3 ms·

I hadn't heard the phrase "going expat" before, so I was curious if the Lost Generation ex-pat American writers in Paris in the 1920s used it. Google n-grams h

I hadn't heard the phrase "going expat" before, so I was curious if the Lost Generation ex-pat American writers in Paris in the 1920s used it. Google n-grams hasn't seen the term. DDG hasn't either. Google has all of 122 matches. I didn't spot Germany in a quick scan. The Netherlands was pretty high on the list. I therefore don't think that "going expat" is all that common. I'm not privy to how it's used in isolated corporate exchanges like on Meta and X so perhaps that's why I haven't seen that phrase used?

apothegm 1y ago
In 1920 they might have said “expatriate” or “emigrant” instead. “Expat” is a recent shortening. I haven’t seen it used with “going” much, but the meaning is clear.
- eesmith 1y ago
  Oh, I understand the history and nomenclature. I'm referring specifically to how blueflow quoted "going expat" as if that were a common phrase, albeit which I didn't recognize. It doesn't seem to be one people actually use, so IMO shouldn't be quoted.