There are a few inside words overseas dwellers use. We’ve got our ow
n secret lingo we ramble off with other overseas dwellers often unaware that anyone else hasn't a clue what where talking about. When returning to home cultures, we closet nomadic lingo until returning to overseas life. I’ll share the linguistic theory behind a few well known clichés.
TCK: Third Culture Kid. This is an extremely common acronym deserving first place in our linguistic lesson. I identify myself as an ATCK; adult third culture kid. I’m American, but I’ve got a lot of other cultures mixed in but I’m hardly French, Kenyan or Chinese. I was raised in a “third culture.” This word is relatively new to the docket originating from the popular book, “Third Culture Kid Experience.” It was indirectly coined to include all k
ids whose parents worked in the humanitarian sector, businesses, and diplomacy. Traditional terms still exist such as “MK” (missionary kid) or military brat.
Expatriate: Most the time it’s just “expat.” The origin of this word refers to a patriot (citizen) who is living outside his own country. Whatever your nationality is and wherever you end up in the globe, if it’s not you’re home country, you’re an expat.
Global Nomad: A global nomad is simply someone who moves around….a lot…globally. This term is used in book titles because it sounds cryptic and mysterious. Global nomads generally have a home, but it takes them several minutes to remember where it is.
Chameleon: We all know that chameleons have the ability to change color and blend into any environment. It’s much t
he same for expats and specifically TCKs who subconsciously develop the ability to slide into a culture, picking up the norms, taboos and language. A proper chameleon typically resides in a country where his ethnic origins also blend in. Infrequently the noun is used as a verb...I chameleoned, you’re chameleon-ing…
n secret lingo we ramble off with other overseas dwellers often unaware that anyone else hasn't a clue what where talking about. When returning to home cultures, we closet nomadic lingo until returning to overseas life. I’ll share the linguistic theory behind a few well known clichés.TCK: Third Culture Kid. This is an extremely common acronym deserving first place in our linguistic lesson. I identify myself as an ATCK; adult third culture kid. I’m American, but I’ve got a lot of other cultures mixed in but I’m hardly French, Kenyan or Chinese. I was raised in a “third culture.” This word is relatively new to the docket originating from the popular book, “Third Culture Kid Experience.” It was indirectly coined to include all k
ids whose parents worked in the humanitarian sector, businesses, and diplomacy. Traditional terms still exist such as “MK” (missionary kid) or military brat.Expatriate: Most the time it’s just “expat.” The origin of this word refers to a patriot (citizen) who is living outside his own country. Whatever your nationality is and wherever you end up in the globe, if it’s not you’re home country, you’re an expat.
Global Nomad: A global nomad is simply someone who moves around….a lot…globally. This term is used in book titles because it sounds cryptic and mysterious. Global nomads generally have a home, but it takes them several minutes to remember where it is.
Chameleon: We all know that chameleons have the ability to change color and blend into any environment. It’s much t
he same for expats and specifically TCKs who subconsciously develop the ability to slide into a culture, picking up the norms, taboos and language. A proper chameleon typically resides in a country where his ethnic origins also blend in. Infrequently the noun is used as a verb...I chameleoned, you’re chameleon-ing… Bushy or Bushie: This is an African expression. "Real" missionaries in the traditional understanding are bushies. It’s a term applied to expats living in the bush far from suburban capitals making their own yogurt and letting the toddler run naked in the dirt with village kids. “Oh you were a bushy,” and “She is so NOT a bush girl” might pop up in the right circles.
Stareist: This is really just a family term but I’ll throw it in as a bonus. We coined it ourselves to properly accommodate individuals of our host country who can't seem to stop staring at us. "There's a stareist on the left there," "Heads up there's a group of stareist coming up so look like you're talking to me."
Those are the main ones, but they’ll dawn on me as I’m drifting off to sleep tonight so a second installment will arrive…someday.
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