Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 1999/01/09
[Author Prev] [Author Next] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Author Index] [Topic Index] [Home] [Search]Joe Stephenson wrote: <<<<<>Dear fellow LUG users: Re: the subject line According to the American Heritage dictionary the word "jap" is "(disparaging and offensive)." Is this what we want our public utterances to reflect?>>>>>>> Hi Joe, My feelings exactly. At one time it was everyday use...because we were in a war environment and many other terms were used by both sides during the conflict that are not acceptable by today's standards......And as far as I'm concerned it has nothing to do with being "PC" (politically correct.) It's just common courtesy one human being to onother. It happens to be 50 years later and this type of disparaging and offensive usage no longer fits our day to day use. No matter what ones feeling are carried over from 50 years ago. That was then and this now! And before anyone gets antsy, let me say I did use it a long time a ago, used it more times than I can remember and it was complimented with words unfit for the family LUG of today. Don't forget, we have many fine Japanese folks on line and many who today are upstanding Americans, Canadians and other nationalities first....with Japanese ancestry second. And for Heavens sake and lets's not pound this into a great big three week dissertation of non Leica conversation. Thank you. ted PS: Just incase anyone thinks I'm big time on the PC sillieness of today I'm far from it as most of it is stupid. However there are certain terems when in this case are used out of context. If the term were in direct reference t the war fighting years I can see it being used in an historical sense. However as used in this situation it doesn't fit! And yes I lost relatives to the atrocities of the Pacific war and yes I still harbour "very strong feelings" of those years! Just in case anyone wants to know! Ted Grant This is Our Work. The Legacy of Sir William Osler. http://www.islandnet.com/~tedgrant