''Nip'' is an

ethnic slur The following is a list of ethnic slurs or ethnophaulisms or ethnic epithets that are, or have been, used as insinuations or allegations about members of a given ethnicity or racial group or to refer to them in a derogatory, pejorative, or oth ...

against people of Japanese descent and origin. The word ''Nip'' is an abbreviation from ''Nippon'' (日本), the

Japanese name in modern times consist of a family name (surname) followed by a given name, in that order. Nevertheless, when a Japanese name is written in the Roman alphabet, ever since the Meiji era, the official policy has been to cater to Western expecta ...

for

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

History

The earliest recorded occurrence of the slur seems to be in the ''

Time Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...

'' magazine of 5 January 1942 where "three Nip pilots" was mentioned. The American, British, and Australian entry of the

Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

heightened the use of racial slurs against the Japanese, such as ''

Jap ''Jap'' is an English abbreviation of the word "Japanese". Today, it is generally regarded as an ethnic slur. In the United States, some Japanese Americans have come to find the term very offensive, even when used as an abbreviation. Prior to t ...

'' and ''Nip''. The word ''Nip'' became a frequently-used slang word amongst the

British Armed Forces The British Armed Forces, also known as His Majesty's Armed Forces, are the military forces responsible for the defence of the United Kingdom, its Overseas Territories and the Crown Dependencies. They also promote the UK's wider interests, s ...

. The 1942

Royal Air Force The Royal Air Force (RAF) is the United Kingdom's air and space force. It was formed towards the end of the First World War on 1 April 1918, becoming the first independent air force in the world, by regrouping the Royal Flying Corps (RFC) and ...

journal made numerous references to the Japanese as ''Nips'', even making puns such as "there's a nip in the air" This phrase was later re-used for

Hirohito Emperor , commonly known in English-speaking countries by his personal name , was the 124th emperor of Japan, ruling from 25 December 1926 until his death in 1989. Hirohito and his wife, Empress Kōjun, had two sons and five daughters; he was ...

's visit to the UK in 1971 by the satirical magazine ''

Private Eye ''Private Eye'' is a British fortnightly satire, satirical and current affairs (news format), current affairs news magazine, founded in 1961. It is published in London and has been edited by Ian Hislop since 1986. The publication is widely r ...

''. As part of American wartime propaganda, caricatures and slurs (including ''Nip'') against the Japanese diffused into entertainment, such as exemplified by the Warner Bros. cartoon ''

Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips ''Bugs Bunny Nips the Nips'' is a 1944 ''Merrie Melodies'' cartoon directed by Friz Freleng. The cartoon, released on April 22, 1944, features Bugs Bunny. The film depicts Bugs fighting against the Imperial Japanese Army in the Pacific War. The ...

'' (1944). In ''General Kenney Reports: A Personal History of the Pacific War'' (1949),

George Kenney George Churchill Kenney (August 6, 1889 – August 9, 1977) was a United States Army general during World War II. He is best known as the commander of the Allied Air Forces in the Southwest Pacific Area (SWPA), a position he held between Augu ...

made racial statements about the Japanese, remarking for example that "Nips are just vermin to be exterminated". In a manner to evoke further anti-Japanese agitation, a ''Seattle Star'' editorial titled "It's Time to do Some Thinking On Nips' Return" from December 14, 1944, discussed the citizenship rights of

Japanese-Americans are Americans of Japanese ancestry. Japanese Americans were among the three largest Asian American ethnic communities during the 20th century; but, according to the 2000 census, they have declined in number to constitute the sixth largest Asi ...

and framed their return to American society as a problem. On 16 November 2018, the abbreviation for the

Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems The Conference and Workshop on Neural Information Processing Systems (abbreviated as NeurIPS and formerly NIPS) is a machine learning and computational neuroscience conference held every December. The conference is currently a double-track meeti ...

was changed from NIPS to NeurIPS in large part due to its perceived connotation with the slur.

References

{{Ethnic slurs Anti-Japanese sentiment Asian-American issues Anti–East Asian slurs Japan–United Kingdom relations Japan–United States relations English words

History

See also

References