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

i wasn't even being serious. im was just trying to cause a riot. i don't even remember when my argument was lol. damn that was one large post you made groink. im sure it was really great even though i didn't bother reading it

wow i hadn't checked this topic in a long while....i didn't even know an argument was going on *lol*...

anyway hey tsuyoshi13 i dunno if ur trying to be funny or not ...but... UR NOT!.. FYI
and ur logic seems to be a little jaded... i mean if u want to use it as a shortening of 'japanese' then use it... some ppl just let u know its offensive that's all if u wanna use it go ahead no 1 stoping u dude...its a free INTERNET/world do whatever the hell u want... just don't get pissed when ppl get offended, becuase u've been informed....

it may not offensive to ur views..but to most ppl it is... just keep that in mind dude! and stop ur useless whinning :rolleyes:

lovelessemotion wrote:wow i hadn't checked this topic in a long while....i didn't even know an argument was going on *lol*...

anyway hey tsuyoshi13 i dunno if ur trying to be funny or not ...but... UR NOT!.. FYI
and ur logic seems to be a little jaded... i mean if u want to use it as a shortening of 'japanese' then use it... some ppl just let u know its offensive that's all if u wanna use it go ahead no 1 stoping u dude...its a free INTERNET/world do whatever the hell u want... just don't get pissed when ppl get offended, becuase u've been informed....

it may not offensive to ur views..but to most ppl it is... just keep that in mind dude! and stop ur useless whinning :rolleyes:

*feigns concern*

thanks for the load of common sense. your post was pointless.

also about 90% of the posts in this thread are saying the same thing. i frankly don't think anyone is reading the thread but reading the first post and immediately replying. what assholes

I used to get into 'trash-talking' wars with my friends and at time they would come at me and say 'You Dirty Jap', I always had to stop and think about that one for a second.. am I suppose to take offense to that? hahah derogatory?

If you say so.

tsuyoshi13 wrote:
*feigns concern*

thanks for the load of common sense. your post was pointless.

then why'd u reply to it u frigging moron!? *lol* :crazy2: ...u replyd to it... so i did something right! :P

Maybe the older generation may get offended. Keep in mind this worse pretty much was once used in the same was as the magic "n" word for blacks and could probably well still be today.

I've always used JPN as well :chatter:

tsuyoshi13 wrote:
the same can be said for both sides of the argument. a lot of people don't think it's racial so accept it. it's not worth wasting time over.

What else is not worth wasting time over? Can I call a black guy a nigger? Can I call a white guy white trash? Cracker? Can I call a Chinese a chink? How about a Vietnamese a gook? How about a Korean a yobo? A Hawaiian a moke? Or a Filipino a flip?
Besides race, what about sterotype? Is it acceptable to call a gay guy a faggot? A queer? Fudgepacker? How about a lesbian? Butch? Rug eater? Dyke?
Can I label any one of these races with the derogatory tags I've listed above without someone taking offense? Right, I don't think so.

C'mon dude. You're right that some people may not take offense in any of these terms. But what about the people who do?

I take it you're not Japanese, which is why you probably don't understand the impact it has to some. (Notice I didn't say all)
For me personally, I don't care if someone called me a "Jap". I'm Japanese, but the term doesn't affect me at all. But just because it doesn't affect me, doesn't mean that I think those who find it offensive are "whiny bitches".
-Show some compassion and just compromise with people who do find it offensive. It's not that hard to do. Unless you're a lazy fuck.
Case and point.

tsuyoshi13 wrote:if people like you would quit your bitching the word "jap" would slowly lose it's racist meaning and become what everyone is actually referring it to... a shortening of the word japanese!

What about the word "nigger"? Will that term slowly lose its racist meaning if "people stopped bitching about it"?

bmwracer wrote:Christ! Would it be too much to ask to show some sensitivity??

Y'know if we're too whiny for you, take your crap somewhere else. We don't need it or want it.

tsuyoshi13 wrote:that's the most hypocritical sentence i've read in the last 5 minutes. you aren't being very sensitive to followers of christianity using the Lord's name in vain like that. what an ass...

If you can symphatize with Christians taking offense in a phrase such as that, then why can't you do the same for Japanese who do take offense when being called a Jap? Or is it because you're a Christian/Catholic/Mormon (or whatever), but not Japanese?
That, my friend, is hypocritical.

tsuyoshi13 wrote:i wasn't even being serious. im was just trying to cause a riot. i don't even remember when my argument was lol.

