Who decided that we now call Orientals, Asians?

your other reply (the one that was NOT a tos violation) but it's gone again.

Maybe using the very common phrase "Sorry Charlie" pinched a nerve for "Terry" but a pinched nerve is not a ToS violation nor against the Forum Posting Policies so one must wonder why someone deleted the post but left the "Terry" post which actually ASKED FOR a response.

Possibly a "boggled mind" at fault?

a more correct/proper term, I would like to hear it. However, to refer to Far Easterners simply as Asians is incorrect and the fact that they like the term doesn't make it slant toward correctness, either. Ask a Russian, or a Saudi if it would. I'm not taking sides with any one part of the world, I'm just trying to be objective.

when you state that i said that 60% of the worlds population is wrong I never said or implied that. You're pretty arrogant yourself implying such.

Who are you to say they are wrong at deciding what offends them? Again, words from your finger tips and not mine. I only said that they do not have the right to want change my dialect and asking me use a term that is incorrect just because they like it and to use it with no regard to the rest of the people living/from the Asian continent. I really and truely have no problem with not calling them Orientals and I would refer to anyone from the Far East as they prefered, as long as they are correct in the term they are asking me to use. But, Asian is wrong and is used with no consideration to the rest of the people living on the Asian continent. ! I didn't decide that to call them Asian is wrong all on my own, it's just common sense.

When I use the term Oriental people, it's used with respect. I was taught respect as a child and I live by that now.

point out exactly where I said that you said, "that 60% of the worlds population is wrong". Just provide the Permalink from the bottom of the post where I said that....

And if you can post proof that people from the Far East should be correctly referred as simply Asians please post that proof. Otherwise you're wasting forum space because that's the only point I am interested in at the moment. So far you've offered nothing but meaningless lines like languages change .... To that I say continents haven't changed since recorded time.

Provide the link where I said it was the term Asian was the correct term for any of them. I believe I simply said that some of them are offended by the term "oriental". You're complaining about the fact that some of them don't like it does nothing to change the fact that some of them don't like it. What's next? Are you going to start complaing that blacks are wrong because some of them are offended by the "n" word?

that you missed my point I'd repeat it for you, but I'm thinking that's not the case. I am also thinking that you are intent on trying to re-direct my words and turn this into some sort of racist issue, but I'll not dignify your Afro American comment with further reply.

Let me state it plain and simple for you as I have for others earlier (and some of the others have done a damn good job of addressing my questions): Can you provide proof that people living in/from the Far East/Orient can rightfully lay claim to being called simply Asians and do so above other ethnic groups? I don't want to read about languages changing... blah blah... because that doesn't hold water either. If you can't do that for me then back off and chill with the racial innuendo.

You started this thread with:

When I use that word I do not intend any racial slur at all and I detest another insinuating that it's a slur/object. I'm sticking with Oriental.

And the when Josh pointed out that it was probably the Asians because people can be called what they want to be called you replied:

Then they are wrong and what gives people from another country the right to dictate how we speak? That would be arrogant as hell of them to insist on being called Asian, anyhow. Near sixty percent of the earth's population live on the Asian continent, so what makes them more Asian/special than the Arabs, Russians etc..?

What gives you the right to decide what someone else wants to be called or not? You're the one claiming they're wrong and you're right without backing up your own claim. Is it OK for you to decide what terms offend you or is it OK for others to simply label you however they please?

Again, if any one group of people insist on laying claim to being called simply Asians then it is wrong of them to do that. Can you prove differently? No you can't prove differently so let it alone, there's no shame. I am not the Judge and Jury about that fact and it's beyond you, too.

What gives you the right to decide what someone else wants to be called or not? I have no right to do that and I never pretended to have that right and I never said it. However, you have an issue with the fact that I am right and you can't prove that I am in any way wrong when I say that any one group of people living on the Asian continent can lay claim to being called simply Asians. So, you try and resort to dragging the conversation down to a racist agenda and imply that I think I am judge and jury--unfortunately not the case. But, if it were the case I'd fine you for contempt and strike your meaningless comments from the record!

i rounded it up in my reply

.,

That's like saying the weather hasn't changed. The continents are constantly changing.

But, Asian is wrong and is used with no consideration to the rest of the people living on the Asian continent.

according to you, for which "asians" is it ok to use the word and who exactly are the "rest"?

.,

no one group or country can lay claim to being called simply Asian. But it's not really a mater of my opinion or yours, it's fact.

Earthing, Humanoid or **** Sapiens?

We keep thinking of ourselves as "Apples and oranges" when we're just folks.

Now, you may consider yourself a basket of fruit. But, Im just folk.

Forster has his protagonist schoolteacher tell his fellow Anglos, 'We're not really white, you know; we're more of a pinko-grey.' He gets dirty looks for that. Everyone's sensitive about something. Some on SE had a reputation for button-pushing; some of those are no longer with us.

