"Jap"

SacredBlue · 28 Nov 2003

An old question still bothers me..And perhaps it is worth some mature discussion and insights.

Is the word "Jap" really considered offense? Do you personally consider it offensive, even if you are not of Japanese blood? Why?

This is a word that seems to have stemmed from earlier generations, when the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor and general resentment against Japan was felt.

But do the Japanese themselves even know such a word exists? Is it only offensive to Japanese Americans?

I used to date a Japanese girl, and I remember using the word "Jap" freely until I met her. The first few times I used it with her she almost literally bit my ear off.

But why should she care, if we are young and the generation that used this word offensively is, to put it crudely, checking out?

I see people throw the word "Jap" around freely, and it makes me wonder if this word is one that is synonymous in feeling with the word Gaijin; a word that is not meant to be offensive, but is to some people. Are people as a whole too oversensitive these days?

Does being cautious about using a word only make the situation even worse? Will being nervous about offending someone only make you trip up and worry more?

Your opinion wanted

P.S. My deepest apologies if you were offended by this post.

Gaki · 28 Nov 2003

Calling a Japanese person a "Jap" is considered as bad as using the word "Nipp" (Which is also supposed to be racist).

I've used the word Jap. to Japanese friends, never really had a bad reaction out of it because i didnt mean to be racist.

hoax · 28 Nov 2003

I'm going to guess that Japgger is bad whereas Japgga is ok.

That's what MTV is leading me to believe.

Keiichi · 28 Nov 2003

I don't use it because of it. Not even to type a shorthand of the word Japan or Japanese. I always use Jpn.

den4 · 28 Nov 2003

Having seen it used in a racist context all my life, it hardly surprises me that Jap can be anything but a name that can only stir negative sentiment...like any other racial slur...however, gaijin, is not set against any particular group of people....just everybody that's not Japanese, so it may be xenophobic, but hardly a racist name....unless being xenophobic is racist, which it can be....

yes, people are overly sensitive with names...that's just the way people are in this wannabe politically correct world where everything is correct when it is not political....

Eisuke · 28 Nov 2003

I don't really get angry about it myself. Also no one ever called me jap. A Japanese friend of mine was called jap sometimes by a friend of him and it didn't seem to bother him either. Maybe because it was his friend in this case heh. However I think in official language it should be avoided, but if a friend says it sometimes then I guess it's not very bad if he doesn't abuse it.

jeisan · 29 Nov 2003

heres another thread on the same subject from several months ago.

Arch · 29 Nov 2003

Well i dont think "Jap" shud be used as i know japanese friends who do get offended from that !!! i think it brings back bad memorys of WW2 as soons as Japan was at war with America, the americans called the Japanese "Japs" so i dont think its a very nice name !!!! i cant think what us brits are callled that isnt a very nice name ! i know an old saying for americans was "yanks" which isnt very nice either !

Eisuke · 29 Nov 2003

I agree a bit with u Arch, but I mean when a friend says it sometimes and you know he doesn't mean to offend you, then I think it's not really a very big deal.However If someone uses it on purpose to insult Japanese then I think it's bad also.

Ewok85 · 29 Nov 2003

I use it mainly because at school on my timetable all subjects were shortened down to 3 letters, Jap being japanese, Eng being english, Chm being chemistry, and after 5 years we called out subjects what they were abbreviated to.

Now, I call brits poms, americans yanks (not often), and japanese (the language) jap. Mainly cause im an aussie and have a tendancy to cut things down short as possible. I call australia aus cause its too long. Ill ask my friends about it but i use all the time and mean no offence.

Arch · 29 Nov 2003

Originally posted by Ewok85
I use it mainly because at school on my timetable all subjects were shortened down to 3 letters, Jap being japanese, Eng being english, Chm being chemistry, and after 5 years we called out subjects what they were abbreviated to.

Now, I call brits poms, americans yanks (not often), and japanese (the language) jap. Mainly cause im an aussie and have a tendancy to cut things down short as possible. I call australia aus cause its too long. Ill ask my friends about it but i use all the time and mean no offence.

poms ? i never heard of that ? wat it means ?

Ewok85 · 30 Nov 2003

comes from POME (pronouced Pommie), Prisoner of Mother England. Either calls brits in aus poms or pomes.

hoax · 30 Nov 2003

Regaurdless of what word is being abbreviated if you cannot pronounce two extra half-second (if that) syllables on a regular basis I can't even begin to speculate on how lazy you are.

