# "Oriental" isn't Politically Correct? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [January 26, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936 "2003-01-26T00:06:53Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![neisha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/4bbf92/32.png) [@neisha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/neisha)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/1 "2003-01-26T00:06:53Z")
At work, a client came in to see a salesperson he’d never met before. He asked in what area he could find her and what she looked like. He was told, “Maribel is down that row; she is petite with long dark hair; Oriental looking.” Afterwards, Ms. H.R. came up and said, “Only rugs are Oriental.” What’s up with THAT?:dubious: ---
**Author:** ![wooba](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/aeb1de/32.png) [@wooba](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wooba)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/2 "2003-01-26T00:20:13Z")
I’ve noticed that to… but I always use the word… to me (I’m originally from the UK) Asian means Pakistani/Indian… Oriental means Chinese/Japanese/Korean, etc… If that makes me politically incorrect, so be it… ---
**Author:** ![Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/73ab20/32.png) [@Caesar\_s\_Ghost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caesar_s_Ghost)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/3 "2003-01-26T00:24:20Z")
Personally, I’ve always heard Oriental to be un-PC and somewhat offensive…Asian, I think, is the right way to say it, but I could be wrong. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/4 "2003-01-26T00:29:19Z")
There have been threads about this recently. Long story short, Asian-Americans prefer to be called Asian. Among certain circles, the term Oriental has really taken on a nasty connotation in the past 15-20 years or so. Oriental means different things and has a different level of being an acceptable word in other countries than it does in the US. Having looked into this matter for the past couple of years, the basis for this that makes sense to _me_ is that Oriental was a colonial word and inherently contained a negative bias. ---
**Author:** ![aahala](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a88e4f/32.png) [@aahala](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aahala)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/5 "2003-01-26T00:29:26Z")
I’m with wooba. Who is on the PC committee anyway? ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/6 "2003-01-26T00:46:58Z")
Miss Manners would say you should refer to a group of people in the manner in which that group would like to be referred to. With all due respect, insisting on calling Asian-Americans “orientals” after understanding that it is not the “preferred” or “acceptable” term is crossing a line. Maybe **FiestyMongol** has a point :eek: ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/7 "2003-01-26T00:49:33Z")
Have you seen what Miss Manners looks like? (Rather frightening.) 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Squink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b5e925/32.png) [@Squink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Squink)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/8 "2003-01-26T00:55:20Z")
Here’s a link to the recent, and informative Pit thread on [The term ‘Oriental’ and racism in general](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=154356). The english language is drifting yet again. King Canute himself, much less the anti-PC-police, are powerless against such mighty forces of nature. ---
**Author:** ![High\_Priestess](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/ee7513/32.png) [@High\_Priestess](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/High_Priestess)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/9 "2003-01-26T00:57:01Z")
Japanese/Korean - American (is that PC enough?) speaking. I think the term “Oriental” strikes Asians as being more a term for something exotic; as you said, like Oriental rugs or something. “Asian” is probably most PC, especially if you don’t know if they’re Chinese, Japanese, etc. and some of them will actually take offense if you refer to them by the wrong race. I personally wouldn’t care if someone called me Oriental or not. I’d be slightly surprised because it sounds old-fashioned, but it certainly wouldn’t offend me. ---
**Author:** ![Geek\_Mecha](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/ecae2f/32.png) [@Geek\_Mecha](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Geek_Mecha)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/10 "2003-01-26T01:51:09Z")
In addition to the objects/persons difference, in my experience (I’m Japanese-American), _oriental_ is a term used and preferred by my parents’ generation (b. ~1950) and _Asian_ is generally being picked up and preferred by their kids. While I don’t take offense to being called _oriental_, I prefer _Asian_ for the reason **High Priestess** mentioned. _Oriental_ has old-fashioned “exotic foreign person” connotations that I wouldn’t attributed to me. There ain’t nothing exotic or foreign about people like me. ---
**Author:** ![El\_Gui](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/35a633/32.png) [@El\_Gui](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/El_Gui)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/11 "2003-01-26T03:05:19Z")
I assume that there are also U.S. regional differences in the level of disdain for the term “Oriental” (just like there is for the label “Hispanic”). Here in N Calif./Bay Area I think that term is clearly outdated and, though not Asian myself, I would certainly cringe if anyone used it. ---
**Author:** ![AWB](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/bb73d2/32.png) [@AWB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AWB)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/12 "2003-01-26T03:39:19Z")
from **The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition** : > [@](#): > > _Asian_ is now strongly preferred in place of _Oriental_ for persons native to Asia or descended from an Asian people. The usual objection to _Oriental_ meaning “eastern”is that it identifies Asian countries and peoples in terms of their location relative to Europe. However, this objection is not generally made of other Eurocentric terms such as _Near_ and _Middle Eastern_. 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. At the least these associations can give Oriental a dated feel, and as a noun in contemporary contexts (as in _the first Oriental to be elected from the district_) it is now widely taken to be offensive. However, _Oriental_ should not be thought of as an ethnic slur to be avoided in all situations. As with _Asiatic_, its use other than as an ethnonym, in phrases such as _Oriental cuisine_ or _Oriental medicine_, is not usually considered objectionable. ---
**Author:** ![raygirvan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/ac91a4/32.png) [@raygirvan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/raygirvan)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2003, 12:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/oriental-isnt-politically-correct/150936/13 "2003-01-26T12:48:23Z")
_AWB_ Quite. “Oriental” = Fu Manchu, basically.