Page 6 of 6 FirstFirst ... 456
Results 51 to 57 of 57

Thread: Learning an oriental language - need help!

  1. #51
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Always logged in
    Posts
    25,383
    Quote Originally Posted by Tiam View Post
    I don't know... I never hear food referred to as oriental food.
    And as an Asian foodie, it is damned imprecise! Boy there is a difference between
    thai and Vietnamese cuisines. I love both of them and for difference reasons.

    I am not fond of Japanese cuisine because I think it is bland, although I do buy bland sushi regularly at our local grocery store. The sushi maker is Asian, and I doubt that he is
    japanese, but who knows. I often wonder how and why he was selected as their sushi maker, and is it racist to put him behind the sushi counter? He always says “Thank you!” When
    I pick up a package of
    sushi.

  2. #52
    Senior Member
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    Southern Oregon
    Posts
    1,868
    http://www.latimes.com/opinion/op-ed...nap-story.html


    As an Oriental, I am bemused. Apparently Asians are supposed to feel demeaned if someone refers to us as Orientals. But good luck finding a single Asian American who has ever had the word spat at them in anger. Most Asian Americans have had racist epithets hurled at them at one time or another: Chink, slant eye, gook, Nip, zipperhead. But Oriental isn't in the canon.

    And why should it be? Literally, it means of the Orient or of the East, as opposed to of the Occident or of the West. Last I checked, geographic origin is not a slur.

  3. #53
    Senior Member jp1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2010
    Location
    San Francisco
    Posts
    9,802
    I’ve never heard food called this either. Possibly because, as iris liky mentions ina later comment, with the differences between Asian countries’ cuisines it would make even less sense than if we created a food category called North American food.

  4. #54
    Yppej
    Guest
    IL your wetback story reminded me a of when a manager called in an order to a coworker at a former job. Frustrated she finally called him back. "I've checked and checked and I just can't find Towelhead Engineering in the system".

    He couldn't believe that she thought that was the real name of the business, and that wasn't familiar with the large ethnic account we had. But I guess some people really would list an account or catalog card that is offensive.

  5. #55
    Senior Member iris lilies's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Always logged in
    Posts
    25,383
    Quote Originally Posted by Yppej View Post
    IL your wetback story reminded me a of when a manager called in an order to a coworker at a former job. Frustrated she finally called him back. "I've checked and checked and I just can't find Towelhead Engineering in the system".

    He couldn't believe that she thought that was the real name of the business, and that wasn't familiar with the large ethnic account we had. But I guess some people really would list an account or catalog card that is offensive.
    ack!

  6. #56
    Senior Member Teacher Terry's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Nevada
    Posts
    12,889
    IL, glad you fixed it. Being referred to in that way is horrible.

  7. #57
    Yppej
    Guest
    Quote Originally Posted by Yppej View Post
    Has anyone studied Yiddish? I have an opposite concern. I took German classes before. Would the languages be so similar that I would confuse the two?
    Well despite Askenazi surnames amongst her ancestors my mother's DNA test turned up no Jewish ancestry, and I have lost my motivation to learn Yiddish. But Dado Potato's borscht post did get me thinking about the language. I associate Russia with borscht, but he wrote "schmecht" which is German, and maybe Yiddish too? The Borscht Belt is Jewish.

Thread Information

Users Browsing this Thread

There are currently 1 users browsing this thread. (0 members and 1 guests)

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •