Plastic Paddy is a slang expression for the cultural appropriation evidenced by unconvincing or obviously non-native Irishness.[1][2] The phrase has been used as a positive reinforcement and as a derogatory term in various situations, particularly in London but also within Ireland itself. The term has sometimes been applied to people who may misappropriate or misrepresent stereotypical aspects of Irish customs.[3] In this sense, the plastic Paddy may know little of actual Irish culture, but nevertheless assert an Irish identity.[4] In other contexts, the term has been applied to members of the Irish diaspora who have distanced themselves from perceived stereotypes and, in the 1980s, the phrase was used to describe Irish people who had emigrated to England and were seeking assimilation into English culture.[5][6][7]
Walter
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).Hickman
was invoked but never defined (see the help page).