G'day,
Interesting thread. COB, well said! My particular phrase, "we are over civilized"!
My two cents on "Japs"; lived in northern Japan for 4 years, had many Japanese men and woman working for me and I made many Japanese acquaintances and a handful of good friends. Every nationality and race seems to have a "tag(s)", in the case of this thread, the tag IDed is "Japs". I found, while living in Japan, it can be derogatory or just somewhat of a friendly slur, depending on the situation, context and tone used when spoken. I'm sure that's the case for every nationality and race. I'll say Japs on occassion but mostly say/write Japanese.
And, as and obsevation: I'm very happy to see no one has offended anyone by suggesting they are......... articulate.
Cheers