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#142735 05/09/05 09:11 PM
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Hi, callithump. Thanks for your opinion; it's very important to know what a Chinese person thinks! I never really thought about it before, so thanks to all for your opinions.


#142736 05/09/05 11:51 PM
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nah, Fong, it'ud be otherate jest like orientate


#142737 05/10/05 12:07 AM
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>otherate

Since this plague is spreading, I'll jump in and ask if a disease that required the severance of said hand would be described as termanual?


#142738 05/10/05 03:51 AM
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I come late to this discussion, and after an absence of many months.
Is it not true that the term WOG (favored by the Brits (oops) I believe) incorporates the term "oriental" in a pejorative/racist sense? (Worthy Oriental Gentleman). During my time in London I believe I recall the term used to refer to both those from India and Pakistan (although the favored slur for the latter was "Paki")


#142739 05/10/05 10:03 AM
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Is it not true that the term WOG (favored by the Brits (oops) I believe) incorporates the term "oriental" in a pejorative/racist sense? (Worthy Oriental Gentleman).

Probably not true:

http://www.wordorigins.org/wordorw.htm#wog

Etymology Online agrees with Wordorigins:

http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?l=w&p=9

#142740 05/16/05 10:43 PM
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While I have an ethical duty not to permit the use of racist terms in the courtroom, I wouldn't go so far as to say that "Oriental" is one of them. Am I wrong?

That depends on the nationality of the defense attorney.

Since the defense attorney was Korean, his reaction could have been genuine.

If the defense attorney had not been Asian, you would have been correct in dismissing his objection summarily as patently contrived.

Only an Oriental could be offended by the use of the word "Oriental" to describe an Oriental since the the word is purely descriptive, and not disrespectful, within the vocabulary of a non-Oriental who has no reason to be be knowledgeable about subtle differences, physical or otherwise, between Orientals from different countries within the Orient.

An Oriental might perceive an insult where none exists only because he believes that everyone should be able to distinguish between Orientals from different countries just as he does. However, this is an unrealistic expectation.

A person who does not live in the tropics can be forgiven for describing all tropical plants as "tropical" because he or she doesn't know the specific name of the plant in question. This is not an insult to the plant or to those who know the individual names of all tropical plants.




#142741 05/17/05 02:23 PM
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The problem with this thesis is that most asians cannot reliably discern the home of origin of other asians without hearing them speak their native tongue or noticing their dress. (In the same way, a caucasian can't reliably discern that another person is French or German without a clue.)

If one asian sees another all he knows is he sees another asian - and, in fact, even they sometimes make the bigger mistake of not being able to distinguish some south americans from asians.






#142742 05/17/05 07:04 PM
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discern that another person is French or German without a clue

Easy. Germans without a clue look dumber than other Germans.



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