# Does anyone actually object to "oriental"? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [January 6, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970 "2007-01-06T20:52:48Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Molly\_Polly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ea5d25/32.png) [@Molly\_Polly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Molly_Polly)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 8:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/1 "2007-01-06T20:52:48Z")
I’ve only heard this in one context- My Asian friends are continually amazed that Anglos think oriental is offensive to them. They do not get it. Neither do I. Tomato tomato. ---
**Author:** ![Penchan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/74df32/32.png) [@Penchan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Penchan)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 9:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/2 "2007-01-06T21:34:23Z")
I don’t like it. It’s a rather un-PC term. I prefer Asian or whatever ethnicity the person is (Chinese, Indonesian, etc.). But take this with a grain of salt since I majored in Asian American Studies and the professors lectured on pretty radical theories. Oh, and I also live in Berkeley, CA so I also have “you have to be PC!” shoved in my face all the time. ---
**Author:** ![JThunder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/e95f7d/32.png) [@JThunder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JThunder)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 9:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/3 "2007-01-06T21:38:21Z")
I don’t object to it. A lot of people prefer to say “Asian,” but the two terms are by no means synonymous. Indians and Pakistanis, for example, are Asian but not Oriental. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 9:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/4 "2007-01-06T21:42:41Z")
There are some. They’ll be along shortly. Be prepared to roll eyes. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/5 "2007-01-06T21:50:36Z")
It’s particularly necessary over here, where the word “Asian” means “South Asian” almost exclusively. Nobody oriental that I know objects to it. ---
**Author:** ![TheLoadedDog](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/35a633/32.png) [@TheLoadedDog](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TheLoadedDog)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 10:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/6 "2007-01-06T22:12:25Z")
[QUOTE=jjimm] It’s particularly necessary over here, where the word “Asian” means “South Asian” almost exclusively. Nobody oriental that I know objects to it. [/QUOTE] And that’s a thing that continually amazes me (from an Australian viewpoint). Although I know that “Asian” can be anywhere east on Istanbul in a geographic sense, the word only applies to East Asians here. Indians are, well, “Indian” unless they tell you they are Pakistani or something. Getting back to the OP, I have a vague sense of “oriental” being offensive, but only mildly offensive in a Kipling kinda way. After all, it just means “Eastern”. Most Vietnamese and Chinese I know would at best only be passingly familiar with the word (if they know it at all), and would be bemused by any notion of offence. They use “Asian” exclusively. Indeed, so do the racists I’ve met. ---
**Author:** ![KlondikeGeoff](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/3e96dc/32.png) [@KlondikeGeoff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KlondikeGeoff)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/7 "2007-01-06T22:57:05Z")
This PC crap drives me up the wall. Who in the world decided suddenly that there was something wrong with “Oriental?” Did they consult any Orientals, or just decide on their own? Anyhoo, neither my Japanese wife nor any of her family nor any of her friends nor our half-Japanese children or any other Oriental I know objects. Aside from those Berkeley professors, perhaps nobody does. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Chez\_Guevara](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/aeb1de/32.png) [@Chez\_Guevara](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chez_Guevara)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/8 "2007-01-06T23:00:04Z")
I used the word _oriental_ once but it was by occident. ---
**Author:** ![Burrido](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/3be4f8/32.png) [@Burrido](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Burrido)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/9 "2007-01-06T23:04:28Z")
Yes, I do. ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/10 "2007-01-06T23:07:26Z")
Within the context of the United States, if the word was used without any apparent malice, I wouldn’t take offense but I would be taken aback a little, since the term has largely fallen out of favor. The only context I can honestly imagine it being used is if the speaker was very old-fashioned, which is no fault, or if he/she was deliberately trying to demonstrate that he/she does not abide by current linguistic trends, which is just obnoxious. I think the term comparable to ‘negro’. There is nothing inherently wrong with the word, just the historical associations are not very pleasant. ---
