Plastic Paddy is a pejorative term for members of the Irish diaspora who appropriate (often stereotypical) Irish customs and identity. The term has also been applied to those with no ancestral connection to Ireland or who claim Irish identity or nationality. A plastic Paddy may know little of actual Irish culture, but nevertheless assert an Irish identity. The term is pejoratively used to refer to people on the basis of their perceived lack of authenticity as Irish.
Famous quotes containing the words plastic and/or paddy:
“What a wonderful faculty is memory!the most mysterious and inexplicable in the great riddle of life; that plastic tablet on which the Almighty registers with unerring fidelity the records of being, making it the depository of all our words, thoughts and deedsthis faithful witness against us for good or evil.”
—Susanna Moodie (18031885)
“O Paddy dear, an did ye hear the news thats goin round?
The shamrock is by law forbid to grow on Irish ground!
No more Saint Patricks Day well keep, his colour cant be seen,
For theres a cruel law agin the wearin o the Green!”
—Unknown. The Wearing of the Green (l. 3740)