I prefer “asian” just because it rolls off the tongue better than “oriental.” I’m also a sucker for the /zh/ phonem.
“Handicapped” became “accessible” when a marketing research survey revealed that enough people could recognize the person-in-a-wheelchair ideogram as “handicapped.”
Thus, the new signs read “Handicapped accessible.” “Handicapped” just happens to be spelled with an ideogram.
The previous generation of signs can be thought of as a flash card for teaching you the new symbol.
As for the purpose of PC terminology… look up George Carlin’s “Shell Shock” monologue.
Aufwiederlesen
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