Thread: Is this derogatory?

Is this derogatory? If so how bad and what does it mean anyway. I don't know the Russian spelling because I have only seen it written in Latin letters. "Hachi"

Yes. This is insulting for Arabs.

I saw it written in connection to Chechnyans. One Russian girl thought it was bad and one Rusian guy thought it was OK. What is the root of this word?

Originally Posted by DDT

I saw it written in connection to Chechnyans. One Russian girl thought it was bad and one Rusian guy thought it was OK. What is the root of this word?

There is an armenian name Hachik, so armenian is hachik/hach, like german is fritz, englishman is john and russian is ivan. Chechens are not hachies.

Originally Posted by JJ

There is an armenian name Hachik, so armenian is hachik/hach, like german is fritz, englishman is john and russian is ivan. Chechens are not hachies.

Хачи/хачики is often used to talk about armenians, georgians, chechens and other "arab-looking" nations, though not arabs themselves. It's rather derogatory.

Funny. Hachi was the awesome general in the Advance Wars series...

Hachi, hachik is not insulting.

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

Hachi, hachik is not insulting.

How can you be so sure? Yeah, some people use it without intention to insult, it's just a word to describe a group of people, but may be that's insulting for hachiks.

ask them.

Originally Posted by gRomoZeka

Originally Posted by JJ

There is an armenian name Hachik, so armenian is hachik/hach, like german is fritz, englishman is john and russian is ivan. Chechens are not hachies.

Хачи/хачики is often used to talk about armenians, georgians, chechens and other "arab-looking" nations, though not arabs themselves. It's rather derogatory.

I agree: it is derogatory. Many examples on Google

Originally Posted by Vincent Tailors

ask them.

Dangerous experiment. Смерти моей хочешь?
А если серьезно, мне и спрашивать незачем. Я знаю, что обижаются, если в лицо так назвать.

trust me, Hichiki is very insulting for them. It's almost as insulting as to say nigger in an african-american neigborhood. Although russians use it, I wouldn't do it when they are around.

What if I come and say, "You, Afro-American, could you tell me please where is the police station?"
If I find myself at hospital instead, will it mean that saying "afro-american" is derogatory?
That is, any ethnic-related addressing is offfensive.

NB: The word hachik is derogatory in any case.

Originally Posted by Indra

That is, any ethnic-related addressing is offfensive.
.

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.