I’m glad to hear then that Paki is a word we’re not supposed to use. Sorry for my mistake.
That said, a few things. I already explained why I waited, because I thought I should give the mods a chance to make a determination and not to fan any flames. Second, the poster did not apologize. He merely said, rather unconvincingly, that he was using the term “paki” as short for Pakistani and not to be derogatory.
Now, I don’t mean this next question to be accusatory or insulting, but by the logic of what you’re saying if a poster made a reference to a “Spic”, a “Homo” or a “Hebe” and then afterwards, when called, said they were only using the shortened versions of “Hispanic”, “homosexual” or “Hebrew” that you would decide to merely “keep the thread on track” and not issue a warning or note for using those terms.
I’m pretty sure you wouldn’t and would disagree with another moderator who decide to let the slurs go.
That is not meant to suggest BTW that you are somehow insensitive to certain groups merely to show that I think you should have made a comment that the term was unacceptable then because I’m pretty sure you would have had truthseeker2 refered to the YouTube commenter as a “spic” or a “homo”.
You’re right, it’s not an apology. I didn’t find his explanation particularly convincing either, but it’s true that “Paki” is offensive to some people and looks like an unobjectionable shortening of the name of a country to other people. Since truthseeker2 said he did not intend offense and didn’t press the issue, I was willing to let it go in that case.
JSYK, in Australia (especially in cricket season when Pakistan are playing), I’ve always heard ‘‘paki’’ as an affectionate term… so I used this term,referring to the Pakistani team, discussing cricket with Americans, a Canadian, and an Irishman. They all recoiled in horror, and explained what this term means to Pakistanis. So I don’t say it any more…
Does the SDMB wish to style itself as an intelligent, international community, or an insular provincialist American backwater?
Nobody has yet suggested that we try to accommodate every possible view, however, this one in particular is probably important enough to warrant concern. If the SDMB is about fighting ignorance, it should not itself resolve to remain ignorant on topics such as this.
I agree with the OP. I’m an American and I understand that it is a derogatory term, and the moderators should give a note to folks who use it like they do to anyone else using racial or ethnic slurs.
Can’t we all agree to focus our insults on the fat, ugly and stupid?
I should add that I just find it (a) weird and (b) counterproductive and self insulting to accept that an essentially descriptive term of oneself is an insult to you. Unless you accept that it is insulting to suggest that one is from Pakistan, then what exactly is the problem? Why the self hate? People wouldn’t be able to use the term “Paki” as an insult if people from Pakistan didn’t blanche when the term was used. The correct response is to ignore the attempted slur as being pathetic and ineffective, not internalise it.
That’s pretty preposterous reasoning there. You think Indians should be aware that Paki is a racial slur in the UK because relations between the two countries are poor? How exactly does that work? Do you think Indians go around trying to find out what names to call Pakistanis? And that they’d borrow an anaemic term that white people can use to reference them as much as it references Pakistanis?
In India, Paki is often used, as Truthseeker2 has explained already, as a shortening of the term Pakistani. It is not, in and of itself, derogatory. It’s the equivalent of Aussie for Australian. Of course, just as referencing their neighbours may carry some additional meaning for a New Zealander, for many Indians ‘Paki’ is said with a degree of derision. No more or no less than that same Indian would say Pakistani though. And I fail to see why cultural relativism demands neutral usage of the word by a billion people(of more or less the same ‘race’) should bow to your ability to take offence where none is intended.
Where here is some ignorance fought for your benefit. I am Pakistani. Born, raised and live in the great Federation of Pakistan. I don’t find it insulting and neither does anyone I know. Most people are dimly aware that it is sometimes used as an insult in the UK, and in the UK if someone calls you that, you might take insult, as insult is meant. But here? No way. Shut down half the Pakistani websites.
It is the height of small mindedness to decide for yourself what another group is supposed to find insulting, like boomerwangs friends apparently. So get of your high horse and stop trying to feel superior, because you are not.
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. Flip this around for an instant. If Indians started using ‘Aussie’ as an insult for Australian immigrants to India(were such an animal to exist), would you then insist that all usage of the word ‘Aussie’ be considered a racial slur, including when used by New Zealanders to refer to their neighbours? Or would you rather that Indians not use the word in an offensive manner, and the rest of the world rightfully ignore the usage that is incorrect?
If anything, I find it offensive that primacy is given to the usage adopted by a bunch of boorish white people over what would otherwise be a fairly natural usage.
A lot of us are aware of it. It’s just that there’s only a very small Pakistani community in the US, compared to the large and increasingly prominent Indian-American population. The ratio of Pakistanis to Indians in Commonwealth countries seems greater than in the US.
From what little I understand, in Australian English such shortened names aren’t seen as offensive as they are in the UK, although “Abo” is increasingly seen as the equivalent of the n-word.
Is there an abbreviated/colloquial term for “Pakistani” that isn’t considered offensive? E.g. Brit, Aussie…
As a generally lazy person, I regret that so many perfectly good short forms are rendered off-limits by their history of being said with a sneer. (Or in the case of “Jap,” by the fact that we went to war with them.)
