Reply #35

In the discussion thread: Help me explain Asian vs. Oriental [View all]

Sun Jul 29, 2012, 11:12 PM

oldhippie (1,391 posts)

35. Hmmm, I've been married to a Chinese woman for 38 years ...

... and she and her family have always referred to themselves as Orientals. I don't think I have ever heard them use the term Asian. I wonder how I can gently break it to them that they have been wrong all these years?

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124 replies	Author	Time	Post
Help me explain Asian vs. Oriental [View all]	Aerows	Jul 2012	OP
But what do you say..........	Capt.Rocky300	Jul 2012	#1
Are they 90 years old?	Bonobo	Jul 2012	#2
Thank you	Aerows	Jul 2012	#3
So are they	MattBaggins	Jul 2012	#121
That's uncalled for. It could well be an honest question.	nolabear	Jul 2012	#5
Honestly trying to figure it out	Aerows	Jul 2012	#8
I think Captain Rocky is capable of taking care of himself. nt	Bonobo	Jul 2012	#12
I think he is more than	Aerows	Jul 2012	#18
Don't shoot the messenger......	Capt.Rocky300	Jul 2012	#13
Bonobo	Aerows	Jul 2012	#15
Yeah, I probably know a few more "Orientals" than Rocky.	Bonobo	Jul 2012	#19
As you should	Aerows	Jul 2012	#22
Once again you make assumptions about someone you don't know.	Capt.Rocky300	Jul 2012	#23
Apparently not enough to know that you shouldn't be calling them "orientals"	Bonobo	Jul 2012	#24
Precisely	Aerows	Jul 2012	#26
if you use the term "Oriental" you don't live in my neighborhood	CreekDog	Jul 2012	#102
Can't say I understand what you were trying to say in your reply.	Capt.Rocky300	Jul 2012	#21
Now you are saying Asians	Aerows	Jul 2012	#25
Your ongoing shallowness in the English language is breathtaking	ProgressiveProfessor	Jul 2012	#48
Sure, Professor, and language doesn't change I suppose.	Bonobo	Jul 2012	#50
A false equivalence.	ProgressiveProfessor	Jul 2012	#52
Sadly, asserting something to be a false equivalence does not make it so.	Bonobo	Jul 2012	#55
criticizing "Oriental" for the same reason as "Colored" is "false equivalence"?	CreekDog	Jul 2012	#104
Shallowness in the English language that's breathtaking?	Aerows	Jul 2012	#69
you're shallowness in reducing the subject to political correctness	CreekDog	Jul 2012	#103
welcome to DU. I see you have met	2pooped2pop	Jul 2012	#84
Completely incorrect	MattBaggins	Jul 2012	#120
Oriental is for objects only, Asian is for everything.	slampoet	Jul 2012	#4
I tried to explain it that way	Aerows	Jul 2012	#7
We don't refer to Asia as "the Orient" any longer either	pipoman	Jul 2012	#6
Oriental defined...	Llewlladdwr	Jul 2012	#9
If memory serves...	krispos42	Jul 2012	#46
Until now, I guess I never gave this much thought.	B Calm	Jul 2012	#10
Of course I call my nieces by their names	Aerows	Jul 2012	#11
"Oriental" is Eurocentric	NWHarkness	Jul 2012	#14
"Asian" is pretty much the same.	Llewlladdwr	Jul 2012	#17
No, the sun rises everywhere	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#65
No, it's because the Chinese called it that.	Llewlladdwr	Jul 2012	#71
Well, they put it on their flag	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#81
"Oriental" is not considered offensive or perjorative in British English.	Nye Bevan	Jul 2012	#16
I'm American	Aerows	Jul 2012	#20
OK, but that's not necessarily true of the people you have been trying to convey your message to.	Nye Bevan	Jul 2012	#31
I'm trying to convey my message	Aerows	Jul 2012	#32
Its not a pejorative in American either	ProgressiveProfessor	Jul 2012	#49
You should go around and use it then.	Bonobo	Jul 2012	#64
Well, Brits use "Asian" to refer mostly to South Asians	Lydia Leftcoast	Jul 2012	#66
I thought they used the term, "Pakis"	Capt. Obvious	Jul 2012	#115
That one is considered offensive	Lydia Leftcoast	Jul 2012	#119
In the U.S., "Oriental" always refers to material items.	yewberry	Jul 2012	#27
Do you have a cite for this?	Llewlladdwr	Jul 2012	#33
Unfortunately I don't.	yewberry	Jul 2012	#40
Hmmm. This is interesting.	Llewlladdwr	Jul 2012	#42
Dunno.	yewberry	Jul 2012	#45
It's just that which term is preferred seems to vary somewhat.	Llewlladdwr	Jul 2012	#47
that distinction is very recent.	HiPointDem	Jul 2012	#111
The Brits use "Asian" to mean someone from the Indian subcontinent.	Odin2005	Jul 2012	#28
Asian is a person, Oriental is a thing	louis c	Jul 2012	#29
I'm not sure of the difference	Canuckistanian	Jul 2012	#30
Never really thought about it	Confusious	Jul 2012	#34
Hmmm, I've been married to a Chinese woman for 38 years ...	oldhippie	Jul 2012	#35
Sorry, but a DUer with 17,566 posts has much more authority on the subject	Nye Bevan	Jul 2012	#36
BWAHAHA!!!	MiddleFingerMom	Jul 2012	#37
Be my guest, go around calling Asian people "orientals"...	Bonobo	Jul 2012	#41
