# Why is "Jap" considered a slur? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 3, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jap-considered-a-slur/636537 "2012-10-03T00:52:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jap-considered-a-slur/636537/41 "2012-10-05T15:24:42Z")
I think in addition to the associational issues, it’s generally bad form to refer to people in the noun form rather than adjective form. A Japanese person has Japanese as one aspect of their greater whole whereas a Jap is singularly and wholly defined by that single aspect. ---
**Author:** ![VinylTurnip](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b2d939/32.png) [@VinylTurnip](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VinylTurnip)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 3:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jap-considered-a-slur/636537/42 "2012-10-05T15:35:22Z")
> [@jackdavinci](#): > > I think in addition to the associational issues, it’s generally bad form to refer to people in the noun form rather than adjective form. You’re a genius! Sorry. Person of Ingenuity. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 3:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jap-considered-a-slur/636537/43 "2012-10-05T15:38:46Z")
It is not the word, it is the intent behind it when used. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 6:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jap-considered-a-slur/636537/44 "2012-10-05T18:08:23Z")
> [@kunilou](#): > > Given that Michener served in the Pacific during World War II, he should have been a little more sensitive to the word’s connotation. Huh? The people most prone to using slurs that I’ve met have been vets who would use them for the people they fought (usu. Vietnam vets, but I’ve heard some interesting terms for Middle Easterners from returning Iraq vets too). I’m not at all surprised that Michener might use it. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 8:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jap-considered-a-slur/636537/45 "2012-10-05T20:22:05Z")
Readsome of the anti-Japanese literature of World War II and you’ll have your answer. As was stated above, “nigger” was once a perfectly acceptable term, but not now. I’m surprised people still use the word “gyp” and the expression “jew down the price.” ---
**Author:** ![jackdavinci](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jackdavinci/32/3259_2.png) [@jackdavinci](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jackdavinci)\ **Post date:** [October 5, 2012, 10:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jap-considered-a-slur/636537/46 "2012-10-05T22:49:43Z")
> [@VinylTurnip](#): > > You’re a genius! > > Sorry. Person of Ingenuity. No offense taken ---
**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:** [October 5, 2012, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jap-considered-a-slur/636537/47 "2012-10-05T22:58:28Z")
> [@Peter\_Morris](#): > > As far as I understand, VC is an organisation, not a race. Having VC parents does not make her a VC, and there are no “VC babies.” Not to mention that had her parents been “Viet Cong” they would t have called themselves that since the term was an insult by the Southern Vietnamese government and the group was actually called the NLF(National Liberation Front). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-jap-considered-a-slur/636537.md?page=2)