**Author:** ![Evil\_Captor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/f17d59/32.png) [@Evil\_Captor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Evil_Captor)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/11 "2007-01-06T23:30:16Z")
[QUOTE=Burrido] Yes, I do. [/QUOTE] :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Kayeby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/9de0a6/32.png) [@Kayeby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kayeby)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/12 "2007-01-06T23:33:25Z")
As **TLD** indicated, almost nobody says Oriental here. I’ve heard it used maybe 10 times in my life, and always by older people. I find it dated but not offensive. On the other hand if an Australian in my generation used it I’d think they were strange - not racist, but potentially one of those tiring people who goes around wearing their un-PCness as a badge of honour. ---
**Author:** ![rowrrbazzle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rowrrbazzle/32/414_2.png) [@rowrrbazzle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/rowrrbazzle)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/13 "2007-01-06T23:36:17Z")
[QUOTE=r4nd0mNumb3rs] Within the context of the United States, if the word was used without any apparent malice, I wouldn’t take offense but I would be taken aback a little, since the term has largely fallen out of favor. [/quote] On college campuses and in the surrounding areas, I don’t doubt it. But other than that, what is the extent of this “largely”? Do you have some polls, for example? Broken down by region and age would be nice. ---
**Author:** ![athelas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5e9695/32.png) [@athelas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/athelas)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/14 "2007-01-06T23:42:43Z")
I don’t mind, although if I could sue and get either positive attention, revenge against an enemy, or money out of it, I might consider it. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/15 "2007-01-06T23:56:56Z")
[QUOTE=Evil Captor] :rolleyes: [/QUOTE] Glad to see you were prepared. 😉 **TLD** , I know what you mean: I had severe problems readjusting to the UK usage of the word “Asian”. Strikes me as nonsense. “Asian Eye” (or whatever it’s called) on the BBC is nothing whatsoever to do with Chinese or SEA people at all. Stupid is what I think it is. Personally I use “east Asian”, but [this Chinsese retailer in the UK](http://www.hoohing.com/) has no problem self-identifying with “oriental”, and nor do the other [17,000](http://www.google.co.uk/search?num=100&hl=en&safe=off&client=firefox-a&rls=org.mozilla%3Aen-GB%3Aofficial&hs=uO0&q=%22oriental+supermarket%22&btnG=Search&meta=) hits on Google. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2007, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/16 "2007-01-06T23:58:08Z")
And of course I use the word “Chinsese” solely to be insulting. ---
**Author:** ![Don26](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/edb3f5/32.png) [@Don26](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Don26)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 12:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/17 "2007-01-07T00:00:18Z")
According to [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) Oriental is a specific area; Oriental Of or designating the biogeographic region that includes Asia south of the Himalaya Mountains and the islands of the Malay Archipelago. ---
**Author:** ![jjimm](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/ba8739/32.png) [@jjimm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jjimm)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 12:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/18 "2007-01-07T00:04:34Z")
[QUOTE=Don26] According to [Dictionary.com](http://Dictionary.com) Oriental is a specific area; Oriental Of or designating the biogeographic region that includes Asia south of the Himalaya Mountains and the islands of the Malay Archipelago. [/QUOTE] How super! ---
**Author:** ![Grey\_area](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Grey\_area](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey_area)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/19 "2007-01-07T00:20:12Z")
[QUOTE=rowrrbazzle] On college campuses and in the surrounding areas, I don’t doubt it. But other than that, what is the extent of this “largely”? Do you have some polls, for example? Broken down by region and age would be nice. [/QUOTE] I don’t have such a poll and maybe it was presumptious of me to assume so. I can at least say it has fallen out of favor in the media and I am tempted to believe that most educated people are at least aware of the attitude regarding the term, overly-PC or not. ---
**Author:** ![Push\_You\_Down](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/push_you_down/32/9095_2.png) [@Push\_You\_Down](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Push_You_Down)\ **Post date:** [January 7, 2007, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970/20 "2007-01-07T00:24:11Z")
I grew up with the understanding that “Oriental” was rugs and food, not people. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/does-anyone-actually-object-to-oriental/386970.md?page=2)