the bathroom is.

I didn't realize that the Basque had their own language...I thought it was all Spanish in Spain...just different dialect.

Nuuu!!!

Oh well, I sent the phrases I want translated to a site...hopefully I'll get a response soon enough. The Basque language is called Euskari; they have their own pre-Christian legends and everything.

Anyhoo...perhaps we might be getting a bit off-topic? I don't want to be hollered at by anyone important.

[Becks]

My friend FE is half Irish and half German. His take on his lineage: "I get drunk and want to take over the world."

May I make use of that, even thought I am only of partial Irish and German descent?

[DGoddessChardonnay]

May I make use of that, even thought I am only of partial Irish and German descent?

Try being Irish-Red Dutch-German AND Cherokee (1/4 to be exact.)

So, not only do I like to drink and want to take over the world, I'm not shy about war.

[XCashier]

Hubby is not only Polish and Italian, he's also German and Austrian. I'm English, Irish, Swedish, Swiss, French (by way of Canada), German, Scottish and possibly Native American. Boy, our son is going to have fun researching his family tree! Just call ourselves "American Mutts" and have done with it!

[Jester]

May I make use of that, even thought I am only of partial Irish and German descent?

Of course you can. Not only is my friend FE very generous, he would be the first to admit that he probably did not make that one up. And even if he did...did I mention he is very generous?

Hubby is not only Polish and Italian, he's also German and Austrian. I'm English, Irish, Swedish, Swiss, French (by way of Canada), German, Scottish and possibly Native American. Boy, our son is going to have fun researching his family tree! Just call ourselves "American Mutts" and have done with it!

It's funny. Whenever people ask "What is your nationality?" and I tell them "American," they fight me on it. But I am American. My parents were American. As were their parents. My great grandparents came to this country over 120 years ago (oddly all about the same time, from different places) and I am a third generation American mutt. But that is not good enough for some people. The usual debate goes something like this:

THEM: What's your nationality?
JESTER: American.
THEM: No, no, where are you from?
JESTER: Arizona.
THEM: But where are your parents from?
JESTER: New York and New Jersey.
THEM: No, no, where are your ANCESTORS from?
JESTER: What does that have to do with me? I never knew them, and they came here over 100 years ago. Therefore I am American. I am not from nor have I ever lived in any other country.

I usually end it by reminding them that if an Italian-American went to Italy and called himself Italian, the Italians would laugh at him. Ditto Irish-Americans in Ireland, etc., etc., etc. Why? Because they are not Italians or Irish or whatever, they are Americans of whatever descent. And yes, Virginia, there is a difference.

(This all being said, if someone asks me what my heritage is, I will gladly answer them honestly and succintly, without all the smartassery. Because there is a big difference between my nationality (American) and my heritage (Russian-Austrian-Romanian-Polish). Just one of my pet peeves.

[SongsOfDragons]

Aye, I see where you're getting at. Damn English having many synonyms for similar groups of words. Easy for me though, both my replies would be "English"...

Although I do have an auntie who emigrated to Australia some forty years ago.

[Primer]

hmmmm....on my mom's side, way back when, they were pirates off the coast of Scotland. Capture the ship, kill the men, bring the women back....no telling what all I may be!

[dispatch]

I have mostly Hungarian mixed with German, Irish, and some Native American (not even sure what tribe) roots, I believe there may be some Italian in there, too but don't quote me.
Of my hungarian lineage, half is nobility, and half is gypsy, this happened 2 generations ago in the US, but I like to tell people that I'm the illegitamate son of a concubine.

[Melxb]

My parents are both Mexican, but Mexican people are probably some of the most mixed group of people. On my mother side, my great-grandmother is full blooded-red-headed- Irish. There's a persisten rumor that this particular grandmother was a woman of dubious reputation. In other words, we think she was a prostitute. Well, she moved to Mexico with my great-grandfather and spoke spanish with an Irish accent. Cool.
Both my parents have a mixture of Mexican Indians (Yaqi), Spanish, Portugese, and Irish.
Btw, all of my mother's siblings (AND my mother) have inherited that Irish temper.

[Rapscallion]

hmmmm....on my mom's side, way back when, they were pirates off the coast of Scotland. Capture the ship, kill the men, bring the women back....no telling what all I may be!

So, you're going to be capturing women?

If you get a few spare, I'm sure my mother would want you to introduce some to me...

Rapscallion

[Banrion]

Family history can be very amusing.

My friend FE is half Irish and half German. His take on his lineage: "I get drunk and want to take over the world."

Funny, my b/f is half Irish and half Portugese, and he says the EXACT same thing.

I'm 1/4 Norweigan, 1/4 German, and as my g'ma says 1/2 Heinz 57. My mom's side is pretty pure Norweigan/German, my dad is a true blue American Mutt. My Great-Grandma always told me that we are direct descendants of Eric the Red.

[Becks]

Try being Irish-Red Dutch-German AND Cherokee (1/4 to be exact.)

Rock on.

I look Irish, have a German last name, am 1/8 Danish, and waaaaaaaaaay back I can also add English, French and Polish.

{{Most mad props to the Irish, German and Danish, since they make up most of my...whatever the snazzy phrase is.}}

[protege]

I somehow ended up with Irish/German/Norwegian ancestry. That explains the reddish hair mixed in with the chestnut brown...and my feisty temper

My ancestors (well, at least on my dad's side) came from Norway in 1850. Most of them settled in Minnesota, Iowa, and Wisconsin. Most of them were farmers...who had to deal with the occasional Indian attack.

[ArenaBoy]

I am Polish, Lithuanian,French-Canadian, and IIRC I am also Dutch. The interesting thing about my family is that most of the men served in the military on both sides, and on my dad's side my great-uncle was a bootlegger in the 20s who worked with Capone and had a few run-ins with the federal government.