Re: Incorrect use of "it's" in package control files -- file mass bug?
Brian Nelson <pyro@debian.org> writes:
> [1] OK, ignoring the bizarre and idiotic PC term "Asian" (formerly
> "Orientals") which in the US has come to refer to those with ancestors
> in Eastern Asian countries.
How is "asian" "bizarre and idiotic"? It's just as accurate in this usage
as the old term (that is, not very [and both are context specific]), but
lacks the pejorative sense -- all the asians I know happily use "asian" to
describe themselves, whereas this is hard to imagine with "oriental".
Morever, it's natural sounding and short (unlike, say, "person of color").
I don't know how this usage was originally introduced, but a word change to
remove the stigma associated with an older word seems like a perfectly
reasonable thing. No matter how `PC' the original pressure to use it was,
eventually it will either succeed and become part of the language, or fall
into whatever pit they reserve for clunky PC constructions; in the case of
"asian", it seems pretty clear that it's now part of the language.
[This is in contrast to say, "P.O.C.", or even "african american": even
though the mass media seems to stick to using "A.A." like glue, most casual
conversation (regardless of the skin color of the speaker) seems to still
use "black", and indeed, "black" appears to be _gaining_ in popularity
recently, even in the media. I'd guess this is because "black" was never
particularly pejorative anyway, and it is a lot more pithy...]
Who, off-topic, me?
-Miles
--
A zen-buddhist walked into a pizza shop and
said, "Make me one with everything."
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