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"to jap out"
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Seymour Axelrod
Mar 27, 1992, 12:18:00 PM3/27/92
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"To jap out" is slang for something like "to renege, or back out of a
commitment, or fail to deliver on a promise." Can anyone point to a
derivation? I had thought that the expression reflected a belief in a
national character flaw in the Japanese (Remember Pearl Harbor), but I
don't recall hearing it until many years after World War Two, and am not aware
that any current stereotype of the Japanese includes unreliability.
commitment, or fail to deliver on a promise." Can anyone point to a
derivation? I had thought that the expression reflected a belief in a
national character flaw in the Japanese (Remember Pearl Harbor), but I
don't recall hearing it until many years after World War Two, and am not aware
that any current stereotype of the Japanese includes unreliability.
--Axel
Seymour Axelrod, Psychiatry, State University of New York at Buffalo
PTY...@UBVMS.BITNET PTY...@UBVMS.CC.BUFFALO.EDU
Bayla Singer
Mar 27, 1992, 1:08:25 PM3/27/92
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Unfortunately, the distasteful phrase "to jap <one>," meaning to cheat or
defraud, was current at least as far back as I can remember, which is just
after WWII. It goes with the previous stereotype of all Asians being
sneaky, which preceded the current stereotype of all Asians being over-
achievers.
defraud, was current at least as far back as I can remember, which is just
after WWII. It goes with the previous stereotype of all Asians being
sneaky, which preceded the current stereotype of all Asians being over-
achievers.
---bayla
dst...@ducvax.auburn.edu
Mar 27, 1992, 1:32:54 PM3/27/92
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In article <1992Mar27.1...@acsu.buffalo.edu>, pty...@ubvmsb.cc.buffalo.edu (Seymour Axelrod) writes:
> "To jap out" is slang for something like "to renege, or back out of a
> commitment, or fail to deliver on a promise." Can anyone point to a
> derivation? I had thought that the expression reflected a belief in a
> national character flaw in the Japanese (Remember Pearl Harbor), but I
> don't recall hearing it until many years after World War Two, and am not aware
> that any current stereotype of the Japanese includes unreliability.
> "To jap out" is slang for something like "to renege, or back out of a
> commitment, or fail to deliver on a promise." Can anyone point to a
> derivation? I had thought that the expression reflected a belief in a
> national character flaw in the Japanese (Remember Pearl Harbor), but I
> don't recall hearing it until many years after World War Two, and am not aware
> that any current stereotype of the Japanese includes unreliability.
I seem to remember that it came from their violations of the Kellogg-Briand
pact or somesuch limiting the number of naval vessels allowed to the major
powers following WW1. Recall Japan took over Germany's possessions in
the Pacific (Marianas, Carolines, Marshalls) under a League of Nations
mandate, and proceeded to "mistreat" them.
Along with the various ways militaristic Japan of the early century
managed to mute opposition to their expansion by making false promises,
the expression seems to make sense.
Therefore one would guess the character flaw referred to was not
unreliability, but dishonesty.
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