If I overheard someone saying: "That's Kate, she's a Jap", I would be offended. Why people feel the need to add a persons ethnicity onto the end of introductions or comments is beyond me. I have never heard someone say: "That's Mike. He's white". It's one of those things that drives me crazy. But, to answer your question, yes. It's offensive to me.

Yes. I don't know exactly why, but it just is. So I respect it, not that I feel the need to call them that name.

Yes, it a wartime slur. It's also offensive to Jews among whom the term means "Jewish American Princess," meaning one who is spoiled and bitchy.

However, calling me a Brit is 'ok', I don't mind at all, it all seems too politically correct to me.

As far as J.A.P. (Jewish American Princess), I would hope that spoiled and bitchy Jewish girls find that offensive because they're supposed to. The phrase was coined in the mid-nineties by young Jewish guys looking for dates that couldn't stand girls like that, not a non Jewish person trying to be racist.

yea, thats why those chips called jays are now jays they used to be "japs" at least thats what i heard

No it is just short for the word to me.

i thinks its both. (and could get you in trouble... )

I do believe it is derogatory, I've certainly seen/heard it used that way unfortunately. Hopefully you'll get an answer from a Japanese person.

I never heard it used in my trips to Japan and would not expect it to be well received. Jap is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese." Today it is regarded as an ethnic slur. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jap

Maybe you should look at the answers to my question since I asked the same thing yesterday. http://www.answerbag.com/q_view/1287099

I think it is the same as Paki, which is a shortening of Pakistani but is used in a derogatory manner, so I wouldn't use it personally.

It's derogatory.

Both is correct. The context as well as tone/inflection of speaker's voice may shed insight on level of respect

It is derogatory for Japanese and Jewish American princesses .

I believe people need to lighten the f up. At the time the newspaper (I believe you are referring to) was published they were our enemies. Our WAR enemies. I guess we could have used the phrase: Our gun-toting, American killing, belief opposing foes have surrendered. That really wouldn't fit on the front page. Jap is a shortened form of the word Japanese. Like it or not, it is apart of our history and the paper was hung in a tasteful manner in the hall where the men who fought in that war congregate.

Yes. And why somebody would say it, I don't know. Even if you personally don't see anything wrong with it, why go out of your way to offend somebody? I don't understand it.

It sounds offensive to me, so I don't use it. I've also heard the term used as an acronym to Jewish American Princess...which is another derrogatory term, in my opinion.

It's derogatory term from WWII. Along with 'nip', it was used to dehumanize the Japanese.

Yes, of course it is, as is any slur based on race, religion or sexual orientation. Why would you even need to ask?

Jap was a wartime word used to dehumanize a people so that soldiers could stomach killing them. It coalesced the anger over Pearl Harbor into one syllable in order to goad factory workers into turning out more ships and shells on a shift. It goaded soldiers into more fierce fighting to bring the war to a swifter conclusion. It enabled guards to stomach locking six year olds into horse stalls. It was probably necessary at the time to bring the war to a swift conclusion and to enable our nation to win that war after it got caught with its pants down with a gutted military. However, to continue to use it after the war was won and the Japanese brought to an independent, democratic nation who are allies and friends is to continue to stir up anger and racially based hatred that might lead to another war. In short, it is unconscionable. The link below shows an example of how such words and images were used to goad workers. It seems insensitive and hateful to modern eyes. But remember, our military had been largely gutted even before Pearl Harbor destroyed most of our ships. We had an almost insurmountable amount of work to develop a viable military in time to win the war.

I find that to be very blunt for anyone to address Japanese people that way. Unfortunately, many of those serials that they used to show in the movie houses during WWll would make out the Japanese to be the evil villains and they were always referred to as Japs. This jingoism and name-calling is certainly uncalled for--especially in 2009 when you would think that most people would try to rise above this sort of thing.

Yes.

IN MY OPINION YES ITS OFFENSIVE AND DISRESPECTFUL IN THESE TIMES.

Would you call it complimentary?

Not being Japanese myself, I can’t say for sure, but I would expect so. “Jap,” as I understand it, is a slur like any other (be it racial, religious, etc.), and I personally would never use it. That having been said, I think it was George Carlin that pointed out that it’s sometimes okay for members of a certain group to use slurs associated with that group, when speaking within the group. Thus, people of African ancestry might jokingly call each other “Niggers”; Latter-day Saints might jokingly call each other “Mormons”; etc.. However, I would never think to use such a term from the outside, looking in. That’s just bad taste. HTH!