The O-Word

When did the word “Oriental” become a racial slur? Or, for that matter, why? Apparently now the acceptable appellation for those people from east of the International Date Line is “Asian.” To me, the word “oriental” is a much more elegant, encompassing and descriptive term. It is the antonym to “occidental” and has been used for many hundreds of years without offensive. Would I be offended if someone called me an “Occidental?” I don’t think so. And besides, “Asian,” to me, is a rather plain and banal descriptor. Also “orient” when used as a verb means “finding one’s way in a new or confusing terrain.”

Must I and others now use “O-word” if we prefer it to saying “Asian?” If so, must we then change the following terms to: Murder on the O-word Express, the Mandarin O-word Hotel in Bangkok, O-word Point in St. Barth's, O-word rugs, the O-word Institute in Chicago, the town, O-word in North Carolina, the O-word Theater in Denver, or even the O-word merit badge in the Boy Scouts?

Come on people … let’s stop twisting our English language in order to genuflect to the uninformed and misguided of our ethnic minorities.