Donal: "Paki" in Brit usage is now akin to calling an Italian "Iti", a Chinese "Chinkie" etc. You Yanks do things differently, obviously.
That's odd. I thought of it as an abbreviation -- exactly like "Yank" -- rather than as a slur. To any belated Pakistani readers, I apologize, though not with great intensity, if I have offended.
Apropos of [in]sensitivity, an essay from _Best American Essays 2007_* points out that the transition from "Bombay" to "Mumbai" was foisted upon the world by an elite caste group of perhaps a few hundred people to serve their own ends. The rest of the world, terrified of being thought insensitive, obediently revised their maps.
Eric _____ *Name available upon request because I am far too lazy to go fetch the book from the stack behind the stack.
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