[karajorma]

'Paki' is different because it's often used to refer to all people who look middle Eastern, but from what I've heard, it is fairly normal for Pakistanis to use it between themselves.

It's not actually. I can't remember ever hearing it used in that way. There are a few who tried to "reclaim" it same as black people did with nigger but mostly they were beaten down and told to stop cause that just doesn't work.

No. Absolutely not. It is not an acceptable abbreviation because it is a racist slur. Most such terms are shorter than the words they replace, or they wouldn't roll off the tongue so easily. That doesn’t make them acceptable in civilized discourse.

I tend to believe they're shorter cause the kind of people who use them have trouble with longer words.

[Rian]

Fair enough. 

[Aardwolf]

(Stupid parallel also involving WWII)

Nazis (National Socialist party) chose the short name for themselves.

[General Battuta]

I, for one, was not alive during the second world war, nor were any of you as far as I am aware.

None of us were alive during slavery or Jim Crow or any of that either, but you damn well can't get away with using the terminology that resulted.

This thread should be over. Now. This shouldn't be a debate.

[Mongoose]

Seriously.  A forum user from Japan stated that he didn't like the use of the term because of its connotations.  That invalidates any and all counter-arguments right there.

I'm going to go ahead and lock this, because I can't see it going anywhere constructive.  If one of the global mods/admins feels like it's worth unlocking and shipping over to GD, feel free.