Use of the word 'Jap' - is it offensive?

I know this topic hasn't had a reply for a few days, and I really only skimmed what people said, but I wanted to post something anyway. :x

Personally, I think a word is only offensive if someone perceives it as offensive, or if the user's intention is for it to be offensive. It's true that the "N word" was originally used to be offensive towards African Americans, but look how many of them use it towards each other now? In a friendly way, a brotherly way, or whatever.

I think saying "Jap" is probably more offensive than when typing it. When on the internet, so many people use short cuts or abbreviations. We all know lol, omg, jk, brb, etc. Well, the only time I only use "Jap" (and this is rare anyway) is when I'm on line, and using it as an abbreviation because I am typing a lot. If I heard someone say "Jap" I would get a different impression than if I saw it typed somewhere on line randomly. Obivously, the "jap" in the url was just an abbreviation. It was not used in a derogatory way. The site itself isn't offensive. And most URLs ARE abbreviations anyway. :x

I don't know if that was brought up in any other posts, since I only skimmed them, so if it was, I apologize. I just think people need to start realizing that a lot of abbreviations and such used on line, that can be perceived as offensive irl, are not always offensive when being typed. And it all comes down to the intent behind the word being used anyway. My mom recently flipped because she saw me use "pwning" on line, and she didn't understand what it meant, and I gave her a quick short explanation that it was a typo for "owning". But that didn't satisfy her, so she ended up doing research. (Yes, that's right, my mom did research on pwning....) and she gave me a long talk about how she knows it's a typo, but other people may think I'm different from the type of person I am. And I just told her, a word is only offensive if you take offense to it, and if it's used in an offensive way. And plus, I really don't care WHAT people think of me.

So, anyway, to sum everything up, using "Jap" on line doesn't necessarily mean it's being used in an offensive way, but using it just as an abbreviation for Japanese because well tend to get lazy when we type, and that if there's no cruel intention behind the usage, then it really shouldn't be taken offensively.

EDIT: And I see this was addressed in the post above mine. Lol. x_X SO anyway, I guess if you're going to use it as an abbreviation, rather than just typing "Jap", why not add a period to make it "Jap." so it really looks like an abbreviation. Then no one can complain or take offense, right?

Sailor Wicca wrote:Lol. x_X SO anyway, I guess if you're going to use it as an abbreviation, rather than just typing "Jap", why not add a period to make it "Jap." so it really looks like an abbreviation. Then no one can complain or take offense, right?

U can also use "jpn" as short for japan or japanese stuff, but people might not read it as "japanese" as in "japanese people".

Sailor Wicca wrote:Personally, I think a word is only offensive if someone perceives it as offensive, or if the user's intention is for it to be offensive.

Thing is, how is one to know of the intention? And there lies the problem.

It's true that the "N word" was originally used to be offensive towards African Americans, but look how many of them use it towards each other now? In a friendly way, a brotherly way, or whatever.

That's only between other African Americans... If someone outside the group were to use it, it would be immediately construed as racist, ne?

So, anyway, to sum everything up, using "Jap" on line doesn't necessarily mean it's being used in an offensive way, but using it just as an abbreviation for Japanese because well tend to get lazy when we type, and that if there's no cruel intention behind the usage, then it really shouldn't be taken offensively.

As before, there's no way of knowing the intent. So it would be better to err on the side of caution and not use it.

EDIT: And I see this was addressed in the post above mine. Lol. x_X SO anyway, I guess if you're going to use it as an abbreviation, rather than just typing "Jap", why not add a period to make it "Jap." so it really looks like an abbreviation. Then no one can complain or take offense, right?

I don't think adding the period is really that much of a help... "Jpn" would be the better choice....

Sailor Wicca wrote:And plus, I really don't care WHAT people think of me.

That about sums it up. Some people do and some people don't care of what others think of them.
However, that is your opinion. And your opinion alone. Of course, you're free to express it.

If you wish to use it (the term, "Jap"), please feel free to, but don't be offended of any perceptions that other users have of you, if any. But of course, you couldn't care in any sense.

Just one thing I'd like you to keep in mind, you may not care of what other people think of you, but please think of other people and how they may feel when the term is used.

ahochaude wrote:Just one thing I'd like you to keep in mind, you may not care of what other people think of you, but please think of other people and how they may feel when the term is used.

Good idea, Aho, but someone who doesn't give a rat's ass one way, isn't gonna care the other way, either.

At least that's my perception.

bmwracer wrote:At least that's my perception.

i don't care what you think either. LOL! (JK)

niko2x wrote:i don't care what you think either. LOL! (JK)

My my, we're in rare form today... :hehe: :hehe:

why not say JP or just J? thats the shortest term ive ever used.. plus its shorter than JAP! yeh you did skimmed it through but yes its been discussed already, dont yall get tired of this? its like a broken record :shakehead:

MixxDreamer wrote:why not say JP or just J? thats the shortest term ive ever used.. plus its shorter than JAP! yeh you did skimmed it through but yes its been discussed already, dont yall get tired of this? its like a broken record :shakehead:

Oh yeah, I'm tired of it, but you gotta educate out people who don't know that "jap" is a slur... Education is the only answer to ignorance...

bmwracer wrote:Education is the only answer to ignorance...

thats true, unless theyre too ignorant to listen/accept it :tired:

MixxDreamer wrote:thats true, unless theyre too ignorant to listen/accept it :tired:

my only comment is that anybody from the United States who has an inkling of knowledge regarding the Pacific campaign of WWII and/or the surrounding historical circumstances has less of an "excuse" than perhaps a non-American who may have little or no occassion to study that time in history.

i loved to hear someone say something like "anybody got any kike music?" oh, but no offensive. as mentioned earlier in this thread "perception" is key.

i was actually pointing at those people who 'doesnt care'

MixxDreamer wrote:i was actually pointing at those people who 'doesnt care'

right on..i understood the intent of your comment..i was just throwin' in the two cents worth.

