to chink away at

[JTRiff]

no tteacher

It's a bad choice of word. You chip away at something, never heard chink away, it's bad English.

[cubezero3]

A few years ago, while I was talking with an Englishwoman, she said that I had quite a large build for a chink, if I remember it correctly. She's from Cornwall. Her son is a very good friend of mine. I didn't think she meant anything negative, so I just laughed.

I guess as time goes by, many words that have been viewed as offensive may drop their negative conotation to the point both the speaker and listener would feel anything unusual about them.

[freezeframe]

A few years ago, while I was talking with an Englishwoman, she said that I had quite a large build for a chink, if I remember it correctly. She's from Cornwall. Her son is a very good friend of mine. I didn't think she meant anything negative, so I just laughed.

I guess as time goes by, many words that have been viewed as offensive may drop their negative connotation to the point both the speaker and listener would feel anything unusualy about them.

It depends on a situation. Perhaps one doesn't take offense if it's someone they know and are aware that the person doesn't mean to offend. It's better to be cautious.

My personal views aside, saying words that are considered offensive can have serious repercussions for a person's career, school, etc.