Its JPN, not JAP!! Why?!

I just newly discovered this myself (during one of the Japan matches). I decided to look up the dictionary myself. And here is what I found.

Jap
n. Offensive Slang
Used as a disparaging term for a person of Japanese birth or descent.
n. Offensive Slang
A Jewish-American girl or woman regarded as being pampered or overindulged.

I was actually quite surprised at what I found. Although, I dont recall having had to use "Jap", under normal circumstances, I would have simply considered it short for Japan, or Japanese even. Not anymore, I guess. There might actually be a chance that I get beaten up for using the term "Jap". Also, I found that it is actually equated to racial discrimination just as the term "Nigger" is considered.

Jap, n was first used in 1860 to refer to members of the Japanese embassy in the United States. It was later popularized during World War II to describe those of Japanese/Asian descent, and used as a disparaging term to describe Japanese people.

At the time, the word "Jap" was commonplace - and it wasn't a term of endearment. One online encyclopedia defines the word this way: "Jap is a slang term with a strongly negative connotation, a term used and proliferated by the US government during WWII to express hostility."

"Jap" at its simplest is just an abbreviation of "Japan" or "Japanese." It was first used by Westerners a few years after Commodore Matthew C. Perry forced Japan open to international trade at gunpoint 150 years ago. In 1860, when "Jap" was first used in America to describe the samurai and servants who were sent from Japan as part of the first U.S. diplomatic mission, the term was used merely for its brevity and convenience. There was no hatred or distrust for Japanese at the time.

Japanese themselves bore the brunt of blunt racism during the "Yellow Peril" scare of the early 1900s, with alien land laws preventing them from owning property, and attacks by white laborers. By the time Japan bombed Pearl Harbor, the term "Jap" carried a certain kind of venom in much of America.

During the war, "Jap" was painted with the blood of brutality - unfortunately committed by the Japanese themselves - and became an easy way to vent hate and anger at both Japanese and the 120,000 Japanese Americans who were sent to internment camps.

Many Americans find the term extremely offensive and racist, but a Japanese living in Japan would have trouble understanding their strong reactions, as the term would not be racist to him. Many non-Americans use the term as a natural abbreviation of the word "Japanese".

Oddly, one of the first hits on Google for "Jap" is "Jap.com" a Japanese run site, which would seem to indicate that at least some of the Japanese people do not consider the term perjorative.

Perhaps, it was due to the ignorance of this past, or because some of the Japanese themselves havent shown enough concern about this matter, that people are not as aware of this issue at hand.

Just thought that it would be a piece of useful information to share, in case you end up in such a situation.

Extracts from wikipedia & http://www.jref.com/nikkeiview/jap.shtml