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I find your post very interesting. While it may not offend you and you are certainly entitled to your opinion. If you, or the other poster who is not offended by other obviously slanderous terms such as 'ch*nk" then you may not be representative of the majority of Asian Americans. From what I have read so many Asians in American find it offensive that it is now defined this way:
ORIENTAL (noun)
The noun ORIENTAL has 1 sense: 1. a member of an Oriental race; the term is regarded as offensive by Asians (especially by Asian Americans)
Familiarity information: ORIENTAL used as a noun is very rare.
I'm not sure dictionaries are in the business of being overly PC. Seems like enough Asian Americans feel this way that it has merit. That's not overly PC, it's being sensitive to others and their feelings. I could not find a link showing poll results but I remember being told this by my boss in the '80's that oriental is not the correct term to use.
I would be willing to wager that only a small minority of Asian Americans are actually offended by the term, and most of them only because a non-Asian American person suggested to them that they should be offended by it, and they went along with it because "when in Rome, do as the Romans do" and it is very American to get offended at trivialities. I'd also be willing to wager that this dictionary entry was not written by an Asian American.
If you guys would like to decide whatever word is PC now, go right ahead, we'll say it too because we are also Americans and we try to follow the rules, but please stop asserting that the majority of Asian Americans actually care. We don't.
Curious, was your boss Asian American? Because I remember my Chinese mother referring to herself and to me as "Orientals" back in the 80's, with nary a thought as to any sort of positive or negative connotation.
I am also a Chinese American. I do not find the term "Oriental" offensive in the slightest. What I DO find rather offensive is the nerve of the politicians to lower us to the standards of other groups by making a show of banning a word in our name.
Oriental means from the orient. It's not an offensive term in any way. Oriental / Asian people, at least the ones I know and am related to, generally don't bother themselves with such ridiculousness. It's silly, immature, and inconsequential. I am, however, rather irked by the politicians trying to make us look like we are a bunch of whiney crybabies who need a word to be banned. We don't. If the rest of you folks want to get all wrapped up in your PC wars, that's fine, but please leave us out of it.
If you actually looked at the law in question, you would see that the change was from a reference to non-Americans ("oriental") to "Asian-American." In the context of the specific documents changed by the law, "oriental" was technically incorrect whether one considers it offense or not. It was as though the document said "African" instead of "African-American."
If Asians don't like the term, that's enough for me to stop using it.
Why argue?
It's no different than using negro to describe blacks. Blacks Don't like it so folks stopped using it. Same principle.
Agreed, but who made the name change because trying to be PC....
I think the point of this thread is, if you are not part of that "whatever name" and you or your group is not mad, then why should anyone care? Yet it's obvious people do that, just take the Redskin controversy, when those that are considered Redskin were asked if they were offended, 9 out of 10 said no....
And BTW, I agree with what you have said....I know huh.....
I thought you said Oriental referred to things, then show a definition that refers to it being used to describe people(race)?
"the term is regarded as offensive by Asians (especially by Asian Americans)"
Guess all the Asian Americans that have Oriental in the name of their Restaurants, Grocery stores, Theaters, or other businesses are just out to offend people, huh
As I was answering a question presented to me by dechatelet I was simply quoting an Asian professor, my boss from 30 years ago, as well as Asians I have spoke with on the subject when I explained the reason it was offensive was it refers to a thing, not a person. This would apply to restaurants, grocery stores, theaters or other businesses as well as rugs to site my example.
The reason I posted that definition was to point out that it it's not the PC crowd, even the dictionary lists it as offensive too Asians particularly in America.
As I was answering a question presented to me by dechatelet I was simply quoting an Asian professor, my boss from 30 years ago, as well as Asians I have spoke with on the subject when I explained the reason it was offensive was it refers to a thing, not a person. This would apply to restaurants, grocery stores, theaters or other businesses as well as rugs to site my example.
The reason I posted that definition was to point out that it it's not the PC crowd, even the dictionary lists it as offensive too Asians particularly in America.
The word has a two thousand year old history and in the 1970s a Leftist professor decided it was a derogatory term. The term did not even come from any Asian language, so why would an Asian person, which could include any one of hundreds of Nationalities, Ethnic groups, or even races decide it was a derogatory term.
Personally, like most people I'll adapt to what ever our Society determines is PC, just like people in Saudi or Iran all adjust to what is important in their society. Afterall, its just a big popularity contest.
Agreed, but who made the name change because trying to be PC....
I think the point of this thread is, if you are not part of that "whatever name" and you or your group is not mad, then why should anyone care? Yet it's obvious people do that, just take the Redskin controversy, when those that are considered Redskin were asked if they were offended, 9 out of 10 said no....
And BTW, I agree with what you have said....I know huh.....
Wow just wow, sometimes, even when someone give you a compliment, you still attempt to put them down....keep it real BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!
Wow just wow, sometimes, even when someone give you a compliment, you still attempt to put them down....keep it real BROTHER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! !!!!!!!!!
Agreeing with me is a compliment? Geez...you hold yourself in pretty high esteem, don't you?
I didn't put you down. I said simply reaffirmed that you agreed. OK. Gotcha.
Don't know why you want me to be your brother, but that's a topic for another day.
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. The term did not even come from any Asian language, so why would an Asian person, which could include any one of hundreds of Nationalities, Ethnic groups, or even races decide it was a derogatory term.
