Oriental an "offensive" term?

I know that there's probably alot of asians who frequent this board who might be able to remark on this with at least some relevance...
Is the term "Oriental" actually offensive to people?
In describing my heritage it's more effective to say "Oriental" than to say Asian, or Middle Eastern, because when you say "Asian" people think chinese and when you say "middle east" people think arab.
But so far as I know there's no better word to describe people from eastern europe/asia minor/central asia.
But I'm told that "asians" (in North America this generally refers to east asians, and excludes the rest of the continent) find the term offensive.
So is it actually offensive, or is it just blowhards that like to find fault with everything that say it's offensive?

Because I'm thinking that if it's actually offensive I should use it alot more. :icon16:

i read/heard somewhere that the term "oriental" refers to rugs and food. not people. people from eastern europe should be europeans, and people from asia should be asians. it just makes sense that way to me

Oriuentlal sounds likke some kind of state of rataredation. Like you are bineg stupd of somrting. Like If i waere to say Josh was in an oreinteal state. It would be 15 Love Civracer!

Oriuentlal sounds likke some kind of state of rataredation. Like you are bineg stupd of somrting. Like If i waere to say Josh was in an oreinteal state. It would be 15 Love Civracer!

:eek:

Hah, thinking of me even in the druken stupor...so sad... I win! :iceslolan

The term "Oriental" came from several centuries ago, when people that are now Caucasian were referred to as "Occidental". The word Occidental has roots in early French and Latin and basically meant "to fall", and was a reference to the setting sun, or west. It only made sense that Orientals were from the Orient, or to the east. Remember that in these times, the Americas had not yet been discovered, and travel westward from Europe was considered impossible.

There should be no negative connotation to the word Oriental, but I've been told by some Asian friends that it is, in fact, somewhat insulting to be called Oriental.

i read/heard somewhere that the term "oriental" refers to rugs and food. not people.

When you use "oriental" as an adjective it describes an object such as a rug or food.

When "Oriental" is used as a noun (with a capital "O") to describe a person it is considered offensive by some.

Personally if someone were trying to insult me by calling me "Oriental" I'd laugh. Slope, gook, chink, jap...those are fighting words to me. :iceslolan

in england i've never known anyone be offended by the trem "Oriental". i mean when i talk to people from places like China/Japan/Taiwan/Korea etc... none have been offended when i ask which Oriental country they are from. no one has said anything to indicate that i have offended them anyway.

They use the word Nip as an offensive term to, i really never thought of Oriental as an offensive word, but i'll keep that in mind so i dont get kicked in the face or somethin...


I think i just stereotyped^

nip ? never heard that in england, people say "chink" here as a pretty offensive term, shortened from "chinese" (kinda) an people say it to anyone Oriental, but there are Orientals that would literally beat you up for being so racist, my mate who's chinese would jump up an spark (punch in face) someone for saying something like that, because it is pretty racist.

I wouldn't go so far as to say it's offensive, but it definetly has a slight negative connotation to it moreso than just describing.

ie, being called 'white' as opposed to 'caucassion' (sp) has a slightly negative spin to it.

When I hear 'white' I think of nerdy white guys with pants up to their stomachs and big glasses.

When I hear 'oriental' I think of some old Asian person who's squinting really hard while they drive 30 in a 45.

i say white to refer to people as myself (nope, no glasses an i have baggy pants/trousers) so that doesn't offend me, or anyone else i know thats "white" but i wouldn't say "chink" to any Oriental person.


i think of "Oriental" as any person from that area that comes to mind china/japan/korea etc..

I know a few asian people that take offense to being called Oriental. Yet they can never tell me why they're offended by it. :rolleyes:

My wife is Chinese (born in Korea) and says "Oriental is a rug. I am not a rug."

She uses the term Asian but knows that only half of Asia looks Asian (yeah - make sense of that).













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well, i just asked my friend, who's japanese, if he takes offense to being called "Oriental" he said he didn't


i said: "do take offense to being called oriental" and he replied

him:"nope cos itz true"

those are his exact words.

Is it offensive to say rice-a-roni is a San Francisco treat?

I know that there's probably alot of asians who frequent this board who might be able to remark on this with at least some relevance...
Is the term "Oriental" actually offensive to people?
In describing my heritage it's more effective to say "Oriental" than to say Asian, or Middle Eastern, because when you say "Asian" people think chinese and when you say "middle east" people think arab.
But so far as I know there's no better word to describe people from eastern europe/asia minor/central asia.
But I'm told that "asians" (in North America this generally refers to east asians, and excludes the rest of the continent) find the term offensive.
So is it actually offensive, or is it just blowhards that like to find fault with everything that say it's offensive?

Because I'm thinking that if it's actually offensive I should use it alot more. :icon16:

If it's your heritage...who cares. What freakin' pisses me off are white people yelling at me to not be racist when I call myself a Spic. Yes, it has only been white people...they actaully said they find it offensive. And I just stared at them then very blantantly replied, "I don't care." in that Willy Wonka voice.

