WhatAEs in a name?

Prince Harry's in trouble for using racial slang. Eve Dugdale asks if it's really such a big deal We've all got nicknames for our friends and loved ones. Names we may not use in public or to address anyone who isn't close to us. Sometimes these names, which often focus on our looks or personality, could be taken as offensive if overheard by somebody outside our social circle. But when these names focus on someone's race or religion, how acceptable is it to use them full stop? England's Prince Harry recently came under fire for using a 'racist' name for a member of his army platoon. He has since issued an apology after a British newspaper published a video diary in which he calls one of his colleagues a 'Paki'. The British Army says it's taking the allegations 'very seriously', the British Prime Minister has slammed the incident as 'unacceptable', and the Muslim group, the Ramadhan Foundation, has called the young Prince a 'thug'. But the Prince has said he used the term about a friend, a highly popular member of his platoon, and without malice. So is it offensive to use words with racist connotations amongst your own friends? Kais Akram, 22, is a Dubai university student from Pakistan. He says many young people he knows use nicknames for each other that would be deemed offensive outside their friendship group. "I've got black and Chinese friends and even some white friends who all call me 'Paki'. "If it's a friend, it's all right, I would say something similar to them. If it's someone I didn't know or someone I knew was trying to insult me then that's different, and I would take it as offensive." Marco Blankenburgh is the founder of KnowledgeWorkx, a company that helps different nationalities learn how to adjust to and respect their new country and cultures. He has worked in the Arab world for 16 years and says what happened may have been an innocent dialogue between friends who address each other in this way all the time. He says it's been spun into a political issue. "People say stuff like that all the time. If you take this in the friends context and you observe the dynamics and camaraderie, it probably wasn't an issue, but when it is taken out of context, it then becomes an issue," he says. "It's not about speaking the right words, it's about triggering the right response. So it's my responsibility, as a speaker, to try and think, would saying it this way trigger the right response with that person? As opposed to it's only my responsibility to speak the right words." Ronaldo Policarpio, 27 is a bank worker from the Phillipines. He says the issue is about intent. "It depends on the person who says it and how they deliver the word. You will know from your heart if they're saying it to be offensive," he says. "It's not that the words are bad words, it's how they're delivered. If you know the person who is saying it has respect for you, then it's okay." But Alaa Khier, 25, a web designer from Syria says racist names are hurtful in any context. "I might accept it within my friend group considering our relationship, but I would find it a bit hard if it came from anybody else. "However, in both cases nobody likes to be called such words," he says. "As an Arab, disrespectful words are totally unacceptable for most, but for me the reaction might be different - I would just respect their opinion though it might hurt." There's an argument that the military environment is different to others and soldiers often use insulting or crude names for each other. Could it be that the prince has a nickname himself connected to his royal heritage or ginger hair, and it's just an accepted part of army life? Marco adds: "I was in the military and I know what people say to each other there. If any of it ever ended up in the newspaper you would have outrage. But at that time and in that context, it wasn't mean or degrading. "One thing I'm not in favour of is political correctness for the sake of it, because that just deadens communication. "Political correctness tries to dictate how people relate to one another. That is a dead-end road and people become so careful in communicating that they don't say things that should actually be said."

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