A question for all the speakers of British English.?

Question

From a movie: two guys talk about one guy's army history: He has a photograph of the Queen on his wall. The other guy asks him why does he have her photograph on the wall. The guy answers: "Because I watched my back with a bunch of racist motherfuckers and that earned me the right to hang it there." The other guy then says: "So you are a Prody then." Can you clarify: did he fight in some war, what does he mean when he says I watched MY back (because, I watched her (the Queen's) back would make more sense), and finally: what's a PRODY? Appreciate all the help you can give me. Thanks.

Answer 1

Well, my guess is that this is a film (or, at least, a scene) about Ireland, Northern Ireland to be more precise. 'Prody' in this context would mean Protestant. Irish Protestants are the majority in Northern Ireland and are, by definition, pro-England, hence pro-Queen Elizabeth. Thus, the reference to 'watching my back' may allude to the Irish versus Irish nature of Northern Ireland's tumultuous history. The actual war or confrontation in question is unclear from this small excerpt - see this BBC chronology for more about Northern Ireland's history: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1998/northern_ireland/10657.stm

In case I have been unclear, Wikipedia outlines the issues as follows: "Northern Ireland has been for many years the site of a violent and bitter ethno-political conflict between those claiming to represent Nationalists, who are predominantly Catholic, and those claiming to represent Unionists, who are predominantly Protestant. In general, Nationalists want Northern Ireland to be unified with the Republic of Ireland, and Unionists want it to remain part of the United Kingdom. Unionists are in the majority in Northern Ireland, though Nationalists represent a significant minority. In general, Protestants consider themselves British and Catholics see themselves as Irish but there are some who see themselves as both British and Irish." Taken from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Northern_Ireland

It is possible that the soldier who has the photograph of the Queen is British as the British Army posted men to Northern Ireland from the 60s through to the late 1990s. This would best explain the 'racist mother.....' comment as it does sound like someone who is resentful of his time there. Many British and certainly many British soldiers felt that the Troubles were a product of an Irish inability to 'get along' and was, therefore, unnecessarily putting British lives at risk - during the 38 years they were in Northern Ireland, a total of 763 British military personnel were killed; see "Army ending its operation in NI" http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/6923342.stm It was also a very unpopular and thankless task and made the army a target of insurgents' attacks. In this case, 'watching my back' is simple self-preservation during a tour of duty he deeply resents. The 'right' to hang the picture of the Queen would then seem an entirely facetious statement.

Answer 2

This is referring to the Troubles in Ireland.
Catholics v prodies (Protestants) pronounced 'prod -es tants'
There has been terrible fighting there which thankfully is getting sorted now.
You would have to go back in history to see how each group developed - some rich- land owners taking the land of the others. ( given land by the English king) so some groups felt loyal to the queen and others very anti.
It is hard when you know things were wrong in the past but there has to be a time when we have to move forward, or hatred will never end.

Answer 3

2. A "Prody" would be someone of the Protestant faith.

1. "I watched my back with a bunch of racist.....there" - I take it to mean that he did serve time in the military (and may or may not have fought in some war) and by associating himself with a group of racists (when he in fact isn't truly a racist) he was able to survive any attacks on himself by the racists. By using reverse psychology, while it may have been repugnant to him, he stayed out of harm's way, and hanging the Queen's picture was only a symbolic gesture.

Answer 4

He did mean that he watched his own back - in other words took care of himself in order that he did not come to harm. I think he had been involved as a soldier in Northern Ireland as PRODY mean Protestant, or one of the warring factions.

Answer 5

I am British, and apart from the N. Ireland Proddy or protestant reference it all sounds like rubbish to me.