In Hawaii, I have heard that if you are Caucasian and say the word ‘Jap’ to a group of Japanese-Americans, you might be met with violence. I don’t condone violence, but just thought you might want to be aware of that in case you ever decide to visit there.
Of course, if you are a tourist with lots of money, you might be exempt. Or maybe not even then.
To my uninformed eye, this looks like ‘gaijin’ with an anagram of ‘Kujo’ tossed in for good measure. Does the word have a meaning?
Yep. It has only one meaning: Foreigner (literally: Foreign Country Person). Evidently, the government was worried that foreigners wouldn’t like being referred to with a word that also had the meaning of vandal. Funny thing is that out of all my time in Japan, I met exactly zero foreigners who didn’t like the term gaijin being used to refer to them.
Gaikokujin is the polite way of saying Gaijin. Gaijin, when written, literally means “outside person.” In natural English, this would be foreigner. Monty’s post is also completely correct.
While it’s true I dont mind being called a gaijin, the usage can definitely lean towards the antagonistic. As in (translated from the Japanese), “those dirty gaijins keep stealing our beautiful woman.”
However, I for one wont hold it against those wily slits. ::ducks-for-cover::
Well, hell, if there’s only one beautiful babe to be had and foreigners monopolize her, no wonder they’re pissed.
Argh!
Same chick?
I find it bizzare that people would even consider using the word Jap to describe Japanese people nowadays. I may be more sensitive because I’m Asian-American and do Asian-American studies, but the term Jap has a long history that is linked to the rampant racism that existed against them during WWII. I think Life magazine even ran an article entitled “How to Tell the Japs from the Chinese.” I understand that you might be unaware of the connotations of the term if you are not from the US, but why would you want to continue using it after learning that people (especially the people the term refers to) consider it derogatory?
Well, just a few days ago, when I discussed “Nigger Jim” in the context of Mark Twain’s novel Huck Finn.
In that context, my usage is not racist.
Just as in “The Yanks beat the Japs in WWII” the term “Jap” (or the term Yank) isn’t racist. It is being used in it’s proper historical context.
Can we use “Nazi” to refer to the Stormtroopers and SS of the of the Third Reich? Does anyone object to that?
The only time when “Jap” should be used is in it’s proper historical context, as refering to the Imperial Japanese of WWII. Jus like “Nazi” is used to refer to the SS and such of the same war- but we don’t call modern Germans Nazis.
I’m sorry but I still see that terminology as racist, from a racist time. Why not simply say, “The Yanks beat the Japanese in WWII”?
Jap with capital J ain’t a slur. :o
Well, note that some think Yank is a slur.
And, did we beat the Japanese people (who had some very bad leadership) or did we beat the “Japs”? I consider “Jap”= “Nazi” for WWII terminology, in other words, I use “Jap” to refer to the “Imperial Japanese of Tojo’s leadership” and “Nazi” to refer to the “Third Reich of Hitler’s leadership”. Can we still use Nazi?
When you repeat the same question over and over and no-one answers, it’s usually because either a) no-one can answer or b) the question is daft. The latter is clearly the case here.
The Nazis called themselves Nazis. Their party was the Nazi Party. It was the correct term. It wasn’t a racial slur applied to the enemy. Do you understand the difference?
Well, colour me a little more educated about American English.
Ignorance fought, you’re off my shit list, mate.
The correct analogy would be to Kraut. While the etymology is different, they’re both wartime slurs for the enemy.
Aside from this bringing up a vague memory from Clerks 2, I have a question.
Are the “white” people on this board offended by being called a cracker?
I’m not and don’t understand how that is the supposed equivalent of nigger.
Just wondering.
Cracker isn’t the equivalent of nigger. It’s no where close. People can call me cracker all day long and it wouldn’t bother me.
I was going to mention that but I thought I’d read down first.
Even in Ireland/Northern Ireland, I wouldn’t think Brit was quite as derogatory as Paddy, Mick etc
Some Germans might find words “kraut” or “fritz” derogatory but that doesn’t make them so when I use them. They’re just words and they gain meaning when meaning is assigned to them by the speaker. If somebody jumps the shark and gets offended before clarifying that offense was used, it’s their loss and they could’ve gotten offended at anything. No Germans I know object to me using the word “kraut” just like I don’t object to words like “russkie”,“red”,etc. in English and “katzap” in Ukrainian. Several of my close friends who are Jewish do not object to words like “yid”, “jew” or “hebrew”. If I know a word is going to be automatically presumed to be racist by the majority of people I am not going to use it because I don’t want to explain myself, not because it would make me racist, it wouldn’t.
If people don’t lighten up we’re not going to get those words back, and I am not comfortable burying word after word just because they have history of misuse. Notice that most other offensive words actually mean something offensive. Idiot, cocksucker, whore, bitch, slut, cum-gargling son-of-a-bitch. Most ethnic slurs are just contractions of proper nouns, descriptive terms of physical appearance, or referrences to stereotyped habits or stereotyped diet. Invoking race/culture/national origin is not fundamentally racist, because it by itself does not establish any claims of superiority nor causation of dislike. Call me a “a russky vodka-chugging cocksucker” and I’ll get offended that you called me a cocksucker, even if I don’t chug vodka, it’s still along the lines of calling somebody a “a posh, blonde son-of-a-bitch”. You’re not going to suggest “posh” is classist or some bullshit like that are you?
I’ve always felt that people who view every mention of race as racist are themselves insecure about their background. When I am not let into an establishment or somesuch with a phrase “no gaijin” I am not offended. They don’t want whiteys there, it’s their restaurant and I certainly wouldn’t fit in with the decor. I don’t have some sort of a fundamental right not to be treated as if I’m different, but I believe I have some sort of a fundamental right not to be treated as if I’m inferior. It’s not like eating some toothpick-sized kebabs is an aptitude test I get disqualified for because of the color of my skin. The playing field is even - everybody has a choice. It’s when laws get passed or society decides to treat people different en masse is when trouble occurs, and somebody loses their choice.
When I was young I was briefly staying at a musculoskeletal rehab center near Moscow. In my room was a 16 year old chechen boy who lost a leg on a Russian landmine. His parents were killed in helicopter bombings in front of him earlier that year. His personal doctrine was pretty much “Die, Russians, die!” Now, racist or not, him using any kind of derogatory terms certainly did not make him so, nor would his choice to avoid those terms negate the fact that he was who he was. He was who the Russian government made him to be, with helicopters and landmines. Sure he beat me up a few times, and I even got nailed in the crotch with a crutch, and I hated him back then, but right now I can’t say I was offended at anything he said .
People who fought for our civil rights fought institutional racism and established stereotypes. They certainly did not fight to give you or me the almost-institutional right to hate somebody for their choice of vernacular. Political correctness my fucking white honky ass! Oh no, what’s that? Half of my friends call me “Red”? Wow, I never noticed before but the color of my skin isn’t red. Nor could I be farther from being a communist. That must mean they’re prejudiced! :rolleyes: You know what? You go ahead and keep using PC terms for everything but don’t blame me if I fall asleep because seeing “person of Japanese descent” fifty fucking times is incredibly fucking monotonous and all the synonyms got banned cause they’re bad, evil words that kill babies!