How is "Oriental" used in America? (store, furnishings)

[Neutre]

Hi!
How is the term oriental used in America?
Do you ever use it?
If you do, do you usually use it pertaining to the Mideast, the Indian Subcontinent, the Far East, Southeastern Asia, or something else?
Only for objects (carpets, rugs, etc.) or also for people?
Is it, or did it use to be derogatory?
Thanks

[tpk-nyc]

It's not really used anymore with regard to people or geography. The preferred general term is Asian.

[TheWereRabbit]

Oriental when referring to people is kinda outdated but it would mean east asians including s.e asia (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietmanese, Cambodian, Laotian, etc.)

[motormaker]

My MIL would describe her household furnishings as Oriental and she is a Native American,

[ElizaTeal]

Originally Posted by Neutre

Hi!
How is the term oriental used in America?
Do you ever use it?
If you do, do you usually use it pertaining to the Mideast, the Indian Subcontinent, the Far East, Southeastern Asia, or something else?
Only for objects (carpets, rugs, etc.) or also for people?
Is it, or did it use to be derogatory?
Thanks

The proper use of the word Oriental is to describe objects and not not people.

[Neutre]

Thank you!

Originally Posted by TheWereRabbit

Oriental when referring to people is kinda outdated but it would mean east asians including s.e asia (Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Vietmanese, Cambodian, Laotian, etc.)

Would Philippines and Indonesians be considered Oriental as well?

[skinem]

In spite of the wishes and desires of the PC crowd, Oriental is still used, rightly or wrongly, by many people in America when referring to folks from Asia. I still hear it, usually from people over a certain age (of which I expect I belong to that age-group) and have never heard it used with the intent to disparage or belittle. I suspect that there are still many older people in this country that would be surprised that the term is viewed negatively by more and more people.

The term is also used to describe things in style or origin as well as to describe a direction or region.

[blkgiraffe]

Originally Posted by skinem

In spite of the wishes and desires of the PC crowd, Oriental is still used, rightly or wrongly, by many people in America when referring to folks from Asia. I still hear it, usually from people over a certain age (of which I expect I belong to that age-group) and have never heard it used with the intent to disparage or belittle. I suspect that there are still many older people in this country that would be surprised that the term is viewed negatively by more and more people.

The term is also used to describe things in style or origin as well as to describe a direction or region.

Yeah, my mom uses the word.

"That store is owned by them orientals".

It's usually used where I'm from to describe asians or anything related to the Asian culture.

[mdp_az]

I use it to refer to a little waterfront town that is the sailing capital of my state: Oriental, NC

[tpk-nyc]

PC or not, you will raise eyebrows if you use the term in educated company.