- Emigreys: retirees serving out their twilight years in the sun, most of whom seem to be just a little to the right of Genghis Khan and who bought a jerry built white box in Turkey because it was cheaper than Spain (well, it was at the time). Everyday emigrey life operates within a parallel universe of neo colonial separateness preoccupied with visa hops to the Isles of Greece, pork sausages, property prices and Blighty bashing.
- VOMITs (Victims of Men in Turkey): vintage desperate ex-housewives with a few lira to spare who shamelessly chase younger Turkish men. Predictably, such relationships rarely last once the money runs out. Thank you to Sara for this one.
- Semigreys: those too young to retire in the conventional sense, who are living the vida loca on the proceeds of property sales. Plunging interest rates present quite a fiscal test to those trying to maintain a hedonistic lifestyle on dwindling assets while waiting for the pensions to kick in, assuming there will be a pension to kick in given the parlous position of the public purse.
- Vetpats: veterans who have been living in Turkey for many years. Usually better informed than their peers with a less asinine view of the world, vetpats have taken the trouble to learn Turkish and are better integrated into the wider community. Some have even acquired Turkish citizenship and are fortunate to have found gainful employment on the right side of the Law.
- Sexpats: discrete grey men of means who are serviced by young Turkish men in return for a stipend.
- Hedonistas: those who enjoy a carefree existence of total self indulgence liberated from the binding ties of responsibility or the worries of tomorrow.
- The Ignorati: a collective term for those who live in utter ignorance of the history and culture of their foster land, shout loudly in English and see the world at large through the narrow-minded pages of the Daily Mail (or The Daily Bigot as I like to call it).
I have received several suggestions from readers to add to the Pansy ex-pat lexicon.
- Thank you Greg for 'emigays' to describe well to do old queens spending up their life savings because you can't take it with you and no children to fret about (That'll be us then).
- Thank you Tom for the deliciously naughty 'cowpats' for those I really can't abide and would flee to the next town to avoid.
- Thank you Carole for the 'MADs' (My Ahmet's Different) for those delusional VOMITs who think that their Turkish man is somehow different from the rest because 'he really loves me'. Who are they trying to kid?
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