Well you did a freakin' fantastic job. Bravo! :applaud:
But that kind of shit isn't appreciated around here. Perhaps you can take this kind of shit to a KKK message board? (Unless you're already a member to one of them already) I'm sure the people on those kind of boards appreciate these wise ass comments of yours. The people on this board, however don't.

tsuyoshi13 wrote:damn that was one large post you made groink. im sure it was really great even though i didn't bother reading it

You should've read it................................

BmwM3Rod wrote:That was a great post. Ha ha. Tsuyoshi just got owned :beaten:

'Cause you did. :P


Kudos to Groink.

Let me wade into this on my first post. I find the word offensive, but as a white guy "cracker" has no power over me. The more insecure you are about your position in the world the more power sterotypes have over you. I don't think jap used innocently really offends Japanese, it doesn't help that I hear them using it. The Japanese are quite secure and not prone to a lot of self-doubts.

On the other hand I think even youngsters know it's offensive since it's used as a racial sterotype on South Park. So the intent of the heart comes into play. I noticed on one of my CD's I had written Jap MP3's wow, was I embarresed, but I just did it without thinking as shorthand. That seems more natural then jpn.

Still let's avoid the word.

Andocrates wrote:
Still, let's avoid the word.

Yeah. Just leave the word alone already. It's not appreciated in this forum. Case and point. I hope there's no more Tsuyoshi13's who come on and talk more shit. Groink will just have to shut them down-again and again.

i have heard that its actually not offensive anymore because not many know of its past connotations.. and peopel just shrug overtop of the term as if they never knew anything.. .. so its a common term nowadays..

Ok, I'm Latin, not Japanese but I do have an opinion about all this :rolleyes2:

Jap can be offensive, depending to who and how you say it, but saying
"J-DORAMA" or "J-ROCK" i think is absolutely fine, not rude, etc...

There's an offensive nickname for Sout Americans: "sudaca".
If someone (not from my country, Chile) says that to me, I'll be very pissed off, but if a friend says that to me, I don't care...I guess It's how you use the word and to who you are saying it, same as the "N" word. :rolleyes:

Sie_Kensou wrote:i have heard that its actually not offensive anymore because not many know of its past connotations.. and peopel just shrug overtop of the term as if they never knew anything.. .. so its a common term nowadays..

Well, it's still offensive to Japanese Americans, especially in Hawaii... About 75-percent of Pearl City (where I live) is made up of Japanese Americans, even though ironically we're only a stone's throw away from Pearl Harbor, where the excuse for using the J-word occured. Yes, it's quite awful what the Japanese did there. However, there's still hatred towards the Japanese among the Americans in Hawaii who lived here at the time. And, their kids have been brought up not to like the Japanese, and they use the J-word when they feel it's appropriate. Also, I went to high school and hung around with many of the military kids who's parents are stationed in Hawaii, and they too use the J-word for its negative context towards the Japanese. They call Toyota and Nissan cards "rice boxes", and one guy used to refer to them as "rice eaters".

And, what's really bad is that my Mom uses the J-word quite a bit whenever we're talking about Hawaii politics (over 90-percent of the Hawaii State government is made up of asians). She's originally from the East coast... And her dad was sent to France during WWII to fight. I still keep my love for Japanese culture and Noriko-chan very well hidden from her. When she sees a Japanese item I bought, she calls it "j** junk". I once threatened to her that my goal was to marry a Japanese girl, and she got pretty pissed over that.

So I would keep away from saying that the J-word is no longer an insult. The context over the word still lingers even 60 plus years after WWII. Just don't use it, all right?

--- groink

groink wrote:And, what's really bad is that my Mom uses the J-word quite a bit whenever we're talking about Hawaii politics (over 90-percent of the Hawaii State government is made up of asians). She's originally from the East coast... And her dad was sent to France during WWII to fight. I still keep my love for Japanese culture and Noriko-chan very well hidden from her. When she sees a Japanese item I bought, she calls it "j** junk". I once threatened to her that my goal was to marry a Japanese girl, and she got pretty pissed over that.

Jeez, I'm telin' you Groink, we must be blood, 'cause my relatives got bent when I was dating a Japanese girl a ways back as well... I got lecture upon lecture about the invasion of China by Japan and all that stuff... I just cut loose and told 'em this is my life not theirs and if they had a problem, tough s@%*...

