# Is "Nip" a racist term? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 5, 2013, 12:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166 "2013-06-05T00:12:26Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![sandra\_nz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/eada6e/32.png) [@sandra\_nz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sandra_nz)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/21 "2013-06-05T13:26:37Z")
Is referring to a small/young person as a ‘little nipper’ a derivation of this? ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/22 "2013-06-05T13:33:08Z")
Negative. [ > [@](#): > > “small boy,” 1859, originally (1530s) a pickpocket who “pinched” other people’s property; see nip (v.). ]([Search 'nipper' on etymonline](http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?allowed_in_frame=0&search=nipper&searchmode=none)) ---
**Author:** ![Anaamika](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Anaamika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Anaamika)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/23 "2013-06-05T13:33:58Z")
> [@MostlyUseless](#): > > While I agree that nip is not a polite word, nor one that I would use, it is just a word. In our world of 1984, we have gotten so incredibly sensitive that we border on the asinine. It is a shortening of Nippon, which is what the Japanese call their own country. We have just got to lose this unreasoning fear of words. Words have no value other than what we apply. Seriously, when I was a kid, there was no word skank. Now, it has value…negative value. Nonetheless, it is still just a word until it is used as a weapon. But white people, or black people, or brown people, cannot be the ones bringing it back. If Japanese people decide they don’t much mind Nip and start calling themselves it and using it regularly then that’s one thing. Outsiders will just have to be damn patient. ---
**Author:** ![TriPolar](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tripolar/32/3008_2.png) [@TriPolar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TriPolar)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 1:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/24 "2013-06-05T13:40:22Z")
> [@Anaamika](#): > > But white people, or black people, or brown people, cannot be the ones bringing it back. If Japanese people decide they don’t much mind Nip and start calling themselves it and using it regularly then that’s one thing. Outsiders will just have to be damn patient. So could Japanese call themselves ‘Nips’ yet still take offense when non-Japanese use the same term? ---
**Author:** ![RealityChuck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/realitychuck/32/195_2.png) [@RealityChuck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RealityChuck)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 1:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/25 "2013-06-05T13:48:03Z")
Two other examples of words considered obscene (but not racist) but which have lost their pejorative connotations: “Occupy.” In Shakespeare’s time, this meant “to have sex with” (OED: 1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck, Genooten, to Lie with, or to Occupie a woman). “Arse” went from being too obscene to be used, with the word “ass” being used instead as a euphemism. As time went by, “ass” became obscene, so “arse” came back as the euphemism. ---
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 1:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/26 "2013-06-05T13:58:24Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > So could Japanese call themselves ‘Nips’ yet still take offense when non-Japanese use the same term? Of course. > [@RealityChuck](#): > > “Arse” went from being too obscene to be used, with the word “ass” being used instead as a euphemism. As time went by, “ass” became obscene, so “arse” came back as the euphemism. Where? ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Pearse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/richard_pearse/32/13144_2.png) [@Richard\_Pearse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Pearse)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/27 "2013-06-05T16:21:40Z")
> [@RealityChuck](#): > > Two other examples of words considered obscene (but not racist) but which have lost their pejorative connotations: > > “Occupy.” In Shakespeare’s time, this meant “to have sex with” (OED: 1648 H. Hexham Groot Woorden-boeck, Genooten, to Lie with, or to Occupie a woman). > > “Arse” went from being too obscene to be used, with the word “ass” being used instead as a euphemism. As time went by, “ass” became obscene, so “arse” came back as the euphemism. Really? I thought “ass” was American and “arse” was rest-of-the-world with neither being more or less offensive than the other. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 4:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/28 "2013-06-05T16:49:49Z")
I don’t think “nip” as in “let’s nip this in the bud” is racist. But using it referring to someone of Japanese origin is racist. ---
**Author:** ![Ranger\_Jeff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranger_jeff/32/2065_2.png) [@Ranger\_Jeff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranger_Jeff)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/29 "2013-06-05T16:51:32Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > So could Japanese call themselves ‘Nips’ yet still take offense when non-Japanese use the same term? If you’re white, I recommend you NEVER call an African American “nigger”, no matter how many times you might hear it used between African Americans. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 5:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/30 "2013-06-05T17:01:33Z")
> [@TriPolar](#): > > So could Japanese call themselves ‘Nips’ yet still take offense when non-Japanese use the same term? As someone who married into a large Japanese-American family with both West Coast and Midwest branches I can tell you with some assurance that a) they don’t call themselves “Nips” and b) they take offense to those who do. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 5:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/31 "2013-06-05T17:04:01Z")
> [@Ranger\_Jeff](#): > > If you’re white, I recommend you NEVER call an African American “nigger”, no matter how many times you might hear it used between African Americans. But it’s not fair! Or something. Anyway, yes, the meaning of a word is determined by its history and its usage, not through some objective ruling on what it ‘really means.’ “Nip” probably isn’t used much today, but it was a racist term and if you used it today around someone who knew what it meant, they would take it that way. ---
