Emmet (alt. spellings ''emmit'', ''emit'') is a word in the
Cornish dialect
The Cornish dialect (also known as Cornish English, Cornu-English, kw, Sowsnek Kernowek) is a dialect of English spoken in Cornwall by Cornish people. Dialectal English spoken in Cornwall is to some extent influenced by Cornish grammar, and o ...
of
English
English usually refers to:
* English language
* English people
English may also refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England
** English national id ...
that is used to refer to
tourist
Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism ...
s or holidaymakers coming to
Cornwall
Cornwall (; kw, Kernow ) is a historic county and ceremonial county in South West England. It is recognised as one of the Celtic nations, and is the homeland of the Cornish people. Cornwall is bordered to the north and west by the Atlan ...
. There is debate over whether the term is pejorative or not. It originally referred to tourists who visit Cornwall, but has also been used by native Cornish folk to refer to "incomers" or residents who have moved to the county but were not born there.
Etymology
It is commonly thought to be derived from the
Cornish-language
Cornish ( Standard Written Form: or ) , is a Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. It is a revived language, having become extinct as a living community language in Cornwall at the end of the 18th century. However, ...
word for
ant
Ants are eusocial insects of the family Formicidae and, along with the related wasps and bees, belong to the order Hymenoptera. Ants evolved from vespoid wasp ancestors in the Cretaceous period. More than 13,800 of an estimated total of 22,0 ...
, being an analogy to the way in which both tourists and ants are often red in colour and appear to mill around. However the use of 'emmet' to mean ants is actually from the Cornish dialect of English, and is derived from the
Old English word ''æmete'' from which the modern English word ''ant'' is also derived (compare Modern German ''Ameise''
nt. The Cornish word for ants is actually ''moryon'' (
singulative
In linguistics, singulative number and collective number ( abbreviated and ) are terms used when the grammatical number for multiple items is the unmarked form of a noun, and the noun is specially marked to indicate a single item.
This is ...
''moryonen'')
Porthemmet Beach hoax
Porthemmet is a fictitious beach that supposedly can only be accessed via a cave found between Harlyn and St Merryn. It has been rumoured to have existed since the 1990s, but is considered a hoax as many tourists try to locate it, but cannot.
In August 2007,
Truro
Truro (; kw, Truru) is a cathedral city and civil parish in Cornwall, England. It is Cornwall's county town, sole city and centre for administration, leisure and retail trading. Its population was 18,766 in the 2011 census. People of Truro c ...
-born Jonty Haywood began promoting a fictional Porthemmet (Port of Emmet) beach in
North Cornwall
North Cornwall ( kw, An Tiredh Uhel) is an area of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is also the name of a former local government district, which was administered from Bodmin and Wadebridge . Other towns in the area are Launceston, Bude, P ...
with fake road signs and a hoax website, which directed people to random areas on the north coast, confusing tourists and amusing locals.
In July 2008, Haywood placed a further set of signs.
2021 graffiti
In August 2021 a number of incidents were reported to the police in which the word 'emmet' was used pejoratively in graffiti across Cornwall. At
Pedn Vounder
Pedn Vounder () is a tidal beach on the south coast of the Penwith peninsula in Cornwall, England. It is immediately to the west of the Logan Rock headland, below Treen Cliff. The name is from the Cornish 'pen' (head, end) and 'an vounder' (of ...
beach the phrase 'Emmets go home' was spray-painted onto rocks, whilst 'Die emmets' appeared on the welcome sign to the town of
Hayle
Hayle ( kw, Heyl, "estuary") is a port town and civil parish in west Cornwall, England. It is situated at the mouth of the Hayle River (which discharges into St Ives Bay) and is approximately seven miles (11 km) northeast of Penzance. ...
.
See also
*
Grockle is a similar
West Country dialect
West Country English is a group of English language varieties and accents used by much of the native population of South West England, the area sometimes popularly known as the West Country.
The West Country is often defined as encompassi ...
word used in
Devon
Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...
but ''emmet'' is distinctly Cornish.
*
Cornish self-government movement
Cornish nationalism is a cultural, political and social movement that seeks the recognition of Cornwall – the south-westernmost part of the island of Great Britain – as a nation distinct from England. It is usually based on three general ...
*
Constitutional status of Cornwall
The constitutional status of Cornwall has been a matter of debate and dispute. In modern times, Cornwall is an administrative county of England.
In ethnic and cultural terms, until around 1700, Cornwall and its inhabitants were regarded as a ...
*
Politics of Cornwall
Cornwall is administered as a county of South West England whose politics are influenced by a number of issues that make it distinct from the general political scene in the wider United Kingdom, and the political trends of neighbouring counties ...
*
Mebyon Kernow
Mebyon Kernow – The Party for Cornwall (, MK; Cornish for ''Sons of Cornwall'') is a Cornish nationalist, centre-left political party in Cornwall, in southwestern Britain. It currently has five elected councillors on Cornwall Council, and s ...
References
Cornish culture
Cornish nationalism
Pejorative terms for in-group non-members
{{Cornwall-stub