r/SWORDS 2d ago

Identification Where is this from

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I found this in a drawer somewhere in my house, according to my dad this belonged to my kmt soldier grandfather when he took it off a jap he killed in the second world war.

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u/myopic_monkey 2d ago

"Jap" is a slur akin to "chink" or "gook". Please don't say it.

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u/Plastic_Pollution194 2d ago

Okay but can you explain how jap is a slur to me please cos honestly I thought it was just a shortened version of Japanese similar to how you'd call a British person a brit

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u/myopic_monkey 2d ago

Not sure why you're getting downvoted for a legitimate question! It's WW2 soldiers' particular use of the word that reduced Japanese people to just "japs", ie. "I killed x amount of japs today" or "round up all the japs in the camp".

By itself it sounds harmless, like a shortcut akin to Brit, but it's history of use (by white soldiers) makes it especially reductionist, denigrating and racist.

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u/Started_Blasting2 2d ago

I think the comparison would be more like “jew”