Who decided that we now call Orientals, Asians?

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Not always practical

by EdH Jul 2, 2007 12:07PM PDT

If you get mugged and the police ask you to describe the attacker you might not know his name and might have to provide a description based on race, sex, weight, height, etc.

And, of course there are millions of other similar situations.

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According to Webster's....

by C1ay Jul 2, 2007 6:56AM PDT

Main Entry: Asian
Pronunciation: 'A-zh&n also -sh&n
Function: adjective
: of, relating to, or characteristic of the continent of Asia or its people

Main Entry: ori">http://www.m-w.com/dictionary/oriental]ori

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For anyone who wants to know if they are

by Steven Haninger Jul 2, 2007 7:52AM PDT

or want to be smarter than a fifth grader.

http://www.nationalgeographic.com/xpeditions/lessons/05/g68/whatisasia.html

I thought this was an interesting approach. Scrolling down near the bottom there are suggested extended lessons...one of which is to determine when certain terms such as the Orient, SE Asia, etc. came to be and why. But, I think you have to find the answers yourself. Bummer!

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In retrospect....

by lylesg Jul 2, 2007 8:21AM PDT

perhaps I should have chosen another title for my original post because in no way did I intended that anybody take personal offense, or feel that my post was directed as a racial agenda, that's not the case at all. I am proud to say that I have friends/family of several different races from around the world.

As I mentioned earlier in a post, I was caught off guard the other day when another interrupted me while in conversation and implied that I was wrong using the word Oriental in referring to one from the Far East (China in-fact) and that I should use the term Asian (it happened twice in the same week.) So, being a bit embarrassed I set out on a mission to determine a more accurate term to use other than Asian and trying to be mindful of other people/nationalities living on the Asian continent, too. My friend from Russia makes a good point in that he might be considered an Asian. I'll try and be mindful of that, too.

Happy 4th to you all!

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While I still can, and maybe off topic

by Steven Haninger Jul 2, 2007 8:22AM PDT

I'd like to say this is about the most interesting discussion, IMO, this forum has produced in a while. My wife teaches in an elementary school (K- and her school has been selected to introduce a Chinese Mandarin language and culture course using the internet. She's actually the technology person who will be responsible for the "distance learning" equipment and implementation of the background processes. This is a joint Chinese/American venture, as I understand. I will ask her to pose this question when school starts in the fall and get, at least, the Chinese viewpoint. Thank you for introducing it regardless of where it ends up.

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(NT) Do keep me posted. :)

by lylesg Jul 2, 2007 8:25AM PDT

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Good point. My wife has been studying

by drpruner. Jul 2, 2007 8:42AM PDT

Mandarin, in order to annoy even more people on Saturday mornings. Given the nature of what she's doing, cultural information is a big part of the class. Goes for schoolteaching too, I suppose. 1 Pet 3:15

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I have to share this one, I love it....

by lylesg Jul 2, 2007 10:42AM PDT

Well, this one confused my wife mightily- she is Russian, and kept putting "Asian" on questionaires, because that is where she is from LOL- or my South African friend that is white that keeps calling himself "African-American"- and my wife thinks of Americans as a seperate race, as do most non-Americans - so, good luck!

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A very important question related to this subject

by Steven Haninger Jul 2, 2007 11:06AM PDT

Does this put a kibosh on the "Confucius Say" jokes?

That would be over the line.

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No time for jokes.

by drpruner. Jul 2, 2007 2:20PM PDT

I'm off to look for hot Asian babes per the ads below this thread.

(That Google is one racist outfit!)

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You have sinned.....and for your penance

by Steven Haninger Jul 3, 2007 7:03AM PDT

3 Hail Marys

and

3 nights working in the BINGO hall.

That'll learn ya'!

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The most correct term would be, ........

by lylesg Jul 2, 2007 11:07PM PDT

geographically speaking and aside from fact that the geographical area is also referred to as the Orient, or the Far East, East Asian (s). In an ever increasing mixture of various world societies all around the globe East Asian holds more water than simply using the word Asian. It also establishes that there are other nationalities located in other parts of the Asian continent not to be confused with the people living in the Far Eastern areas.

If anybody here suggested that term already(I lost track) kudo's to you! lol

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I was first told of this preference in the 70's

by Dragon Jul 3, 2007 10:52PM PDT

So the preference may have started long before that. I don't remember now what the rationale was, it's been so long.

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That rationale might be contained here

by Steven Haninger Jul 3, 2007 11:05PM PDT

"The real problem with Oriental is more likely its connotations stemming from an earlier era when Europeans viewed the regions east of the Mediterranean as exotic lands full of romance and intrigue, the home of despotic empires and inscrutable customs"

http://www.answers.com/topic/oriental.

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Or

by Dragon Jul 4, 2007 12:26AM PDT

东方诸国的, 东方的, 亚洲的, 东方人, 亚洲人

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I lost my Captain Midnight decoder ring

by Steven Haninger Jul 4, 2007 2:52AM PDT

and cannot decipher your reply.

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The decoder ring

by Dragon Jul 8, 2007 1:31PM PDT

copy paste it into Google and see what happens. It didn't quite work, here...

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Sort of worked

by Steven Haninger Jul 8, 2007 7:29PM PDT

I suspected it was an extended character set or other keyboard code for some other language. I didn't bother to add those sets to my PC. I did that once and things got ugly.

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I lost my Captain Midnight decoder ring

by taboma Jul 8, 2007 2:47PM PDT

Steve. I still have mine.
Eat your heart out.

-Kevin

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