# If "Paki" is acceptable to use then what other slurs are? Nigger? Spic? Homo? Jap? **URL:** \ **Category:** About This Message Board\ **Created:** [July 16, 2012, 2:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375 "2012-07-16T02:51:40Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Candyman74](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ad7895/32.png) [@Candyman74](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Candyman74)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/161 "2012-07-17T00:32:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Well, that’s where I started, except the problem is, it’s apparently most widely used by Pakistanis themselves. How are you going to break the news to them that they should stop referring to themselves by a term they’re completely comfortable with, just because someone else uses it badly. Tell you what. Walk up top ten individual people in London of Pakistani or Indian descent and call them “Pakis”. Then report back here. Trust me, exactly zero out of ten will welcome the term. Depending on the individual, the extremity of their reaction may vary, of course. Sorry, dude. It’s a racist term. It is used by right-wing nationalists; it is used by drunken racists on a Saturday night out. Whether you like it or not, it is. Jeez, why am I even explaining this? Like I said, feel free to wander around using it; I’m sure nobody will take offence. Knock yourself out. Doesn’t affect me. > [@](#): > > If ‘Brit’ starts being used in a derogatory way somewhere, will I have to stop calling myself one?[/ Brit ios not a derogratory term. But yes, if a word becomes a derogatory term - say, “custard” or “cheese” - then we should stop using it. Because, generally, we should endeavour not to be derogatory - ESPECIALLY about race, gender, and sexuality. ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/2acd7d/32.png) [@Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Tilt_Boogie)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/162 "2012-07-17T00:34:39Z")
> [@Giraffe](#): > > I have no opinion on the word in question, as it has yet to come up in my daily life. But I think comments like these are completely missing the point: the question is not whether or not it’s a good idea in your opinion to call people Pakis, the question is whether or not it makes sense to treat the word as actionable hate speech on this message board. > > I’d argue it doesn’t, given that posters have indicated experiences that the word is commonly used and/or inoffensive in their particular part of the world. This is not to say it’s a wonderful word that everyone should say as often as possible, just that it doesn’t make sense for the staff of the board to enact blanket prohibitions that will catch the innocent as well as the racist a-holes. Report the posts of the latter, but start by politely trying to educate the former before whipping out the hate speech card. Hate speech rules should be reserved for the most extreme cases to spare people from having to listen to racist troll nutjobs for more than a post or two, IMO. Everything else can and should be handled by either the rules against trolling or the Pit. Fair point - if some newbie to the board wanders out with it (or some other such racist term - whether they know it’s racist or not) then a polite nudge from one of the Mods (either via PM or in the thread in question) as to why it’s unacceptable here should suffice. If not, and that advice is ignored, then the Mods have the ultimate sanction. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/163 "2012-07-17T02:38:34Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > I’ll be honest and say that if I and other Muslim and South Asian posters have to put up with people making references to “pakis” then what’s good for the goose is good for the gander and it should be okay to use other racial slurs, I know I’m late to this discussion, but when did “Muslim” become a race? ---
**Author:** ![RetroVertigo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/b38774/32.png) [@RetroVertigo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RetroVertigo)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 2:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/164 "2012-07-17T02:40:23Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > You’re correct that the word “paki” is a racist term similar to those others you mention, I don’t know how widespread it is, though. Here in the UK it’s essentially culturally equivalent to “nigger” in the US. I find it hard to think that the term “Paki” carries with it the same connotation as “Nigger”. I might be totally wrong, and I’m not saying it isn’t offensive, but it doesn’t seem to carry the same cultural significance. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/165 "2012-07-17T03:04:51Z")
> [@Guinastasia](#): > > Except I’d say the majority of people here are from the U.S. And there ARE people here who are of Japanese descent. And they DO find it offensive. It doesn’t matter to them that in your country it’s not offensive, that you don’t mean it that way. They only know that TO THEM, it’s been used as a hateful word, and they’d prefer that you not use it. > > If YOU can’t understand that, and it’s more important to you complain about “assuming the burden of racists”, then perhaps you should be posting on a board where your culture is the norm. I was raised in Gardena CA. I knew no-one there,\* Issei, Nisei , Sansei, Yonsei\* or _Gosei_ that thought “Jap” was insulting. My dad was a member of the same VFW post as all those 442nd veterans, and I heard proud Nisei veterans talk about "when you were over having it easy fighting the Japs, we were fighting the tough guys, the Nazis ". Mind you, they were kidding. Yes, many did like it if you either knew enough to call them Sansei or \*just plain “Americans”. \* _Everything_ is a slur to _someone._ It was pointed out on this board that “Brit” is a slur (by an Irishman who said that everytime _he_ used it, _he_ meant it as a slur), and altho I dont mind being called a “Yank” I gaur-ON-tee you that there are some south of the M-D would would very much resent that. I knew a young black woman- but if you called her “Black” she would get up in your face about it “I am _not_ Black, I am a lovely shade of Mocha!”. Are we going to change our board policies to make her happy? No using “black” only “mocha” (and I am sure someone will think that’s a slur too). Paki\* is\* a slur-\* in GB.\* Over here, in America it’s just a short term for Pakistani. Hell in Fremont they have “Paki” named businesses & clubs- and that’s because (as our Pakistani member pointed out) it’s not a slur in Pakistan, either. It’s not a slur outside GB. But then, they use a lot of words in a way we don’t “bum, bloody, fag”. Will is be OK to use Fag here as it’s not a slur in GB? This is a American board. Now that we shouldn’t be somewhat sensitive to others, but until we get actual UK people of Pakistani descent getting upset, let us not let the board be run by people only \*pretending \*to be butthurt, so that they can act all “holier than thou”- which is exactly what this is about. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/166 "2012-07-17T03:07:40Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > I find the “it’s not offensive where I am right now so it’s OK to refer to somebody on the Internet as such” argument truly staggering. > > Whether one is aware of it or not; whether one agrees is should be or not; whether one has heard other nationalities referred to in various ways or not; whether you feel it doesn’t follow some kind of linguistic “abbreviation logic” or something… the term is a racial slur. . To me, using the terms: “someone” “one” and “you” is considered a slur. Thus, please stop using them now. Thank you. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/167 "2012-07-17T03:15:08Z")
> [@bldysabba](#): > > I wonder if either of you know you’re attempting to convince a Pakistani that a shortened form of his country’s name is offensive and should be verboten on these boards. The debate should have ended right at this post with a Emily Litella “nevermind”. Unless someone is saying that “damn it bldysabba has to be insulted by that term, cause I know better than he does what he should find a slur!”:rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/2acd7d/32.png) [@Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Tilt_Boogie)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/168 "2012-07-17T03:26:50Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > **It’s not a slur outside GB**. But then, they use a lot of words in a way we don’t “bum, bloody, fag”. Will is be OK to use Fag here as it’s not a slur in GB? This is factually wrong on a number of levels: it is a racial slur in more countries than just UK - they are listed earlier in the thread, but pretty much in every Commonwealth country. As for ‘fag’ - this is a specious claim , as the two contexts in which each is used (US slang meaning homosexual, and UK meaning cigarette) are entirely different and cannot be conflated, as you’re attempting to do - whereas there is only one meaning for ‘Paki’ in both countries (i.e. to refer to a Pakistani person). And the fact that the US doesn’t (yet, and may never do) accept that the rest of the English-speaking world understands Paki to be a racial slur doesn’t change that. > [@](#): > > This is a American board. Now that we shouldn’t be somewhat sensitive to others, \*\*but until we get actual UK people of Pakistani descent getting upset, let us not let the board be run by people only _pretending to be butthurt, so that they can act all “holier than thou”- which is exactly what this is about_. :rolleyes: The prosecution rests… ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/169 "2012-07-17T03:32:30Z")
