Quote Originally Posted by Indra
That is, any ethnic-related addressing is offfensive.
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You worry too much! There are all kinds of situations that do not fit into your blanket.

Anyway, what is the root meaning of Hachi. Perhaps if we can figure out what the direct translation is we can see for ourselves if this should be considered offensive, since people can not agree on how offensive this word is. Anything can be offensive if said in a certain way. Some words have no offensive origins but become cosidered offensive by intent. Given the debate around "hachi" perhaps this is the case here too.

Consider the word "n$gger" which at present can not be written without the risk of being deleted. Yet this word did not begin to be considered offensive until the late 1960's and was even used by teachers in classrooms in state run schools.