Ewok85 · 30 Nov 2003

The japanese do it as well, a good example is keitai, from keitaidenwa. Keitai just means portable, its a suffix for all sorts of words but they just cut it down. Look at any piece of katakana, most are shortened. Gaijin too is a cut down word (from gaikokujin).

Happens all the time all over the world....

hoax · 1 Dec 2003

Originally posted by Ewok85
The japanese do it as well, a good example is keitai, from keitaidenwa. Keitai just means portable, its a suffix for all sorts of words but they just cut it down. Look at any piece of katakana, most are shortened. Gaijin too is a cut down word (from gaikokujin).

Happens all the time all over the world....

Doesn't change my point any, especially when the shortening of the word can be looked down upon due to it's once racial connotation. And i'm well aware that words get abbreviated in english and other languages as well.

Golgo_13 · 2 Dec 2003

calling a Japanese person a "Jap" is exactly like calling a Chinese person a "Chink". Both words imply derision and malice. Don't use them.

"Chinaman" is also not kosher.

m477 · 2 Dec 2003

Well, let me put it this way - have you ever heard of someone in America not being allowed to rent an apartment because they weren't born here?

Most Japanese I have known don't really get upset at dergatory terms or stereotypes since they know they're get better treatment in America than foreigners in Japan get.

Elizabeth · 2 Dec 2003

Originally posted by hoax
Doesn't change my point any, especially when the shortening of the word can be looked down upon due to it's once racial connotation. And i'm well aware that words get abbreviated in english and other languages as well.

Shortening of words is fine as long as they still conform to the proper linguistic rules of a language which in English means nationality gets the suffix "an" "ese" or "er." There may be exceptions, but Jap is obviously slang to any native speaker and racist to anyone who knows the history behind it.

Golgo_13 · 2 Dec 2003

Originally posted by m477
Well, let me put it this way - have you ever heard of someone in America not being allowed to rent an apartment because they weren't born here?

Most Japanese I have known don't really get upset at dergatory terms or stereotypes since they know they're get better treatment in America than foreigners in Japan get.

Well, let me put it this way: have you ever seen a KKK or Neo Nazi rally in Japan? Don't forget that in the late '80s a Chinese guy in a Detroit bar got beaten to death by a mob of whites because they thought he was Japanese. Or a Japanese exchange student in Louisiana who was going to a Halloween party but ended up at the wrong address, and was shot dead because he was a "Jap." Things like that happen to foreignors in Japan all the time. Plus, the Japanese invaded the land they live on and killed all the natives who were there before or put them on reservations.

Growing up in Queens, NY I got picked on a lot because of my nationality/race. As an aspiring actor in my 20s I've been turned down for roles because of my nationality.

The point being, not ALL Orientals in the U.S. get treated well, and not ALL foreignors living in Japan get treated poorly.

hoax · 2 Dec 2003

Originally posted by Elizabeth
Shortening of words is fine as long as they still conform to the proper linguistic rules of a language which in English means nationality gets the suffix "an" "ese" or "er." There may be exceptions, but Jap is obviously slang to any native speaker and racist to anyone who knows the history behind it.

Call me crazy, but i'm willing to bet you just hit on me, big time.

bossel · 3 Dec 2003

Originally posted by Golgo_13
Plus, the Japanese invaded the land they live on and killed all the natives who were there before or put them on reservations.

Hmm, sounds just like what happened in reality (except for "officially recognized" reservations). Only it happened 2000 years ago.

Golgo_13 · 3 Dec 2003

If you're going back that far, there have been all kinds of conquests and invasions all over the earth. Mongols, Romans, etc. Let's give them all equal time.

About the comment in question, I was being sarcastic. But such a thing did happen in the U.S. only between 100 and 300 years ago.

den4 · 3 Dec 2003

Well, I guess carbon based life forms have invaded a virgin earth, so in that sense, we're all guilty

kirei_na_me · 3 Dec 2003

Golgo_13 · 3 Dec 2003

Beppin-san,

Kireiname,

If you don't know what that means, ask your hubby. He'll get a kick out of it.

What does "ADVISOR" under your avatar mean? Oshiete kudasai.

"Jap"

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