> [@Candyman74](#): > > … It’s a racist term. It is used by right-wing nationalists; it is used by drunken racists on a Saturday night out. Whether you like it or not, it is. … (Voice from The Other Side:) What we want is: Freedom from the reds and the blacks and the criminals Prostitutes, pansies and punks Football hooligans, juvenile delinquents Lesbians and left wing scum Freedom from the niggers and the Pakis and the unions Freedom from the Gipsies and the Jews Freedom from leftwing layabouts and liberals Freedom from the likes of you…" [Tom Robinson Band](http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SeYMvjNmu3c) - [_Power in the Darkness_](http://www.lyricsmania.com/power_in_the_darkness_lyrics_tom_robinson_band_the.html) 1978 But since my misspent American youth included lots of PBS which also meant lots of the BBC (and punk music :puts on some 2 Tone\* and waves to the SHARPs:) I didn’t have a 😕 moment with those lyrics. CMC fnord! \*The Specials _Ghost Town_ then The Clash Guns of Brixton to get the anger out, and finish the night with Steel Pulse and just play the whole _Handsworth Revolution_ album and try to remember the name of that RAR concert movie. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/170 "2012-07-17T03:56:37Z")
> [@Full\_Tilt\_Boogie](#): > > This is factually wrong on a number of levels: it is a racial slur in more countries than just UK - they are listed earlier in the thread, but pretty much in every Commonwealth country. > > … And the fact that the US doesn’t (yet, and may never do) accept that the rest of the English-speaking world understands Paki to be a racial slur doesn’t change that. > > .. Yeah, maybe some Commonwealth nations, but my Canadian relatives don’t think so. Do the Aussies…oops \*Australians \*think so? Any Down Under posters ( or is that a slur too) want to chime in? Or do you personally speak for the entire Commonwealth from your tiny island? Or is calling it “tiny” a slur? And, I’ll point out that Pakistan is part of \*the English-speaking world \*too, as well as India etc, even if for many it’s not their first language (and of course others don’t speak it at all, still there are more that speak it there than in England) > **[File:Anglospeak.svg](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Anglospeak.svg)** > > Original file (SVG file, nominally 853 × 433 pixels, file size: 1 MB) > Untuk informasi lebih lanjut tentang status Bahasa Inggris di propinsi Quebec, Kanada, lihat Bill 101 Bahasa Perancis dan halaman lain yang terkait. Quebec adalah bagian dari Kanada, bukan negara sendiri, jadi berwarna biru tua. En Kebekio, Kanada provinco, la franca lingvo estas la sola oficiala lingvo, sed tie loĝas malmultaj Angle-parolantoj. Ĉar Kebekio estas konsistaĵo de Kanado, ĝi estas ne aparte vidigas en la mapo. Thus thinking that the Commonwealth _“is the rest of the English-speaking world”_ shows your viewpoint is a little “insular” (or is \*that \*a slur?) ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/171 "2012-07-17T03:57:08Z")
> [@Snowboarder\_Bo](#): > > I know I’m late to this discussion, but when did “Muslim” become a race? Race is a myth. The Ummah however is real. Beyond that, no one would classify Hispanics as a race or Mexicans as a race, but if someone were to say “Mexicans are assholes” or “Hispanics are scum” I assume you wouldn’t object to my classifying those as racist comments. Similarly no one would classify Arabs as a race but I assume most of you would not object to me classifying the term “ragheads” as a “racial slur.” Perhaps I’m wrong, but I would assume that anyone who is so thin-skinned that they’d accuses me of being a sexist for saying > [@](#): > > You’ll notice that all politicians use their wives and kids as props and most love to tell stories of their upbringing or personal tragedies they’ve suffered to explain why they deserve to be elected to high office. Would feel that way. If I’m wrong and you think it would be appalling to classify “raghead” or “spic” as racial slurs because neither Arabs nor Hispanics are “races” than apologies for making assumptions. Similarly, if you object to classifying “all Mexicans are scum” as racist crap because Mexi cans aren’t a race then further apologies for making assumptions based on previous statements you’ve made. That being said, if you feel that “raghead” and “spic” aren’t racial slurs and that “all Mexicans are scum” isn’t racist then please explain your reasoning. Anyway, it’s as legitimate to classify bigoted comments about Muslims as “racist” as it is to classify bigoted comments about Hispanics or Arabs as “racist”. If you disagree that we’re not a race, well, then I’m reminded about Allesan’s comment regarding charges that Jews aren’t a nationality, “Sorry we don’t fit your definition of nationality, we came first.” ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/172 "2012-07-17T04:02:58Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > UK people of Pakistani descent getting upset, let us not let the board be run by people only \*pretending \*to be butthurt, so that they can act all “holier than thou”- which is exactly what this is about. First of all, lots of non-Pakistanis are referred to as “Paki”. Second are you insisting that my father was only pretending to by “butthurt” as you so classily put it, when he got upset at being referred to as a Paki? If so, please explain why you think he was “pretending to be butthurt”? Thanks ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 4:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/173 "2012-07-17T04:47:24Z")
