meaning - Why did the descriptive "Orientals" shift into a pejorative?


It seems as if a shift occurred and the descriptive "Oriental" was replaced by "Asian" as the accepted term in polite society — what caused this shift?



Answer



A possible answer to this, in much more general terms and in a parallel vein to the historical account (which I do think best explains this particular case), is that de-adjectival nouns used to denote ethic groups seem to become pejorative(s).


I'm sure you can all come up with your own examples...


Thoughts?


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