pakis is a proscribed word because racists in the UK made it so, due to their history of using it as an epithet
it's not intrinsically racist word, it's a simple diminutive like 'Aussie'. So given that australia doesn't have a racist and troubled history with our pakistani community, only aussies who are aware of how it's been used by racist brits might avoid it, ironically or not. And given that you hardly hear it on in british tv unless you happen to be watching some gritty council estate drama or doco about football hooligans, it'd be hard to pick up for those not tuned into british culture
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cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Sun 29 Jan 2023, 2:26,
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i don't think wog was every used other than in a derogatory context when used for people,
though it seems to be reclaimed somewhat in australia (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wog_Boys_Forever) where it was reserved for greeks, italians and lebos . i think it has broader usage in england to mean anyone with dark skin, though I could be wrong
it was also used as a word for a cold or flu among older australians, "not coming into work, I've got a nasty wog" ,though I've no idea of the etymology of either usage
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cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Sun 29 Jan 2023, 7:07,
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I think it was pretty innocuous at one point
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wog_Boy
I could be wrong, but I remember telling an Aussie friend (well I say friend, as if I would stoop so low!) that it would have caused a scandal in UK.
This was decades ago, usage of some words change as pointed out in this thread
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simbosan is too tired, Sun 29 Jan 2023, 8:22,
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nah, the bloke who was it in was one of the first to reclaim it (in a tv show Acropolis Now), and in doing so took a bit of the sting out of it.
a bit like the lgb community reclaimed queer for themselves
but it was always an epithet. but it has a different application in australia. It's a bit like i was talking about with paki, or words like fanny and pissed between the uk and the states.
there was an actor in that wog boy film who was going out with my cousin a few years previous to it. they split and she got stuck with the dog.
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cumquat may will not be commenting further on the allegations, Sun 29 Jan 2023, 12:19,
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