So I would keep away from saying that the J-word is no longer an insult. The context over the word still lingers even 60 plus years after WWII. Just don't use it, all right?

Right. We're not pulling teeth here, just asking not to use that "word" and show a little sensitivity... Sheesh.

ok. i understand. my friend was referring to the general japanese as a whole. and since the general whole don't talk much or hear the term negatively as much, they don't care much. but then, you are right on the fact that words in a certain place of huge effect should still be in effect within that area.

so to the general unknown person of the internet, japanese shall stay as japanese or j-<whatever in reference>.

A word is only as negative as the way it is referred to. My boyf and I refer to thinks as jap. books, jap. cd or even jap. people as shorthand although. My boyfriend teases me about being a potato headed Paddy so he does not really have grounds to be offended even if I did :D

However we had an Indian man phone our office during the week repeatedly saying 'you know what those Jap's are like' to our receptionist.

Grrrrrrr! :mad: attitudes like that where you have to watch out.

We had that whole think in Japan about people not being able to say 'Its a bit Nippy in here' in case someone took offense. Political correctness can be taken too far.

its not the word that are offensive its the context people utter them in that may make it offensive

Neko wrote:its not the word that are offensive its the context people utter them in that may make it offensive

In some ways true, but even if you used it in a non-offensive way, it could be miscontrued as offensive, so the safe bet is to not use it at all...

Yes indeed! If in doubt - don't use at all. And instead of saying 'its nippy outside' I now say 'its nipply' :mrgreen:

i dont think soo...
i dont think it offensive ..

even i didnt use it...

if i wanteed to refer to japanese thing i'll say..
'jepun'.. japan for malay

bmwracer wrote:
In some ways true, but even if you used it in a non-offensive way, it could be miscontrued as offensive, so the safe bet is to not use it at all...

Maybe using shortcuts of words isn't that good of an idea afterall... In Hawaii, King Kamehameha is probably the most well known monarch in ancient Hawaiian history. Very powerful, he united all the major Hawaiian islands through war.

Today, we celebrate him via a State holiday "King Kamehameha Day", as well as an entire week dedicated to the monarch, filled with festivals of all sorts. Without going further, he's just that much idolized by the Hawaiian people.

When Hawaii first developed major street bodies around the island of Oahu, they named the longest piece "Kamehameha Highway", which goes around about 75-percent of the island. Now imagine how loooooooong the street signs are just to fit that name.

So, with the wisdom of our State government (that's a joke!), they started shortening the name on the signs to "Kam Highway". And they did this for YEARS! Other places followed suite, including "Kam Drive-In", and "Kam Shopping Center".

Then, in the late 1980's, the Hawaiian people started complaining about using "Kam" over "Kamehameha" because "Kam" makes it sound like a Chinese person is being worshiped rather than the Hawaiian monarch. So everyone was forced to drop "Kam" and replace it back with "Kamehameha".

Personally, I always referred everything as "Kamehameha" because I respect the Hawaiian culture (and the fact I took 2 years of Hawaiian language). And by referring cuturally linked words in full is done in respect.

I especially respect the Japanese culture, therefore I always use the word "Japanese" in full. Why do people need to shorten that word in the first place???? Just type it!!!! Heck, you probably type longer words than that all the time... Look at the word "tomorrow" - same number of letters, but I don't see people shorting that word. "Japanese" It's also three syllables, so just say the entire word.

I've also learned to use "Asian" and "oriental" properly. A friend told me referring to people as "oriental" is incorrect. A rug or a vase is "oriental" while a Korean or Filipino person is "Asian". One correction by someone is all that I needed.

Always do the right thing, folks! If you can't change, you're stubborn enough not to change, or you think you're right and everyone else is blowing it out of proportion, then that says something about you - and I would definitely not want to associate myself with that kind of people.

--- groink

wow groink did it again :applaud:

ive already explained this several times to my bf between the word 'asian' and 'oriental' and he still wouldnt budge and repeatedly saying 'im not hurting anybody' with a grin on his face.. we're both filipinos btw, even if he doesnt take offense im still bugged bout it.. till one day he slipped out the word oriental refering to a person and an angry asian blew him off out of nowhere.. i know this is mean to say but he deserved it for not listening to me.. even i take offense when someone refers me as oriental. :rolleyes: