Immigrate or Emigrate
 

This has bugged me for a while. But you see lots of articles /posts / threads etc regarding the above, and each article uses either one to mean the same thing.

In my ultimate non wisdom I always presumed that immigration was what happened when someone was inbound into a country and emmigrating was something thst one did to another country.
The dictionary definitions are as follows

Immigrate

intransitive verb
: to enter and usually become established ; especially : to come into a country of which one is not a native for permanent residence
transitive verb
: to bring in or send as immigrants


Emigrate

: to leave one's place of residence or country to live elsewhere <emigrated from Canada to the United States>
— em·i·gra·tion \ˌe-mə-ˈgrā-shən\ noun

So am I right in my thinking once we have arrived in Canada we have emigrated from England (or where ever) and become immigrants :confused:

Or is there really no difference and its all down to personal choise of the user?

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

what you said :rofl:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

I reckon Mandymoochops is right from the dictionary definition. I thought it was immigrating as in inbound and emigrating as in outbound too til now.:confused::blink:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Or does it really matter which ones companies use to advertise their wares etc as by default if you are doing one you have to be doing the other :blink:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

That's how I see it.

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

This has bugged me too and from what I have noticed the Brits say you emigrate to a country and then become an immigrant. The Canadians say you immigrate to a country and become an immigrant. Could be wrong and somebody will correct me but have not (yet) seen a Canadian use emigrate.

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

What she said :rofl:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

I agree with you, but the world is full of ignorant Philistines.

I hate the use of bring for take, that really confuses me. Also "visiting with", a woman at work said she visited with her husband after work, I thought maybe he was in hospital but no, she meant they sat down and had a chat.

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Yes i love the way Canadians use that phrase too i think its sweet! (good to see you back btw) :thumbsup:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Oh i so so agree :lol:yey :thumbsup:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

lol with what Sans - that the use of emigrate and immigrate get mixed up - that "visiting" is cute, or that a certain long lost friend is back :wub:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Another one is the (incorrect?) use of the terms "expatriate" or "expat".

In normal use, and certainly in my world, "expat" refers to a temporary assignment. "Emigrant" is the more proper term for someone who, for example, emigrates from the UK to Canada, obtain PR and take citizenship. They would then become an "immigrant" to Canada.

I consider myself an expat but not an emigrant. I'll only be in Canada temporarily, and then will be off somewhere else when my project is done.

For most users of this forum (Canada, Australia) perhaps it should be called BritishEmigrants.com, and for the Middle East board - where it's impossible to obtain PR or citizenship - it's correct to call it BritishExpats?! ;)

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Well if you must know haha:D to me Emigrate is " as in we are going to emigrate" Immigration is what you go through to Emigrate..........I dont think i've ever used Immigrate????? Not sure i've ever seen it as Immigrate......

So now some one can come along and tell me i talk crap............but at least its my crap and not someone elses :p:D

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Where do you get the idea that the term expatriate or expat refers only to temporary situations? :confused:

I just checked four on line dictionaries and none of them refer to anything temporary.

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

I didn't check any dictionary definitions - that's why I put "(incorrect?)" in my opening sentence, Steve.

I'm not saying I'm right or wrong, just that in my perception an Expat is temporary, and the relocation is primarily related to work and is paid for by an employer.

Conversely, an Emigrant chooses to permanently live in another country and perhaps take citizenship.

Is an Expat and and Emigrant the same thing?
Does an Emigrant ever stop being an Emigrant, and become an Immigrant or a Citizen instead?
Can one simultaneously be a Citizen of Country A, an Emigrant, an Expatriate, an Immigrant and a Citizen of Country B?? (Sounds like a recipe for a large tax bill :lol:)

I don't know, MMC just got me wondering, that's all. :rofl:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

I think expat. can be either, whereas emigrating is more permanent. I dont think "expating" is a solely temporary thing, it denotes that someone is living in a country other than their own. So the British part of "British Expats" says where the people came from.

I suppose if you extrapolate this, then once you adopt a new country you are at home and so no longer an expat?? Perhaps this is why Jings thinks of himself as an expat rather than an emigrant?

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

lol cheers!

My perception on the xpat thing is if you take the opposite ie re-patriate that means to restore to the country of origin /birth.

So the word expatriate would by definition mean a person who is no longer at their place of birth or origin.

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Well, perhaps "-patriate" refers to a fatherland, or rather one's home, or home country.

If someone becomes a citizen of a new country, or even has permanent residence there, then surely that become their "home country"?

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Expatriate .......someone who chooses to live in a country not of his/her birth...........So does that make me a re-patriate twice over:lol: I knew their was a name for it , other then a ping -ponging -pom :eek:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Are but not their Birth Country............:p

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Now you're not confused am I? :confused:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Yes that is also a possibility although the words birth / origin came straight from the dictionary and i would take origin to mean right at the very beginning - where it all began!!!!!

It also can mean the point at which something came into existence. You could argue that if you were unhappy in England you came into existence spiritually (sorry Bazzz) when you moved to Canada.

This is the "problem" with words. Everyone can rework a word or a sentence so in effect it is easy to justify anything meaning anything

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

i said that.....

wearing invisible woman cloak again....

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

No you're not hun :wub:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Extrapolate? Is that the immigrant Polish builders in the UK? :rofl:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Extra polate.

one more polate than one really needs.;):rofl::rofl::rofl:

http://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=polate

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

So...I will show my age. Emigrate (to leave one's home country for another) must come from the Latin ēmigrāre.....kind of self explanatory...no?:confused:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

.............my head hurts.............

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Here, have a drink :beer: we can just sit on the side and listen.

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

i like your thinking - cheers...:beer:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Ya for sure. Both are correct.

You emigrate from and immigrate to.

You could also be posh and become an emigree, OK yah.:cool:

R.

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

Can i just be common and move!!!!!! :thumbsup:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

In the context of your dealings a Canadian would not use Emigrate - 1. they are solely interested in your Immigration, 2. they put a positive spin on the whole thing (if you consider leaving negative, arriving positive).
A Canadian who was electing to leave for pastures new, greener grass or even another country would talk of emigrating from Canada and immigrating to they chosen country.

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

aha mais oui it all becomes clear!

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

I have Welsh relatives, and their grammar drives me nuts.

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

lol me too (about the rellies not about it driving me nuts) I was saying to Lorna a couple of days ago

The phrases "Sit tiday" or "walk tidy" would be used a fair bit when i went to visit!!!!!

Another one that just has me fuming is the use of the work ask. YES ASK. ITS ASK GODDAM YOU NOT AKS!!!!! :mad:

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

No-one had Latin at their school? It's making a comeback apparently - http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...omment.schools

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

"Ecce! In pictura est puella. Puella est Flavia..."

Karma for the next line?

Re: Immigrate or Emigrate
 

I never done Latin but my children did, here in Toronto, one even took a Latin course at university (I suspect that was a soft credit since most of the class wouldn't have taken it in high school).