Pretty much any group of people that can be categorized in one way or another will have some form of name attached to them and ethnicity and race are just two of the ways in which people are grouped.
Disabled people, the police, the unemployed, rich people, criminals etc all have colloquial names (retards, pigs, spongers, hooray Henries, crims etc).
Quite how derogatory or contemptuous a name is would depend more on the connotations associated with it and the context in which it was used. In the case of race and ethnicity terms such as Paki or coon are considered far more offensive than wop or dago which in turn are more offensive than Aussie or pom.
Words and their associations can change over time, for example, when Agatha Christie wrote 'Ten Little Niggers' the word had far less of an ugly meaning than it does today.
However, to answer your question... In the majority of cases the use of names related to race and ethnicity are derogatory and are used by a person out of a sense of superiority or contempt.
2006-08-10 02:28:12
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answer #1
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answered by Trevor 7
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No dear, it's eyeties. It means Italian and comes from American English. Some years ago the USA invaded Eyerak. Still looking for it on the map. Don't know where spiks comes from - before or after my time. Why? Partly ignorance and partly trying to put other nations down. Not a good idea, what with all this globalisation. Confusingly Italians used to be called chinks in Switzerland - this came from a card game which Italians used to play, it had something to do with winning when you scored five, cinque, pronounced chinkway.
2006-08-10 02:06:22
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answer #2
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answered by cymry3jones 7
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Simply because they are racist bigots, my grandad endured most of his time in this country been called an Hi-ti because he was Italian, they even put him in jail during the second world war because he was Italian and was considered a threat to the UK, both of his sons were fighting for the UK as soldiers, how sad is that that they did that to him, he was released after a huge outcry from his friends, neighbours and family, but that is what hatred and bigotry does to people, it is so sad, no idea what a Spik is though, probably some other horrid racist meaning hey.
2006-08-10 02:35:14
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answer #3
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answered by Anonymous
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I can listen to a car running, and without even seeing most cars, I can tell you the make--just by the sound of the engine. Most people can be assessed by the emissions they make.
Boaz.
2006-08-10 02:08:49
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answer #4
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answered by Boaz 4
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It's not just Ities and Spiks, there are wogs and wops too !
2006-08-10 02:00:20
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answer #5
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answered by Spook 3
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Hi ties....lol thats the funiest thing I,ve heard all week.
It's Ities as in Italians.........
2006-08-10 01:59:32
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answer #6
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answered by Anonymous
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Ities, spics, wops etc. are all terms not now in polite use. So, the answer is-They don't.
2006-08-10 02:00:43
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answer #7
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answered by Harriet 5
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Cause they can. What do you think they call you when you go to their country, Mary Poppins ??
2006-08-10 02:00:49
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answer #8
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answered by Michael S 3
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don't forget the chinks and the paki's, the paddies and the brits
2006-08-10 02:01:49
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answer #9
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answered by Anonymous
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Because they are different and that scares (some) people
2006-08-10 02:01:55
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answer #10
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answered by e404pnf 3
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