"Jap"

cricket · 10 Jul 2004

In the international world or circles here in Japan, it's a common knowledge that Jap is politically incorrect.We try not to use the word and also try to inform newcomers and or those who have lived here before but moved or been away too long to be able to read the climate here.

Jap is/was associated with WW11 and has racist intonations.Most Japanese themselves wouldn't know that the word is offending but please say Japanese,not Jap. It's the same with the word Gaijin.Most gaijins wouldn't know but the word has become delicate. kashii

bossel · 10 Jul 2004

Golgo_13 said:
"Jap" is equivalent to "Chink" in both usage and intent.

I doubt that you can generalize like that. The intent lies in the person who uses the term. & usage depends on the circumstances. As it seems, in the UK it is considered not as racist as in the US.

Kintaro · 10 Jul 2004

The all powerful argument killer:

Abbreviating a word to three letters is a half assed job. If I want to abbreviate that I am learning a language, I'll use its internet domain code. Then it will be pretty clear up what I want to talk about.

Example: My friend talked to me last night in fr. over the internet about this jp. (adj. to group)group speaking a bit too loudly in the taco joint in Acapulco... so the mexicans here who only spoke es. wanted to ask the jp.people (note use as an adjective is directly tacked onto the word, like a reverse web domain) to keep it down. The language barrier making it impossible to understand each other, after three attempts the mexican guy walks away, points at the cat (don,t ask, there was a cat in the bar...), and says something to the effect that "the pu... makes less noise than these guys". Remember, I am still on vacation, and my es. is bad so it may not be literal. Because one of the guys used to watch Digimon as a kid knew what Gato was to refer to, and we know that cat in any language means pu... . Meow. Catfight with the mexicans and the japanese (as a people, it's disrespect to abbreviate a person-identifier unless it's widely accepted and used by people of that country, i.e. Canuck for canadian, but you have to know them semi-casually to start), the cops were called into the bar, and with my broken jp. and not so great es., I saved these people from being arbitrarily deported. They still got a slap on the wrist. Saw them the next day at the nude beach...

Or use one letter, like Jpop, Jrock, Jclothes.... those who say they're lazy but only use 3 letters and not 2 or 1 are just using an excuse to use a slur.

N.B.: the story in italics is 100 % FAKE.

Golgo_13 · 10 Jul 2004

bossel said:
I doubt that you can generalize like that. The intent lies in the person who uses the term. & usage depends on the circumstances. As it seems, in the UK it is considered not as racist as in the US.

Then would it be acceptable to call anyone in the UK with dark skin as a "darkie"?

bossel · 10 Jul 2004

Golgo_13 said:
Then would it be acceptable to call anyone in the UK with dark skin as a "darkie"?

Don't know, I'm not in the UK.
I wouldn't have a problem to be called "whitey" or something like that. Only refers to the skin tone, so what?

Golgo_13 · 10 Jul 2004

bossel said:
I wouldn't have a problem to be called "whitey"

I rest my case.

mdchachi · 10 Jul 2004

Golgo_13 said:
"Jap" is equivalent to "Chink" in both usage and intent.

That is not always true. If you hang out in these forums for any length of time you'll see many people use the term with no ill intent and many aren't even aware that it is considered to be a pejorative term.

It's exactly analogous to the paki example above. I never knew until today that it is offensive. But it is exactly the kind of abbreviation that just about anybody would come up with.

Golgo_13 · 10 Jul 2004

mdchachi said:
That is not always true. If you hang out in these forums for any length of time you'll see many people use the term with no ill intent and many aren't even aware that it is considered to be a pejorative term.

But once they've been informed that the term "Jap" is offensive to most people of Japanese descent and that they should avoid using it, perhaps some common courtesy should be given.

An abbreviation is no excuse for using a term that some might find objectionable. "Gook" is a shortened form of Hangook (Korea). Go ahead and call any Korean person that.

Dan B · 10 Jul 2004

Except for a few people who were new to this forum and clearly neither knew that it was offensive nor intended to be insulting, I've only heard "Jap" being used in a deragatory manner. Mostly I've heard it used by either WWII vets who fought in the Pacific or by ignorant, brutish people I happen to have encountered at parties and such.

And I've cringed every time I've heard or read it. My mom and dad told me when I was little (probably when we moved to Tokyo) that it was very impolite, so I've come to regard it in the same way as "nigger," "Chink," "gook," "kike," and so forth. All are insulting and inappropriate for conversation among rational people.

I'm really not a big fan of being PC. Nonetheless, while it seems that many people--including many Japanese--are unaware that it can be a pejorative, I would think it best if people were to studiously avoid its use. There is little chance of being misunderstood by simply saying "Japanese" or "J-Pop" and so on.

Dan

Gaki · 10 Jul 2004

Golgo_13 said:
But once they've been informed that the term "Jap" is offensive to most people of Japanese descent and that they should avoid using it, perhaps some common courtesy should be given.

An abbreviation is no excuse for using a term that some might find objectionable. "Gook" is a shortened form of Hangook (Korea). Go ahead and call any Korean person that.