I imagine we often feel that we have absolute knowledge	LanternWaste	Jul 2012	#123
fucking awesome	Sea-Dog	Jul 2012	#113
Well, they are free to refer to themselves as they will	Aerows	Jul 2012	#43
why do they call (East Indies) when they're actuallly in the west	demosincebirth	Jul 2012	#38
just google "curious about asian/oriental" nt	arely staircase	Jul 2012	#39
Oriental is an archaic academic term which is paired with Occidental.	grantcart	Jul 2012	#44
Bingo...somebody gets it	ProgressiveProfessor	Jul 2012	#51
Its a futile effort as the rest of the responses on the thread illustrate.	grantcart	Jul 2012	#99
Honestly, I prefer Asian.	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#53
At the San Francisco Unified School District....	RandySF	Jul 2012	#56
I always considered the Philippines Asia	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#61
My wife is more closely related to South Pacific islanders	RandySF	Jul 2012	#72
I would imagine that	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#105
And this is what I was wanting to know	Aerows	Jul 2012	#74
oh!	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#77
No this was someone watching	Aerows	Jul 2012	#83
yeah that is wierd.	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#85
"calling African American people all sorts of things"	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#54
I'm hearing "African American" being used less and less	RandySF	Jul 2012	#60
I see, and what "sorts of things" are they called there?	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#63
"Black"	RandySF	Jul 2012	#70
I hope someday we all get past	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#76
nor are all black americans of african origin. there are indigenous black populations in other	HiPointDem	Jul 2012	#110
Another approach	Joanie Baloney	Jul 2012	#57
The Orient Express confused me because it stopped in Turkey.	aikoaiko	Jul 2012	#58
it's simply	veganlush	Jul 2012	#59
I always thought Asian referred to the continent of Asia	Duer 157099	Jul 2012	#62
I had an Indian friend think "Asian" was odd	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#67
Ya know ...	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#73
Oriental is an archaic term for the east/Asia, while Asian is a more modern term...	LooseWilly	Jul 2012	#68
It's sort of like calling American blacks 'Nigras' or 'Coloreds,' both terms	coalition_unwilling	Jul 2012	#107
Best I can offer is that a person born in Greece is a Greek, not a "Grecian"...those are urns.....	Rowdyboy	Jul 2012	#75
Unless they are from Crete	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#78
are people from Crete	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#82
I Titus 1:12-13	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#88
I must be extremely high right now but that seems like a really intriguing question....	Rowdyboy	Jul 2012	#87
See my post above...	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#91
Are you calling Epimenides a liar?	jberryhill	Jul 2012	#94
Well if I did...	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#101
When I mentioned the word	Aerows	Jul 2012	#86
We're in Mississippi....they probably thought you slurred your words and meant "accidental"	Rowdyboy	Jul 2012	#89
LMFAO	Aerows	Jul 2012	#90
Little William Faulkner joke for you. Story goes that	coalition_unwilling	Jul 2012	#108
Oh, and let me give you a laugh	Aerows	Jul 2012	#93
Its after 1:00 and I was about to go to bed but you have piqued my interest....Let me read....	Rowdyboy	Jul 2012	#95
Okay, I've pretty much read the thread now...."Breathtakingly shallow" uh...takes my breath away?	Rowdyboy	Jul 2012	#96
did you	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#92
I saw a PBS special sponsored by 'Accidental Petroleum' tonight - n/t	coalition_unwilling	Jul 2012	#109
Occidental is a town in California	MattBaggins	Jul 2012	#122
The Orient = the far east.	Rex	Jul 2012	#79
***	Warren DeMontague	Jul 2012	#80
I always use Oriental.	JoeInNy	Jul 2012	#97
I am not an Oriental...	AsahinaKimi	Jul 2012	#98
Tell him it's the same as African American vs Colored.	Iggo	Jul 2012	#100
"Colored" was polite when I was a kid.	Nye Bevan	Jul 2012	#118
In the UK, 'Oriental' and 'Asian' are both OK, but refer to different groups	LeftishBrit	Jul 2012	#106
Interesting. In the US "Asian" = everyone with "Asian" features (= "slanty" eyes/black hair).	HiPointDem	Jul 2012	#112
I'm I a caucasian, westerner or European?	Sea-Dog	Jul 2012	#114
Is hillbilly acceptable? ny	Bonobo	Jul 2012	#116
deal but only if I can call you a simpleton	Sea-Dog	Jul 2012	#117
We have an older friend that still calls them Orientals.....but then again, he calls African	a kennedy	Jul 2012	#124

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