> [@Ibn\_Warraq](#): > > First of all, lots of non-Pakistanis are referred to as “Paki”. > > Second are you insisting that my father was only pretending to by “butthurt” as you so classily put it, when he got upset at being referred to as a Paki? > > If so, please explain why you think he was “pretending to be butthurt”? > > Thanks Your Father would have every reason to feel it was a slur. But afaik, he’s not a poster here. We have one Pakistani who has expressed a opinion, and he’s fine with the term. Now, my friend who doesnt like the term “Black”- should we change board policies for her, since she’s not even a poster here? Are we going to make policies based upon one poster? Or even one nation of posters (outside the USA)? ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 5:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/174 "2012-07-17T05:05:20Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > You can compare anything to anything else. That doesn’t mean the things being compared are equal or even similar. Ok, so then please explain why it’s perfectly fair to argue that calling a trans person a “tranny” is similar to calling a black person a “nigger” but not fair to argue that calling a South Asian a “Paki” is similar to calling a black person a “nigger”. > [@](#): > > **Marley23** > I didn’t think it was necessary to press the point that “Paki” can be offensive. You’d already made that point in much more inflammatory and distracting terms than I would have. Are you a “Paki”? Would it be absurd to think that people in Europe if they saw you would call you a “Paki”? Have you had family members who were called “Paki”? I ask because bluntly put, unless the answer is yes to those questions then your comment means no more to me than a white person’s complaining about black people “always bring up race” or “overreacting to racial comments” means to the average black person. I remember in college lots of white students getting upset when they saw African-American students wearing T-shirts that said “It’s a Black Thing, You Wouldn’t Understand” but truth be told, it was the truth. That said, I’ll be honest and admit that many of the African-American students who wore those shirts were being counter-productive and unnecessarily antagonistic towards people who weren’t their enemy. > [@](#): > > But not sorry enough to avoid posting words like kike and nigger and spic and homo and Jap dozens of times because we all know those words don’t offend anybody, and nobody could object to seeing them you post them over and over again in service of a rhetorical point about a term that offends you. Were you genuinely offended by that? I’m not asking to ridicule your sensibilities or beliefs but because I’m honestly surprised. There’s a drastic difference between using the term “nigger” as an insult and as a way to show show offensive another word is. The NAACP and the Black Student Union at my school were certainly quite upset when they heard of skinheads walking around carrying signs saying “fuck niggers”. They were not when AIM(the American Indian Movement) walked around carrying signs comparing calling a football team “The New York Niggers” to calling a football team “The Washington Redskins”. similarly, there was an incident at my college when some assholes had chalked a bund of anti-gay slurs on the sidewalk and the gay student union rather publicly asked how the school would have reacted if instead of making reference to “fags” the graffiti artists had made references to “niggers” or “kikes”. Neither the Black Student Union nor the Jewish Student Union were offended by the actions or complaints of the gay student union. Similarly, I don’t remember any Jews I knew in the 90s getting outraged at people bringing up the Holocaust when describing either the events in Rwanda or Bosnia since people weren’t bringing up the Holocaust to denigrate Holocaust survivors or Jews but bring attention to horrible events the may or may not have been comparable to the Holocaust. Nor, for that matter, do I remember any blacks I went school with and who I saw the movie _The Commitments_ with flipping out when one of the characters in the movie said the Irish were “the niggers of Europe” since it was clear that the term nigger was not meant to denigrate African-Americans or their struggles but to illustrate the issues people in Ireland faced. > [@](#): > > I have not changed my explanation other than