While I agree that the word "oriental" is a bit dated, you should be aware that the notions of which words are offensive is cultural, not universal: https://en.

While I agree that the word "oriental" is a bit dated, you should be aware that the notions of which words are offensive is cultural, not universal: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient#Current_usage https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orient#Current_usage A lot of the mismatch in offensiveness/offendedness on HN seems to boil down to differences between American and European speakers of English (as a rule of thumb, Americans tend to consider more things more offensive for historical reasons). Personally, as a non-native speaker, I find it weird to call people Oriental because the notion feels a bit dated in my native language. However in the given context it seems a lot clearer than spelling out each individual culture or vaguely saying "non-Western" (which frequently excludes Eastern Europe). IOW, occident/orient is a historical cultural distinction, much like Cold War era first/second/third worlds and East/West -- of course it's fuzzy and inadequate, but so are all abstractions. As a European I can see why someone ethnically stemming from the "orient" might find the term quaint, inaccurate and even offensive, but I feel the same way about the various labels Americans unthinkingly throw around, e.g. "Caucasian" (because obviously all "white" people are the same and are best represented by the geographical area surrounding Azerbaijan).