But there's so many sections of Asia, Oriental is more East Asia, then there's India in itself, Middle Eastern. Why not just say you're mixed or something. I don't know...race is such a joke.

and don't forget Russians....half of that country is in Asia....Oriental in my opinion makes me think of Ramen, not really people, i just say "asian" anyways

Why not just say you're mixed or something. I don't know...race is such a joke.
Generally when the question comes up on applications I'll just check "white" or "other" since it's easier than giving people a geography lesson.
It also seems like the terms Asian and Oriental also have different meanings in different parts of the world.
In England I'm told Asian is often used to refer to people from India as well as people from East Asia. And in the Europe the term Orient is still used to describe the Near East and Central Asia, whereas in the U.S. it more or less used in reference to Asia as a whole (which is why a rug and a chinese person can both be Oriental despite originating at opposite ends of the continent, while "asian" only refers the eastern side of that continent - go figure).

Has anyone else noticed that asian people are always either really short or really tall, and/or really skinny or really fat??? Think about it. Have you ever seen a 5'9" 190 lb asian guy?

fuck it

yea in england, we consider "asian" as people from indian an those surrounding countries, oriental mean china japan etc.. people from around russia are eatern-european

but generally if you say "asian" people will assume you mean indian, not bangladeshi or something, its just indian.

Has anyone else noticed that asian people are always either really short or really tall, and/or really skinny or really fat??? Think about it. Have you ever seen a 5'9" 190 lb asian guy?

Hey man! I'm that guy...well almost...I weigh 185...

ouch...

Has anyone else noticed that asian people are always either really short or really tall, and/or really skinny or really fat??? Think about it. Have you ever seen a 5'9" 190 lb asian guy?


haha never seen an average asian??





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I rememeber hearing an older person use the term "oriental" about a year ago, and I was all like wtf?. I hadn't heard it in a while, and I didn't know anyone really used it lol. It did seem kinda racist the way the person used it though.

Has anyone ever noticed that every year kids get more boxes to check for races. You can even check several boxes if your feeling special :disappoin

Oh, and as for the whole oriental thing I usually just call "oriental" people "slant eyes"...














SIKE! :nono:

well, i just asked my friend, who's japanese, if he takes offense to being called "Oriental" he said he didn't


i said: "do take offense to being called oriental" and he replied

him:"nope cos itz true"

those are his exact words.

See, that's the difference between the UK and the US. In the UK, it seems that people tell it like it is, and don't get offended about nothing. In the US though, the damn political correctness demands that everything you say cannot, in any way, offend anyone; add that to people being greatly offended by the slightest thing in the US...

Why is oriental offensive?

i'm asian, i don't get offended if someone asks if I'm oriental. You could try south east asian I guess if you are worried. But that's stupid, i would just say "are you asian?"

Why is oriental offensive?

Don't you know? Everything is offensive nowadays.

Don't you know? Everything is offensive nowadays.

O thats right...

Hey stop being offensive! jeeze the nerve these days...

labels are gay

well yeah, in the UK people wont be offended (unless the lookin for a fight) about stuff, i mean i could call a chinese person oriental, they wouldn't be offended. or if i asked someone from bangladesh "are you indian?" they wouldn't be offended. the few rare occasions would be if the person is pakistani, becuase the dispute between pakistan and india. that said pakistanis/indian dont often take offense unless you say something in a deliberate offensive way, like:

"hey, you paki" that would offend them, but you wouldn't say that unless you intended to offend them.

just today i saw an advert/commercial for tea. green tea specifically, and the words were "new tetley's green tea, a taste of the orient"

now, if people got offended by being called oriental, then orient would probably be offensive too, but if it was offensive it wouldn't be on tv.

just an insight.

Personally, I take no offense to being called "Oriental". Now if you call me a "Gook", "Slopehead", or "Slant Eyes", we have a problem and it becomes fighting words. :biggrin:

I asked my mother, who is Korean, if she took any offense to being call "Oriental" and she laughed.


The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000.

oriental

SYLLABICATION: o·ri·en·tal
PRONUNCIATION: ôr-ntl, r-
ADJECTIVE: 1. often Oriental Of or relating to the countries of the Orient or their peoples or cultures; eastern. 2. Oriental Of or designating the biogeographic region that includes Asia south of the Himalaya Mountains and the islands of the Malay Archipelago. 3. Lustrous and valuable: oriental pearls. 4a. Of or relating to a genuine or superior gem: an oriental ruby. b. Relating to or designating corundum that resembles another stone in color.
NOUN: often Oriental Often Offensive An Asian.
OTHER FORMS: ori·ental·ly —ADVERB

USAGE NOTE: 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.

so let's see, the guys in the US finds the word offensive because they don't know the actual meaning of the word? says a lot to me......

if people are using the word in an offensive way then they are simply stupid because it isn't.