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Dan Abel

In article >,
wrote:

> Dan Abel > writes:
>
>
> > I looked it up. The adjective is dated, the noun is both dated and
> > sometimes offensive.
>
>
> I looked it up, too, Dan:
>
> "Oriental has been used by the West as a term to describe cultures,
> countries, peoples and goods from the Orient. "Oriental" means
> generally "eastern". It is a traditional designation (especially when
> capitalized) for anything belonging to the Orient or "East" (for
> Asia), and especially of its Eastern culture"
>
> Why is it bleeding heart liberals gotta invent bogus issues to assuage
> their guilt? Just cuz someone ....a non-Asian, no doubt.... says
> "oriental" is offensive, it's so? Horse hockey!! I've never even
> imagined the term in a derogatory context. Sorry. No intention, no
> foul.

I probably should have quoted it literally, and provided an attribution.
It wasn't a bleeding heart liberal source. It is the New Oxford
American Dictionary, which came with my Mac:

oriental (also Oriental)

adjective

1 of, from, or characteristic of the Far East : oriental countries.

? dated of, from, or characteristic of the countries of Asia.

noun ( Oriental) dated, often offensive

a person of Far Eastern descent.

USAGE The term Oriental, denoting a person from the Far East, is
regarded as offensive by many Asians, esp. Asian Americans. It has many
associations with European imperialism in Asia. Therefore, it has an
out-of-date feel and tends to be associated with a rather offensive
stereotype of the people and their customs as inscrutable and exotic.
Asian and more specific terms such as East Asian, Chinese, and Japanese
are preferred.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA