It's Happy St. Patrick's Day-not Happy St. Paddy's Day

With my mom having the maiden name Kennedy, I can count myself as one of many Americans with Irish ancestry. I heard the word paddy for years and thought it was slang for Patrick without realizing this slang word has not been used as a term of endearment for the Irish.

Patrick is a very common name in Ireland. The name is so common that in the past many British referred to all Irishmen as paddies. Referring to all members of an ethnicity with a slang word is always derogatory. I will not fill this article with other words that fit in this category but every person who reads this article knows some involving other ethnicities. Paddy is not the word to use to an Irish person.

Other words that use paddy in them are equally derogatory. Did you ever wonder why police vans are called paddy wagons? Paddy wagon is an American term for a police van (formerly a wagon) developed during the period of time when the Irish were not warmly welcomed into the country. Two theories exist as to why these vans are called paddy wagons. One states that the name came from a large variety of the police force being Irish. Another theory is it stemmed from large numbers of Irish immigrants who were drinkers and arrested for public intoxication. The final theory and the one I want to believe is it stemmed from the padding used in old horse drawn carriages to prevent injury. The first two theories are derogatory with the second being mind boggling as it combines two stereotypes of Irish people-that of them with the derogatory slang word from England and of them being alcoholics. Irish people are supposed to be big consumers of alcohol. As far back as at least my great-grandfather, my Kennedy family did not regularly partake of alcohol. My grandfather did not socially drink. My mother followed in his footsteps and I in hers. To imply all members of a specific ethnicity have problems with the same type of behavior is wrong.

Paddy is also slang for tantrums. Has anyone ever heard of a hot-headed Irish person? This question is similar to asking if anyone has heard of an Irishman who drinks. I have heard some say my daughter has a temper because she is part Irish leaving me to wonder what part of this statement is not offensive.

Perhaps I am being too sensitive. I am several generations removed from my Irish immigrant to America but having the surname so close in my past makes me feel like a part of the group. Realizing these words exist many years after the Irish had such a hard time in America with finding jobs and discrimination makes me sad. It makes me sadder to know many people do not realize the word paddy has a horrible origin. St. Patrick was an amazing man sent from God to teach my ancestors about the Trinity. To use the word paddy in the manner it is makes me very sad. Because I have always known the story of St. Patrick, it is natural I thought Paddy was a term of endearment because St. Patrick did an amazing thing in teaching my ancestors about the Trinity. "Happy St. Paddy's Day" would not be offensive were it not for the knowledge of what that word came to mean after St. Patrick's death.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddy

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paddywagon