Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was told years ago that oriental referred to carpets and groceries, not people, and that it could be offensive. I pretty much only hear "asian" and have so for the past 7+ years.
It is PC to use Asian. Oriental is just an older term, really no big deal at all. In Stony Brook, the Asian food store is named "ORIENTAL MARKET" and all the Asians shop there...so who knows....can't be that bad.
I'm Taiwanese-American. I have not heard people use the word "Oriental" lately to refer to East Asians. I heard the term Oriental alot more when I was a kid back in the 1970's in New York. People here in Southern California just refer to East Asians as Asians. Ironically, on the rare occassion when I hear people use the world "Oriental" it is from a FOB East Asian.
It is PC to use Asian. Oriental is just an older term, really no big deal at all. In Stony Brook, the Asian food store is named "ORIENTAL MARKET" and all the Asians shop there...so who knows....can't be that bad.
I shop there and I am not Asian. It is only a quasi-Oriental Market!
I haven't heard Oriental used; mainly Asian. On the flipside of course, I've heard Chinese being applied towards anyone who could be Chinese, Korean, Phillipino, etc...I'm not Ms. PC but some things I don't have time for.
I usually use the term Asian, but I don't find Oriental to be so horrendous. Afterall, don't people often refer to East Asia as the "Orient"? Ever heard of "Murder on the Orient Express"? I think this is just the PC police gone wild again.
The problem with the term Asian is that it is too broad. Technically, India is part of Asia. In the UK, they refer to Indians as "Asians". There is no distinction.
The other problem is that Asian is also a race. Indians are considered part of the Caucasian race and not the Asian one. So, as you can see, it's very very confusing.
It seems as time progresses each generation decides that certain words, for whatever reason, go from being acceptable to being offensive.
Perhaps 50 years from now 'Asian' will be deemed 'outdated and innacurate' and some other, proper and 'politically correct' word will take it's place, only to eventually suffer the same fate as its predecessors..
A co-worker is Korean and is contantly being asked if he speaks Mandarin. His last response to the question was "DO I LOOK Moderator cut: language CHINESE TO YOU??" The question asker after clearly seeing that "yes" is not the right answer backed away. We laughed it up. I haven't heard "oriental" when refering to a person ever. Asian.
Last edited by nancy thereader; 05-07-2009 at 05:49 PM..
I say Chinese. I don't care if the person is from Korea, Japan, or Chicago. If they're "asian", "oriental" etc etc, they're Chinese.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
