# When Someone Identifies as "Asian" What Does This Mean To You? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 28, 2009, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608 "2009-07-28T22:46:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/82 "2014-12-11T01:59:12Z")
> [@Sri\_Theo](#): > > In the UK it generally means from the subcontinent, even if that doesn’t actually tell you very much… An easy way to get around is just say South Asian for India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and East Asian for the ‘Oriental Countries’. > > Of course if the box is labelled ethnicity he could always be specific, Punjabi, Gujarati etc. In the usage of years past, “0riental” once meant the Mideast and anything further east, from the perspective of most Europeans–and Americans too, in early days. The renowned Oriental Institute at the University of Chicago, in fact, concentrates primarily on the Mideast and western Asia. My initial reaction is that cultural sensitivity is important, but it can at the same time be presumptious to dictate the vocabulary and usage of foreigners speaking in their own languages. Then again, one can argue that English, as a world language, is in a unique position which goes beyond the usages of its native speakers. On still another hand, though, as this thread shows, our geographical nomenclature varies just from one English speaking country to another. In short, it’s complicated. ---
**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:** [December 11, 2014, 3:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/83 "2014-12-11T03:41:25Z")
> [@puzzlegal](#): > > Because natural language is used to communicate. “East Asians” share certain physical and cultural characteristics that my audience might care about. Same with “South Asians”. Siberians come in a variety of ethnic types (some who look more like Chinese, and others who look like Russians) and have a different cultural background. It would be confusing to refer to them as “Asians” unless for some obscure reason I was actually trying to convey what continent a person was born on. I’ve met a few Siberians who said they were from the “Russian Far East”. While hey looked very average white / Caucasian (I hesitate to use “Caucasian” since the folks I’ve met from the Caucasus area certainly had a specific look. a significant percentage of Siberians very obviously have the blood of Genghis Khan running through their veins. ---
**Author:** ![nachtmusick](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ac91a4/32.png) [@nachtmusick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nachtmusick)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 2:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/84 "2014-12-11T14:08:15Z")
\*\* > [@China\_Guy](#): > > Just to clarify, I fully agree with the Miss Manners common courtesy on using Asian. > > there have been many threads on this topic. Asian as the prefered nomenclature for the people formally known as Orientals probably started in Berkeley in the sixties. I don’t have the link handy but posted before. > > It started getting into the mainstream in the late 80’s, although one could argue that it’s still not fully mainstream. > > I learned Chinese when Asian was more common but Oriental was perfectly acceptable. and that pre-dated Oriental is a rug catchphrase. > > sorry if I was snarky but I really hate that ‘Oriental is a rug’ meme repeated mindlessly ad nauseum as the final word on the subject by people who generally don’t have a fucking clue to any of the history, culture. language or context. After getting _reamed_ on this board for admitting that I had once used the term Oriental to refer to an Asian, I did a little googling and found an all-Asian board (Circa 2013) where they were discussing this matter. Among this particular group of Asian-Americans the sentiment seemed to run 60-40 between those who didn’t give a damn about the term “Oriental” and those who did. Those who did quoted the rug catchphrase quite a bit. Often. A lot. Point of order - The few Philippinos on that board did not like to be called Asian or Asian-American. They do not want to be lumped with Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. ---
**Author:** ![Omar\_Little](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/omar_little/32/269_2.png) [@Omar\_Little](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omar_Little)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/85 "2014-12-11T16:26:27Z")
Zombies don’t care about nationalities or labels. ---
**Author:** ![astorian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@astorian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/astorian)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 5:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/86 "2014-12-11T17:29:51Z")
Obviously, Asia is a HUGE continent that includes numerous ethnics groups, cultures, languages and skin colors. An Israeli is, strictly speaking, an Asian. So is an Iran, a Pakistani, a Thai or an Afghan. But it’s East Asians who have generally insisted on being referred to as “Asian,” because so many of them regarded the term Oriental as… is not racist, at least clunky or outdated, like “Negro” Over time, most Americans have gotten used to calling Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Vietnamese and Filippinos “Asian” rather than Oriental. So far so good. But lots of other people from other parts of Asia respond “Hey- what about US!” I now see a lot of newspapers and magazines referring to Indians and Pakistanis as “South Asians,” to differentiate them from the (East) Asians. ---
**Author:** ![GrumpyBunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/bc8723/32.png) [@GrumpyBunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrumpyBunny)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/87 "2014-12-11T18:01:37Z")
“Not of European or African ancestry” is what I think when someone identifies as Asian. Beyond that, I don’t assume. ---
**Author:** ![Cartooniverse](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cartooniverse/32/3084_2.png) [@Cartooniverse](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cartooniverse)\ **Post date:** [December 11, 2014, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/88 "2014-12-11T23:32:38Z")
If that was tweaked to Not of European or African Traceability, you could say you’re NEAT. 😃 ---
**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:** [December 13, 2014, 3:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/89 "2014-12-13T03:55:10Z")
> [@nachtmusick](#): > > \*\*Among this particular group of Asian-Americans the sentiment seemed to run 60-40 between those who didn’t give a damn about the term “Oriental” and those who did. Those who did quoted the rug catchphrase quite a bit. Often. A lot. “And Swiss is Cheese” I learned on this board. As a retort it can give the mindless “rug” folks quite a pause. > [@](#): > > Point of order - The few Philippinos on that board did not like to be called Asian or Asian-American. They do not want to be lumped with Chinese, Japanese, and Koreans. And vice versa I am sure. I dunno about you but I HATE the American xgeneration Asian asking “guess what ethnicity do you think I am?” ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 4:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/90 "2014-12-13T04:04:44Z")
I think East Asian: Taiwanese, Japanese, Chinese, Korean, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Ms\_Boods](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/5e9695/32.png) [@Ms\_Boods](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ms_Boods)\ **Post date:** [December 13, 2014, 10:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608/91 "2014-12-13T10:58:12Z")
Asian = Indian or Pakistani. East Asian = Chinese, Korean, Japanese. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/when-someone-identifies-as-asian-what-does-this-mean-to-you/504608.md?page=4)