Not the sentiment, the word used for Japanese people. Saying “if Japanese people didn’t exist, they should be invented” would be totally acceptable.
It can be hard to avoid slurs in other languages though, especially when English has so many. My husband’s not a native English speaker and it comes up maybe every other month that he’ll say something and I’ll have to tell him to avoid that word or only use it in one specific usage. I’ve only been corrected/gaped at for inadvertently using slurs twice in over five years living in Germany, for comparison.
Worth pointing out that for the rest of the world this is often hard to navigate. Americans have a reputation for excessive self-censorship based on pearl-clutching, with “the F word” or “p*rn” or censoring nipples.
So sometimes actual strongly hateful or dehumanising language gets dismissed as another example of oversensitity.
Just to clarify, I didn’t think OP was being insensitive. My question was genuine, and I didn’t think they knew. And yes, there is a lot of unnecessary censorship in the US. You can’t say fuck on TV or the radio. I was listening to a station from New Zealand and that made me realize we’re the only Country that does that. Censoring nipples is fucking stupid too. I really don’t censor myself. I’m told I’m a very outspoken person. The only words I won’t say are slurs because I believe they are actually harmful and disrespectful.
Are you aware that’s a slur?
I’m italian and in Italy that’s not considered a slur. It’s more telling someone they’re funny or amusing.
In english there’s a similar sounding word that means a joke or something done in jest, Jape with a long a
You really need to use your hands more so we know you’re Italian. 🤌
Not the sentiment, the word used for Japanese people. Saying “if Japanese people didn’t exist, they should be invented” would be totally acceptable.
It can be hard to avoid slurs in other languages though, especially when English has so many. My husband’s not a native English speaker and it comes up maybe every other month that he’ll say something and I’ll have to tell him to avoid that word or only use it in one specific usage. I’ve only been corrected/gaped at for inadvertently using slurs twice in over five years living in Germany, for comparison.
Ok, now I get it. I didn’t use “japs” as derogatory, obviously.
Yeah, it is an easy mistake to make. Generally abbreviations/diminutives for nationalities are insulting (Brit excluded)
Like Germs
When written, Italian does look a lot like English then.
Please explain
“Japs” was used by Americans during WW2 so it has pretty negative connotations there.
Well said
Worth pointing out that for the rest of the world this is often hard to navigate. Americans have a reputation for excessive self-censorship based on pearl-clutching, with “the F word” or “p*rn” or censoring nipples.
So sometimes actual strongly hateful or dehumanising language gets dismissed as another example of oversensitity.
And then they’ll upvote “jokes” like “fr*nch “people” 🤮” without batting an eye…
Just to clarify, I didn’t think OP was being insensitive. My question was genuine, and I didn’t think they knew. And yes, there is a lot of unnecessary censorship in the US. You can’t say fuck on TV or the radio. I was listening to a station from New Zealand and that made me realize we’re the only Country that does that. Censoring nipples is fucking stupid too. I really don’t censor myself. I’m told I’m a very outspoken person. The only words I won’t say are slurs because I believe they are actually harmful and disrespectful.
Thanks!