Dan Abel wrote:

> 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 out-of-date feel and tends to be associated with a rather offensive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.

Then why do they name their businesses (in Austin):

New Oriental Market
K&S Oriental Food Market
Oriental Grocery and Bakery
My Thanh Oriental Market
Academy of Oriental Medicine
Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine
Orietental Express

And my Favorite:

Midnight Cowboy Oriental Massage and Lingerie Modeling

All these places are owned and staffed by Orientals; Asian Americans in
almost all cases) If they're supposed to consider it offensive, then
maybe they missed the memo.

-sw