So is “oriental”, as it merely means “eastern”. The word for “western” is occidental, IIRC.
Yep. From the Latin oriens, orientum meaning “east”.
You know, I never hear Asian people say this. 
Blame it on the people who went nuts with the “mysterious Oriental/Confucius say” stereotype.
Exactly, what’s offensive about a word that means “from the east”?
Among other reasons, because it’s associated with the outdated stereotypes I mentioned - the stereotypes that Asians are inscrutable and associated them with things that are supposed to be mysterious or exotic, like Chinese Checkers and Chinese Fire Drills. Neither one is Chinese.
Wasn’t it Furman Bisher who gave Lewis Grizzard his first break? I can’t believe he’s still around and writing. I mean, Grizzard described as having been around for years when he (LG) was just starting out.
Bisher probably was phonetically spelled from Buescher, a German name pronounced more or less that way.
The same Germans who bombed Pearl Harbour?!?![/animal house]
Also because “from the east” prompts the question ‘East of where, and why are we using that as a reference point?’
Well of course that’s the most likely origin. “Buescher” of course is German for “he who bishes,” from the root “buesch (to bish; of or in regard to bishing).” Every medieval German town had at least one skilled bisher, and some of the larger principalities boasted an entire Bisher’s Guild. In those days, bishing was vital to a town’s economy, not merely the luxury occupation that it is today.
The high point of bishing as a craft was of course the time of the Hanseatic League, when fully 30% of Westphalian merchants had a guildsbisher on the payroll. This state of affairs could not last, as the court of Burgundy cast longing eyes on the wealth amassed through bish-related trade, leading to the short but bloody Bishers’ War of 1573 which broke the back of the monopoly.
Afterward, and with the increased availability of new alternatives from the Protestant nations, bishing declined to the largely ceremonial function known today, still shrouded in the trappings of its former glory. This mournful history is commemorated by the Bishers’ Monument in the town square of Flensburg, Schleswig-Holstein, long acknowledged as the spiritual home of bishers everywhere. And on the pedestal these words appear:
Wo ist der Buescher, der Bueschte?
Wo brennt das Horn, das war durch?
Sie sind uber den Berg in Schwarzung hinausgegangen.
Buesche, Mann, Buesche, bis Tod Sie nimmt.
(Where is the bisher, who was bishing?
Where is the horn that was blowing?
They have gone over the mountain, into darkness.
Bish, man, bish; until death takes you.)
Ball State University in Muncie, Indiana calls its yearbook The Orient. It’s a reference to the school being in eastern Indiana. It was, I think, Eastern Normal (meaning teachers) School, then Ball State Teachers College, then Ball State University.
So, east of where? East of Indianapolis, I guess. Muncie is a long way from the Asian continent.
True, but sometimes, as in this particular case, the name is still used to honor the practice of engaging in sexual relations while dressed as a raccoon.
The Cincinnati Reds have never been called the “Red Stockings” at any time that there was a Major League Baseball. The franchise was called that early in its history, in the 19th century, but had already been renamed the “Reds” when Major League Baseball as we now know it began in 1901. So, in fact, Major League Baseball never started its season with the Red Stockings because Major League Baseball has never had a team called that.
So the dumb old fart can’t even be bothered to get his facts about baseball straight.
During the 50s the Cincy team did become the Redlegs, due to the word “Reds” having a more pejorative meaning in those years.
<snip>
Get bished. 
Heh…the funny part is that T Herman Zweibel was exactly who the excerpt in the OP reminded me of…
[George Carlin]
If the Cincinnati Reds were first professional baseball team, who did they play? 
[/George Carlin]
The guy was indeed describing a thing, i.e the excursion, as oriental.
And was the horn a Buescher? 
You don’t want to know what’s fueling that torch!