Tu_triky wrote:my only comment is that anybody from the United States who has an inkling of knowledge regarding the Pacific campaign of WWII and/or the surrounding historical circumstances has less of an "excuse" than perhaps a non-American who may have little or no occassion to study that time in history.

Agreed.

I can't remember if I posted my opinion on this or not, but I have never used this word and I never will..


/rant on
I can't STAND when people say "Jap" and say On well I did not want to type out the whole word... Come the freak on.. 5 extra letters how hard is that?!?!?!?

/rant off

Ok, what I'm going to say may start something up but when it happened to me I was bewildered and upset. But I just want to give you guys a viewpoint from the other side.

I once used the abbrev "Jap" quite innocently online. Now I come from S'pore where the word "Jap" has absolutely no offensive meaning. I had no idea and never meant to be offensive. However, even though it was VERY clear I had no idea the word was offensive, someone jumped on me much like how Maya did on Gemma and accused me of all manner of bad things simply because I diddn't know. And in the end, I felt very offended, hurt and angry. Although that happened many years ago and I've not ever used that word again, each time I see a thread like this and aggressive responses like those from Maya or simple one line answers that shout "I'm offended", I can't help but get angry that people have so little tolerance of others.

Like many of you said this is the world wide web. The world isn't made up of Americans or Americans of Japanese ancestry. A LOT of people aren't going to know that Jap is an unacceptable abbrev. While some of you ask "is it so hard to type out the full word?", I too ask "is it so hard to be inform someone nicely?"

While some of you find that using the word "Jap" as unacceptable even from someone who has no knowledge of it's derogotary connotations, I find it just as unacceptable and offensive that someone would so easily and so self-righteously accuse another of being a "racist" etc when this person is clearly absolutely innocent of that offence.

I've read through all the posts on all 14 pages and while I know some of you have been very nice and explained why "Jap" is considered offensive, I'm a little dismayed that no one seems equally upset that there are many who also sound very self-righteous and accusatory. IMO, self-righteous people like these are just as intolerant and offensive as people who know the meaning of an offensive word and use it.

I don't want to start any quarrels with anyone but I just wanted to let you know how it feels to be on the receiving end of messages like the one Maya wrote.

I'm sure most people who say "Jap" don't mean to offend.

I've encountered the following for other races/nationalities as well

Chinese = chinkies
Indians/Pakistanis = Pakis
Hong Kongers= Hongkies
British = Pommes
New Zealander= Kiwis
Americans= Yanks
French = Frogs

Some of these sound bad, but many times the users use them to joke around and don't mean to be racist. People should just RELAX a little.

My friends' family has a Chinese restaurant in England. Once a group of Englishmen came in and ordered "Chinky chips", which is what many people in UK call chips sold in Chinese restaurants. They didn't mean any harm and the words just slipped out of their mouths, but my friend who was helping out that day went ape and threw them out.

I personally will not even bat an eyelid if someone were to call me a chinkie.

I know a few Kiwis who call themselves "Kiwis". I don't know of any Japanese who calls him/herself "Jap".

I think "Jap" is like saying "Kraut" to a German (ok, we call the Germans "Piefke", but that has a historical reason).

Also, Americans = Yanks is a huge mistake. Yanks are only from the North, if you call a Southerner "Yank" you full scale insult him lol. Technically, only New Yorkers are "Yankees" anyway, since Yankee comes from "Jan Kees" (John Cheese) because of the large number of Dutch in that area (thanks to... New Amsterdam)

The Aussies call the Brits "Pommies" all the time, but then again... I can't blame them lol.

Irish are usually called Mick or Paddy, though, that was used as an insult or at least derogative in the past (no wonder with the British/Irish history).

^^^
Well, you have to remember that the Japanese are somewhat uptight people. Very few people are addressed by their first names at the workplace and it is always followed by "-san", which would otherwise be considered disrespectful. "RESPECT" is big in Japan and sometimes blown out of proportion.

One of my Japanese co-workers spent many of her childhood years in International Schools overseas and in Japan, so she cannot use keigo properly. She is often mocked by clients and other Japanese co-workers.

There is nothing wrong with this, but it makes the business culture in Japan very complicated for a foreigner. You have no idea how many times I have heard "you will never understand cos you are not Japanese", "this is the Japanese way of doing XXX". It is very frustrating sometimes.

That being said, it is not surprising that the world "Jap" is considered offensive by Japanese. It screams DISRESPECT and is totally unacceptable even though the user of this word is not being disrespectful.

In S'pore we call Caucasians "angmo" meaning "red hair". In the past, I believe this term was offensive but these days it's simply used like one would use the term "whites" to describe Caucasions. Often it's used affectionately too and I've heard several of my Caucasian friends who live and work here refer to themselves as "angmo" like it didn't mean a thing to them. A few apparently do find the term offensive so usually I only use "angmo" when I'm chatting with my "angmo" friends who are not only not offended by it but who strangely like its use too.

Hong Kong-ers call Caucasians "gweilo" meaning "ghost person". I believe this was also originally meant to offend. I'm not sure if it's still offensive these days but "gweilo" is still a term that is, I believe, commonly used in HK.

I've heard Americans refer to Chinese (regardless of nationality) as commies or reds. I know because that was used on me simply because I am Chinese. S'pore is not a communist country btw.