**Author:** ![CookingWithGas](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cookingwithgas/32/485_2.png) [@CookingWithGas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CookingWithGas)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 6:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/32 "2013-06-05T18:17:42Z")
> [@MostlyUseless](#): > > While I agree that nip is not a polite word, nor one that I would use, it is just a word. In our world of 1984, we have gotten so incredibly sensitive that we border on the asinine. It is a shortening of Nippon, which is what the Japanese call their own country. We have just got to lose this unreasoning fear of words. Words have no value other than what we apply. MODERATORS: WARNING–DEMONSTRATION FOR ILLUSTRATIVE PURPOSES ONLY: **MostlyUseless** , you have the perfect user name. You are a fucking useless piece of shit. There. How did you feel when you read that? I didn’t really mean it, I applied no value at all. It’s just words after all. But if someone said that to me I would not like it. > [@Schism](#): > > Right. So the intention behind the shortening of the word is what imbues it with its racism. It is not an inherently derogatory word though. As George Carlin said, there are no bad words, only bad thoughts. Calling a Japanese person a “nip” means you have a bad thought. > [@Schism](#): > > …in the heat of battle, I could see it getting pared down to “Kill those Nips!” Exactly. It’s not just an abbreviation, it’s a dehumanization. We are not fighting again flesh and blood humans like ourselves, we are fighting against “those nips.” The Germans were “krauts,” the Vietnamese were “gooks.” People use slurs to express utter depersonalization. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/33 "2013-06-05T18:37:34Z")
> [@MostlyUseless](#): > > It is a shortening of Nippon, which is what the Japanese call their own country. No, they Japanese call their country Nihon. I think the word was sometimes transliterated as Nippon because P and H are nearly the same character in kanji. So it’s not “what they call their own country,” and people who used the insult didn’t know much of anything about the people or country they were insulting. Surprise! That’s one of the reasons the “but they say it about themselves!” defense never works. ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/34 "2013-06-05T18:50:20Z")
The only way its not racist is if you’re talking about nipples ---
**Author:** ![Ellen\_Cherry](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ellen_cherry/32/3600_2.png) [@Ellen\_Cherry](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ellen_Cherry)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 6:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/35 "2013-06-05T18:51:09Z")
Moving from MPSIMS to IMHO. ---
**Author:** ![colander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e8c25b/32.png) [@colander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/colander)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 7:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/36 "2013-06-05T19:42:02Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > No, they Japanese call their country Nihon. I think the word was sometimes transliterated as Nippon because P and H are nearly the same character in kanji. So it’s not “what they call their own country,” and people who used the insult didn’t know much of anything about the people or country they were insulting. Surprise! That’s one of the reasons the “but they say it about themselves!” defense never works. I have to nitpick a little here about the Japanese. “Nippon” is not a _wrong_ pronunciation of 日本, exactly. It is a “traditional” way of pronouncing it, and its use in Japanese contemporary speech is generally limited to formal and government affairs. During World War 2, it was probably in more common casual usage than it is now. When used in everyday speech, it could be interpreted as either a patriotic affectation or as an attempt at mockery, depending on who is saying it. It is kind of like saying “The United States of America” instead of “America” or “The US”. ---
**Author:** ![Schism](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/97f17d/32.png) [@Schism](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Schism)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/37 "2013-06-05T21:34:10Z")
After further looking up shit on the Internet nipponese is NOT what the Japanese called themselves and I’m a moron for believing a guy who writes a lot of historical fiction. Damn you Neal Stephenson! ---
**Author:** ![terentii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/terentii/32/212_2.png) [@terentii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/terentii)\ **Post date:** [June 5, 2013, 10:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/38 "2013-06-05T22:10:34Z")
If I’m not mistaken, “Jerry” the German dates back to the First World War, along with the British “Tommy” Atkins and the American “Sammy the Yank” (a moniker that never did catch on and was swiftly supplanted by “Doughboy”). “Jerry” persisted into WWII among the British in particular, whereas “Kraut” was more American slang and was equal to “Jap” and “Nip” in its level of derision. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 12:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/39 "2013-06-06T00:23:00Z")
My ex once got out of the car and proclaimed “There’s a nip in the air.” That’s when he noticed a group of Asians within earshot. Then he proceeded to slink past them. ---
**Author:** ![stoplight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ea666f/32.png) [@stoplight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/stoplight)\ **Post date:** [June 6, 2013, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166/40 "2013-06-06T02:25:21Z")
try this…I was talking to a WWII vet the other day about his wartime experience… he had no problem using the word Jap and Nip in describing the enemy in the context of his tour of duty. I did not flinch nor did I consider his use of those words troubling. However, had he called the Asian guy waiting in line at Starbucks a nip I would have an issue with that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-nip-a-racist-term/660166.md?page=3)