Speaking of pronunciations, I recall when a writer of dialect stories would have his Southerners say "Nigra" for "Negro". These days that's uncomfortably close to The Bad Word, but still (as I hear) a good approximation of speech.

Also: I still remember the controversy between the Tarantino and the Lee factions about the Blacks of Hawthorne, CA. (In Pulp Fiction.) Do they or do they not say The Bad Word- note this- to and about each other.? I know the answer from experience: Yes! The white boy was right and the colored boy was wrong.

but don't be surprised if a young "Oriental" spits at you or decks you for it. Language evolves, and formerly acceptable terms are replaced as consciousness and opoliteness increase. I still recall a powerful scene from a Horton Foote play illustrating this point (don't recall the name of the play, though). A sophisticated turn-of-the-last-Century mother was trying to instill proper (politically correct?) speech into her young daughter (probably 10 or so) who had just used the "N-word." Said the mother:
"We don't call them that, dear. We call them 'darkies.' "

-- Dave K, Speakeasy Moderator
click here to email semods4@yahoo.com

The opinions expressed above are my own,
and do not necessarily reflect those of CNET!

P.S. No offense intended by calling you Bileesq -- I think it looks better than your version, and you have no say in the matter, right?

wear it wineeeel. I mean no offense to you by using that term, it's just that you come across that way. Now why did you have to drag the topic down to using such terms anyhow? Why couldn't you stick with the primary topic. I tried to stick with the geographical locations of peoples and not personal slur's and also what would actually be a correct term to use while referring to Orientals. But, you had to interrupt the topic with that BS. For them to expect the rest of the world to refer to them as Asians might upset others and that's wrong. Wrong is wrong and maybe you do not care that you are wrong, or that you might be upsetting people from other parts of Asia, either. I don't like being slammed for using a correct term, or at least using a term that's been correct since way before I started talking. Being slammed for that and then being told that I should use an incorrect term is what got me on my soapbox to begin with. Like many I encounter, I typically don't hop on a wagon going the wrong way just because others say that it's the thing to do. Oh wait, maybe wagon is the wrong term to use now days, but don't ask me to call it a magic carpet.

is what should drive any change in language or terminology. That's a form of extortion should we should not be forced to tolerate...a backward step at least. It might also be that the term "darkies" was legitimately seen as PC and quite appropriate for a period in time. We should not cite these attempts in a way that scoffs them, IMO, but honor them....no matter how hard you gotta grit your teeth to do so.

and it doesn't matter what the percentage of the worlds population the Asian continent contains, the fact is that a Russian would every right to object, a Saudi would have every right to object, too. Now what's your point?

About others deciding what they would like to be called, I don't care, but there's no need to be incorrect about it. I have no problem with the term African-American as it's at least semi-correct in a PC world. The arguement of the word Oriental refering to objects alone is wrong, too

Responding to posts before reading the entire thread!

All I know is that my brother (who works at at University) was told by such a person, that his use of Oriental was offensive and that they preferred to be called Asian. Since then, I've used "Asian". As far as it being inaccurate I can see your point, but that doesn't seem to matter. Like in the case of African-American. To me, that would denote someone who was from Africa who became American. Most under the term are US-born.

The only thing that is sure is that it's hard to keep up! It sometimes seems to me that groups of peoples randomly get tired of being called something, decide they're offended, and then pick another descriptor to use!

Cindi "don't call me ******" Haynes

I know a man from Taiwan and he prefers to be called Taiwanese, but Oriental, or Asian is ok too. He says it's all in the tone spoken more than the word used while addressing him is what counts most. He also said that he couldn't rightfully defend the right to be called simply Asian as Asia has many different groups and all the inhabitants of Asia could be called rightfully be called Asian.

Perhaps some day it will be African-US'n.

Next we'll hear that it's not PC to call someone born of the American continent, American.

We all need to get over this cr@p we call "political correctness." All it's good for is hiding from the truth while we paint ourselves into corners. If someone cannot handle the truth, tough!

Disclaimer: If anyone believes these statements not to be politically correct, it's only because you "can't handle the truth" and need to get over it!

I think we need to be more reasonable in our thinking when we use certain terms that are considered offensive to some. As well, the easily offended need to lighten up and quit looking for excuses to gripe. When need just a touch of PC but not so much it becomes absurd. We, long ago, crossed that line I would say. A small crack in the wall requires a small patch and not a complete re-engineering job that's disruptive to the whole neighborhood. As well, once something is fixed, we don't need to go looking for where we think cracks just might appear and renovate those areas in advance....not even knowing what materials are suitable for the work. It's a waste of time and money with little or no return that can better be spent elsewhere when we try to fix things that are just inventions of the mind. The end result often being that, to prevent being offensive to one person, we offend or inconvenience many more. We should learn to know what is truely an intent to offend by another and what is just a hair triggered hot button of our own.