Cheese

The word “cheese” is used as a racial slur towards Asians.

The term “cheese” derives from the time before WW2 where Asia was the leading manufacturer of all different cheeses (Note that Asia, and Japan more specifically do not make as much cheese as they used to, and are definitely not the worlds leading continent in cheese making). To save money and man power for the war effort, they gave away cheese making techniques and recipes to their allies in Europe. After Pearl Harbor and the USA’s introduction into the war, American soldiers used cheese as an insult to Asian soldiers because they used to make cheese, and because drafted teenage soldiers had a lot of acne, which the Americans claimed looked like a “Cheese Face.”

Person 1: What’s up, you smelly cheese face!
Person 2, conflicted: Don’t call me that! That’s racist!