Fresh off the boat
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Fresh off the boat (often abbreviated as F.O.B., FOB or freshie) is a derogatory slang phrase applied to people of foreign nationality, who have arrived in an English-speaking nation as tourists or, most commonly, as work permit applicants. The term is commonly applied to Asians in the United States and Canada, and to Pacific Islanders in New Zealand and Australia. It was originally applied to European immigrants who had just stepped off of a ship.
The term implies that the person has not yet assimilated to the common regional culture, language, and behavior. FOBs can be easily identified by their fashion, behavior towards others, and their accents. The characteristics of FOBs are magnified if they tend to co-habitate in the same cities. A telling characteristic of FOBs is their tendency to form close social cliques that are closed to those of other nationalities.
The term is used not only by whites, but also by Asians born or raised in the host country to distinguish themselves. Various slang terms, such as ABC (American-born Chinese), EOF (English Only-Filipino) or ABCD (American-Born Confused Desi), exist to contrast these groups. The term, ABCD, can be considered derogatory itself.
Derivative adjective forms of FOB include fobby, fobbish and fobulous, a portmanteau of fob and fabulous.
Similar phrases are "Fresh over the border" (abbreviated the same), "Just off the Farm" or "Just come in from the Bush/Jungle/Mountains/Backblocks".
A more modern twist to this term is "J.O.J.", meaning "just off the jet" or "F.O.P", meaning "fresh off the plane". Or for South Asians, specifically, "R.A.J." for "recently arrived by jet": a play on both a common South Asian name and the era of British Colonialism in the Subcontinent, as coined on weblog, Down on the Brown Side (http://brownout.blogspot.com).
Non-Offensive Use
The term "Fob" has also been used in a less offensive way of describing Asian-American teens that display modern East-Asian Generation X cultures. This behavior is part of a new trend of Asian-American teens displaying their modern cultural roots rather than conform with mainstream American culture. Thus the term "Fob" is used in a social context to describe a particular clique or subculture of teens. Modern day "Fobs" may actually be American born Asians as the term is no longer used to describe newly arrived immigrants.