noting that I was wrong to say initially that truthSeeker2 had apologized when he’d only said he did not intend to cause offense. I’ve elaborated on my answers in response to your questions. \*\*Do you have anything else you want me to explain? \*\*At this point you’re doing nothing except insisting I repeat myself. (bolding mine) Ok, two questions. in post #71 you justified your decision to allow Truthseeker2 to make racial slurs by saying “since we gave truthseeker2 several other mod instructions” you decided it would be wrong to give him another mod instruction. I’ve looked through the thread and don’t see him receiving a single “mod instruction” much less several. I’ve asked this twice, but I guess I’ll ask it a third time. Please link me to the “several mod instructions” he was given? Similarly, in post #125, you very strongly implied that you would have left a mod note informing Truthseeker2 not to use the term “Paki” again if I had not compared the used of the phrase “Paki” to the use of the phrase “nigger” “spic” and “kike”. So, had I not posted that comment would you have decided to mod note him not to use the phrase “Paki” again? I ask those questions because I’m genuinely interested in your answers. > [@](#): > > I didn’t think we were debating whether or not I was stupid, an asshole, or a bad moderator. I thought we were discussing how we moderate words like “Paki” and explaining why we considered the situation resolved after posts #23 and #29 without a more specific warning. Ok, I was trying to make it clear that I wasn’t trying to insult you, but in retrospect I cam across more than a little condescending. I apologize for that. In my defense, it’s often difficult to talk to white people about racial/ethnic issues without walking on eggshells. I apologize for unintentionally insulting you. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 5:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/175 "2012-07-17T05:06:24Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > Sure, but is it right to say that _nobody_ can use it? It sounds like there were pretty much two separate but coincidentally-the-same etymologies developing - one racist, the other just an abbreviation. > > Or will we be informed that we can’t call ourselves that any more? Nigger was just an abbreviation of Negro. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 5:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/176 "2012-07-17T05:10:25Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Your Father would have every reason to feel it was a slur. Huh? He wasn’t and still isn’t a “Pakistani from the UK” so why, based on your logic did he have “every reason to feel it was a slur”(to use your wording) as opposed to “pretending to be butthurt”(to use you completely classy non-obnoxious terminology)? ---
**Author:** ![Guinastasia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/guinastasia/32/5751_2.png) [@Guinastasia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Guinastasia)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 5:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/177 "2012-07-17T05:22:30Z")
What it comes down to: why is so important that people be allowed to use words that are racial slurs? And **DrDeth** , if you’re going to insist that this is an American board, and thus “paki” doesn’t count as a slur, then perhaps you shouldn’t be so quick to insist that “jap” isn’t offensive either. Can’t have it both ways. Honestly, why is such a big burden to NOT use certain words here, people? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 6:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/178 "2012-07-17T06:05:08Z")
> [@BigT](#): > > Nigger was just an abbreviation of Negro. I’m aware of that. What’s your point? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 6:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/179 "2012-07-17T06:13:35Z")
> [@RetroVertigo](#): > > I find it hard to think that the term “Paki” carries with it the same connotation as “Nigger”. I might be totally wrong, and I’m not saying it isn’t offensive, but it doesn’t seem to carry the same cultural significance. In the UK, the term ‘Paki’ is indeed approximately as offensive as thee term ‘Nigger’ is in the USA. The background is different, but in terms of intensity, it’s a reasonably apt comparison. ---
**Author:** ![florez](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b9e5f3/32.png) [@florez](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/florez)\ **Post date:** [July 17, 2012, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375/180 "2012-07-17T06:30:02Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > This is a American board. IMO DrDeth needs to come out of the 1950’s and notice the new and exciting changes that have taken place, even in America. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/if-paki-is-acceptable-to-use-then-what-other-slurs-are-nigger-spic-homo-jap/628375.md?page=10)