American-Born Confused Desi - Neologism

Neologism

See also: Indian American and Pakistani American

ABCD or American-Born Confused Desi has become a polarizing factor in the South Asian diaspora in the US, with first-generation immigrant parents and young South Asians of second or latter generations. Though the term was originally coined in reference to Indian-Americans, it has been adopted by the South Asian community at large. The term "desi" comes from the word "des" (homeland) in both Hindi and Urdu. "Desi" means "of the homeland" and denotes anything or anyone from South Asia.

The longer and lesser known form "American Born Confused Desi, Emigrated From Gujarat, House In Jersey" is also occasionally seen; playing on the alphabet theme, it has been expanded for K-Z variously as "Kids Learning Medicine, Now Owning Property, Quite Reasonable Salary, Two Uncles Visiting, White Xenophobia, Yet Zestful" or "Keeping Lotsa Motels, Named Omkarnath Patel, Quickly Reaching Success Through Underhanded Vicious Ways, Xenophobic Yet Zestful". The former version of the A—Z expansion was proposed by South Asian immigrants as a reaction to the latter version that derogated them.

Confused Americanized Desi (CAD) is a related term, which refers to people of South Asian origin who are both born and living in the subcontinent but tend to follow western lifestyle and values. Coconuts is also a term used which basically refers to people who are "white from the inside and brown from the outside".