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I've seen people make sweeping statements about "Asians" without including Indian people at all. For instance, I often hear comments like "Asians don't consume
by puranjay 8y ago
I've seen people make sweeping statements about "Asians" without including Indian people at all.
For instance, I often hear comments like "Asians don't consume much dairy" when they're actually talking about Chinese/Koreans/Japanese people.
- gowld 8y agoMany people think of India and the rest of their side of the Himalayas as a different cultural subcontinent from Asia, much like Europe over the Urals. It's OK.
- evgen 8y agoEvery definition of Europe I am familiar with defines the area as east of the Urals. What bits of Europe are on the other side? Were you perhaps thinking of the area south of the Carpathian chain?
- slyall 8y agoIt depends. ie one dictionary definition: Asian 1. belonging to or relating to Asia or its people 2. in the US, Canada, Australia, and New Zealand, belonging to or relating to China, Japan, or countries near them 3. in the UK, belonging to or relating to India, Pakistan, or countries near them
- madcaptenor 8y agoEssentially, one definition of "Asian" in the English-speaking world is "the people from Asia that have historically immigrated to our country".
- acchow 8y agoyes, basically.
- twic 8y agoIn American English, "Asian" is a shorthand for "East Asian". In British English, "Asian" is a shorthand for "South Asian". For example, i don't think there is anyone with an East Asian background in Asian Dub Foundation. And the Asian Cultural Centre in Oxford distinguishes between four kinds of Asian ethnicity, all South Asian, and Chinese: http://www.asianculturalcentre.org.uk/new.htm http://www.asianculturalcentre.org.uk/new.htm So i tend to think that this usage is not a mistake, but an idiom which differs across the Atlantic.
- mikestew 8y agoI've seen people make sweeping statements about "Asians" without including Indian people at all. I think that's a side effect of changing the usage of "Oriental" ("Oriental is a rug, not a person.") Okay, that's fine, some (many?) find it offensive, so we'll quit using the word that way. But we forgot to have a replacement word. So now instead of "Oriental" we have "Asian" to describe folks from the more eastern parts of Asia. And we're left with "Indians" and "Asians", even thought that's not entirely accurate.
- acchow 8y agoIn American English, the continent is split in three: "West Asia", "South Asia", and "Asia".