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Common sayings that are commonly misstated

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#321
i_got_a_mohawk said:
it's

Oriental

:hiding:


On a serious note, I thought Orient simply meant Far East, Oriental meaning someone/something from the Far East?





:hiding:
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I actually think it's a matter of personal preference. I know that the word is used, as you said, to describe something/someone from the far east. I just know that some people, including my ex and her family, found it offensive. It was something that I just adopted... I guess it's not technically wrong.:hmm:
 
#323
"Oriental" is currently unacceptable for the same reason "colored" and "negro" are unacceptable. It's not anything to do with whether the word is technically accurate, but rather about people's feelings about prejudices associated with the words.
 
#324
bongomania said:
"Oriental" is currently unacceptable for the same reason "colored" and "negro" are unacceptable. It's not anything to do with whether the word is technically accurate, but rather about people's feelings about prejudices associated with the words.
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+1 - I feel this way about the term "African American". It basically means you are black in popular culture. If a white guy came to America from Africa, he technically is African American but no one would call him that.
 
#327
tastybasslines said:
+1 - I feel this way about the term "African American". It basically means you are black in popular culture. If a white guy came to America from Africa, he technically is African American but no one would call him that.
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Plus the fact that half the black people, or "African Americans" aren't actually from Africa, they're from the Caribbean! I prefer to refer to them as "people", but to each their own.
 
#329
Turock said:
These don't agree: "each" is singular, "their" is plural.
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True historically, but "they" and "their" have organically evolved as the accepted solution for a non-gendered singular pronoun. Some have proposed new genderless words like "zhe" and "hir", but those haven't caught on, obviously.
 
#337
bass12 said:
What prejudices are associated with the word "Oriental"? :hmm:
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The prejudice is that despite their common appearance, the various nations of the "orient" are indeed different cultures and the term "Oriental" lumps them all into the same bucket. This does not give each nation the respect it deserves for what makes each of them unique.
 
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