In UK the term Jap isnt well known to be offensive, but when people are informed they do tend to not use the word.
I used to see the word JAP used as an abreviation in games magazines, e.g "Jap. Import", so i never even knew the word had racist meanings. I tend not to use the word now unless the person i'm speaking to has no problem with it.

Whether a word is well known and used to be racist, or abreviated without any intention of racism are two different things.

To be honest i always thought the racist word for Japanese people was "Nipps".

vinsento · 12 Jul 2004

The word Jap.

As a Japanese American living in Hawaii, I am in constant contact with other people of different ethnic backgrounds and social backgrounds.

The word "Jap" is used here in the same way that a black person calls another black person "nigga."

If you are not Japanese it is considered extremely rude.

If someone referred to me as a "Jap" I would be offended. However, if a friend used it to refer to me I wouldn't mind it.

So, personally if a friend is not using it in a joking manner I normally consider the word "Jap" as offensive.

Overall, though, it would depend on the context and situation of the word used.

vinsento

Golgo_13 · 13 Jul 2004

Dan B said:
Except for a few people who were new to this forum and clearly neither knew that it was offensive nor intended to be insulting, I've only heard "Jap" being used in a deragatory manner. Mostly I've heard it used by either WWII vets who fought in the Pacific or by ignorant, brutish people I happen to have encountered at parties and such.

And I've cringed every time I've heard or read it. My mom and dad told me when I was little (probably when we moved to Tokyo) that it was very impolite, so I've come to regard it in the same way as "nigger," "Chink," "gook," "kike," and so forth. All are insulting and inappropriate for conversation among rational people.

I'm really not a big fan of being PC. Nonetheless, while it seems that many people--including many Japanese--are unaware that it can be a pejorative, I would think it best if people were to studiously avoid its use. There is little chance of being misunderstood by simply saying "Japanese" or "J-Pop" and so on.

Dan

Thank you Daniel-san!

That was worth 10 reputation points!

Mr. Miyagi.

vinsento said:
As a Japanese American living in Hawaii, I am in constant contact with other people of different ethnic backgrounds and social backgrounds.

The word "Jap" is used here in the same way that a black person calls another black person "nigga."

If you are not Japanese it is considered extremely rude.

If someone referred to me as a "Jap" I would be offended. However, if a friend used it to refer to me I wouldn't mind it.

So, personally if a friend is not using it in a joking manner I normally consider the word "Jap" as offensive.

Overall, though, it would depend on the context and situation of the word used.

vinsento

Most people in Japan consider it the worst form of insult to be called a "Jap". At least most of my family members did.

Dan B · 15 Jul 2004

Why, thank you, Golgo-san!

As language is meant to be a tool for communicating ideas, the particular words we choose can only lead to either understanding or misunderstanding. With this in mind, even the use of these kinds of words by someone with innocent intentions can be misinterpreted and lead to presumptions of ill-intent.

Again, I hope that people here will continue to eschew their use and urge others who may not yet know better to do the same.

Regards,

Dan

Deco#20 · 15 Jul 2004

Or the portuguese being called "tugas"...

Golgo_13 · 16 Jul 2004

Or the Filipinos being called "Flips".

Why don't white people have insulting names like that?

kirei_na_me · 16 Jul 2004

They do. Honkies, white trash, and probably many others.

Golgo_13 · 16 Jul 2004

kirei_na_me said:
They do. Honkies, white trash, and probably many others.

Only black people call whites "Honkies" and they haven't really done that since the '70s. It went out with big afros.

White trash, or as I prefer to say "Trache de Blanc", is only for a certain group and not to white people as a whole, which I really meant. :haihai:

bossel · 16 Jul 2004

Golgo_13 said:
Only black people call whites "Honkies" and they haven't really done that since the '70s. It went out with big afros.

White trash, or as I prefer to say "Trache de Blanc", is only for a certain group and not to white people as a whole, which I really meant. :haihai:

Would "Ame-Koh" for Americans count? Baijo? (both Japanese)
Bak Guiy? (White Devils, Cantonese)
Buleh? (Albino, Indonesian)
Custer? (self-explanatory, Amerindian)
Da Bi Zi? (Bignose, Chinese)
Gwailo? (White Ghost/Ghostman, Cantonese)
All taken from the Racial Slur Database, there are of course many more.

TwistedMac · 16 Jul 2004

in any case it's not the whites job to come up with racial slurs on whites... that's for the others to do... do they really need our help so much that we have to do it?

Gaki · 16 Jul 2004

And there's "Cracker" as well

yinfire · 8 Apr 2010

TwistedMac said:
if everyone just used and accepted a word like jap or nigger as a common word instead of as an insult, over a hundred years or so it would lose it's power as an insult. but hey, thinking people will do that is sort of like thinking communism will work or thinking the hippie movement will change the world
what could be done and what can be done are not the same... personally i would only call a friend a jap and even then only if i knew he could take it without getting sad or kicking my ***.

I agree with you and I'm black. I know 2 black guys that don't care if they are called nigga by a white people, as long as you mean "neighber" or "buddy." So, nigger is already losing it's power. And when I hear white people calling other white people nigger around me, I feel confused, esp. since I was treated well by them. In fact, I knew one white guy that loved to say nigger, I didn't know how to feel, but when I was young and went to school and missed my bus, he was always willing to drive me home. He never hurt or harmed me in anyway, and was actually kind to me.

And I can't believe I'm going to quote Harry Potter here, but "A word only has as much power as you give to it." But to be honest, I would feel more comfortable if a Jap were to call me nigger than a white guy. And as for as the word, Jap. Like I said, a word only has as much power as you give to it. I have been using it as an abbr. LONG before I knew it was a bad word. and nobody really said it around me. I've never seen or heard the word before. In the history books in 6th grade talking about WW2. The History books only used Japanese and I was thinking,"How do I abbreviate this?" Then I naturally abbr. to Jap.

yinfire · 8 Apr 2010

mdchachi said:
The thing that makes this word different from, say, the N-word is that a lot of people really don't know that it is offensive. It is an abbreviation of Japanese that is going to occur naturally in language no matter what you do. I personally don't use it because I realize some people find it offensive but hopefully if people continue to use it in a benign way, it will once again return to being a harmless word like it was prior to ww2.
In any case it's best to take context & intent into consideration before deeming something to be offensive.

Exactly. Nigger is a bad word all around the world. Plus, it means a black, lazy, willingfully ignorant theif. Jap is just an abbr. for Japanese that occured naturally in the human language that we will never be able to get rid of, esp. since it is ONLY offense to Japanese Americans or people who have learned it to be a bad word. But it is used freely in England, Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. And 80 percent of people living in Japan don't care either way by a survay or poll in Japan. Did you know the owner of the Jungle Jap is Japanese named Kenzo Takada ? There is a Jap in the Box website that was created by a Japanese person.

And like I also said, I never heard or seen the word Jap while growing up, only Japanese. I had to take notes in history class, so with my own brain, I naturally abbrev. Japanese to Jap. Never seeing it or hearing it before. If I could do that, than anybody could. It is a word you can't get rid of because it is an abbr. So, even if you did manage to get rid of it, it is going to occur naturally in the English language, again.

I say, check for context and intention. If somebody says,"My son is a Jap." Then common sense would tell you that they are not racist. But if somebody were to say,"I hate Japs," then obviously they're racists.

Haruspex · 8 Apr 2010

Necro, necro, necropost!

MadamePapillon · 8 Apr 2010

yinfire said:
I agree with you and I'm black. I know 2 black guys that don't care if they are called nigga by a white people, as long as you mean "neighber" or "buddy." So, nigger is already losing it's power. And when I hear white people calling other white people nigger around me, I feel confused, esp. since I was treated well by them. In fact, I knew one white guy that loved to say nigger, I didn't know how to feel, but when I was young and went to school and missed my bus, he was always willing to drive me home. He never hurt or harmed me in anyway, and was actually kind to me.
And I can't believe I'm going to quote Harry Potter here, but "A word only has as much power as you give to it."

The strange thing about some some people is that they're perfectly nice and are almost racist by habit, not out of any sort of real animosity.
A coworker of mine is a self proclaimed racist and had to explain to me that he was raised in an environment where is was acceptable to say the word 'nigger' and that he had a habit of dropping the n-bomb, doesn't believe whites should intermarry with non-whites, the whole nine yards, basically.

The strangest thing, he's a really good guy and I wasn't the least bit offended by what he said because he was just so frank and inoffensive about it. If anything I respect him more now than I did because he was very honest about it.
Words like 'Jap' or even 'Nigger', they don't really hold any weight unless the person speaking has hateful intentions, I don't see much point in berating people for using words like that when you know they don't mean anything by it. When you take away the bad intentions behind words like that all you're really left with is just a word.

Ashikaga · 8 Apr 2010

Well, even if I were from a place where "Jap" is nothing but an abbreviated form of "Japan/Japanese" and had been using the term all my life, once I've learned that some people would be offended by it for whatever reason, I would start thinking twice before using it on the internet and other public places where it could be taken the wrong way.

When I see or hear a word that I find offensive, no matter in what context it is being used, it triggers a negative feeling even when I know the intentions of the person who used it were innocent. It is the word itself that offends me. I would not make an issue out of it and say to her/him the word is offensive as I know, to them, the word is just a word. My point is that this "word", while not necessarily would ruin my experience dealing with this person, might make it a little less enjoyable if for a short moment.

There is no way I could be aware of all the words out there that might offend someone, but the ones that I am aware of, I try to be careful when using them.

A for "Jap", I don't think it is just the Japanese Americans who are sensitive to it. My older relatives who have experienced the war know that it is a derogatory term for the Japanese. One day, as the memories fade, the word probably will become benign, but today, there are still enough people who use it as a derogatory term and there are still enough people who are offended by it. I understand that it could be a hassle always trying to censor ourselves when we don't even mean what some people THINK we mean, but if it makes our communications with others a little smoother...

Plus, the word is "Jap". I could take it or leave it. IF it was a word that I felt very much attached to... I don't know, something that I use everyday, like "Ramen". For all I know, it could be a derogatory name for transgender people in some exotic country.

"Jap"

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