sb., colloquial abbreviation of JAPANESE.
1870. Daily Examiner (S. F., CA), 3 Jan., 3/4, heading. The Japs in Oakland.
c. 1880. (Remembered in colloquial use in London.)
1890. Lit. World, 11 July, 23. The fearlessness of death, which makes a Jap submit to the loss of his own life rather than to permit the death of a father to go unavenged.
1893. Athenæum, 20 May, 639/3. Directly a good demand arises for a book, the Japs print for themselves.
1896. Westm. Gaz., 3 Nov., 6/3. Fifty years ago it was only a few gardeners … who grew chrysanthemums, and … only about twelve distinct varieties of ‘Japs’ were to be found.
