Female pop star Billy Eilish has had to prostrate herself before the media because of having once used a word which apparently is so bad that it could not be referred to even using the *** notation on any major news website.
A lot of googling turned the word up to seemingly be 'chink'
There was one website that was crazy enough to explain that she had said 'c***k' from which I was able to cunningly deduce that the word must probably be chink.
I then googled chink and found the Wikipedia page that claims it is a highly offensive racial slur akin to 'n****r'.
I know in these racially hyper-sensitive times of the past 12 months that everyone is walking on linguistic ethnic eggshells but I was surprised that the Wikipedia page does not make any reference to what I understand to be the term's relatively benign historical use.
When I was a kid 'chinky' was a name for a chinese restaurant or takeaway and was not thought of or intended to be disparaging. It was if anything a familiar and affectionate nickname.
By Wikipedia saying that the term is and always has been exclusively a highly offensive slur it seems like history is being rewritten for the benefit of the ultra-sensitive modern day frumps.
In these matronly and frowning times I would be unlikely to use the term myself in the company of chinese people but I don't think of it as especially offensive as an ethnic nickname.
By all means mark it as impolite today, and to be avoided, but don't rewrite linguistic history for the purposes of white-washed political newspeak.