Dr. Frank's What's-it

30 Days to a Mushier

30 Days to a Mushier Vocabulary

The word "Oriental" has been banned in the state of Washington. The state senator who sponsored the bill, one Paul Shin, provides a useful bit of semantic history:

the word "Oriental" was first used to denote everything east of London, said Shin, a Korean War orphan. It was later used to describe people with flat noses, small eyes, black hair and mysterious ways, he said.

As Shin points out, the correct term for these inscrutable fellows is "Asian." (Kidding!-- ed.) By a mysterious and inscrutable oversight, Shin's bill (which mandates replacing "Oriental" with "Asian" and "Spanish American" with "Hispanic") lets references to "Eskimos" stand unbowdlerized. Mysterious ways? Indeed.

But what's the state's position on "hunchback"?

Meanwhile, the perspicacious Moira Breen presents yet another example of how the Pledge of Allegiance, the word "God," and the promise of free publicity has the power to turn us all into irredeemable idiots. Beware. It could happen to you...

UPDATE: This version of the "Oriental" story (from the Phillipine News via New California Media via Protein Wisdom) is much better than the one linked above because it begins with this excellent sentence:

Anyone who studied Asian American history knows that the word “Oriental” conjures up images of people less than savage as the term was used in Europe and then the United States in the last three centuries.

Posted by Dr. Frank at July 1, 2002 10:57 AM | TrackBack