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[Superdorf]

...
there is no asthma in Eastasia?

apologies

[Maximum Spin]

I mean
The people that are called South Asians in Britain, which is to say Indo-Iranians, are Caucasian. These are the peoples that INVENTED the word "Aryan".

[Loud Whispers]

I mean
The people that are called South Asians in Britain, which is to say Indo-Iranians, are Caucasian. These are the peoples that INVENTED the word "Aryan".

Slight correction, but South Asian and Indo-Iranian aren't synonyms. You get people from Iran to Central Asia in that language group who aren't south asians, and you get south asians in the Dravidian & Tamil language groups who aren't in the Indo-Iranian language group. Likewise true caucasians from the caucasus have a diversity of peoples. But for basic epistemology the US terminology treats "Asian" as synonymous with "East Asian" and "Caucasian" as synonymous with "literally all European-descended peoples." IIRC it dates back to some early anthropological bible theories and no one in the USA has seen fit to update the terms yet

...
there is no asthma in Eastasia?

apologies

Bro I don't even know how China can tolerate so much respiratory failure as an acceptable sacrifice for GDP line go up

[Maximum Spin]

Slight correction, but South Asian and Indo-Iranian aren't synonyms. You get people from Iran to Central Asia in that language group who aren't south asians, and you get south asians in the Dravidian & Tamil language groups who aren't in the Indo-Iranian language group. Likewise true caucasians from the caucasus have a diversity of peoples. But for basic epistemology the US terminology treats "Asian" as synonymous with "East Asian" and "Caucasian" as synonymous with "literally all European-descended peoples." IIRC it dates back to some early anthropological bible theories and no one in the USA has seen fit to update the terms yet

Well, the term "Caucasian" for "white people broadly" is both separate from its use referring to the Caucasus specifically, and pretty globally widespread. It's not biblical, it dates to 18th century German anthropology based on skull shapes — people from the Caucasus have basically the same skull shapes as Europeans. Now, that origin can certainly be called "outdated" just the same, but the word itself is still common even outside the US in my experience. It's more or less just a synonym of "white" - Europeans through the Near East to India, plus the Levant, Arabian Peninsula, and North Africa. Although I think it originally excluded Finns, but I think most people would call them Caucasian now.

Anyway, I also didn't mean that the terms were synonyms, only that the category South Asian covers a subset of Indo-Iranians, but I suppose the point about Dravidian *languages* not being Indo-Iranian is fair. Still, Dravidians, including Tamils and Telugus, are still ethnically Indo-Iranian, with high rates of R-type Y-DNA haplogroups, for example. I don't think there's anywhere on land in the Indian subcontinent where there isn't a clear genetic trace of the "Aryan Invasion" - only islands.

[EuchreJack]

...
there is no asthma in Eastasia?

apologies

Bro I don't even know how China can tolerate so much respiratory failure as an acceptable sacrifice for GDP line go up

China's go-to strategy is always We Have Reserves

[hector13]

Playing Yakuza 2, doing side stuff, specifically chatting up hostesses at the club you can run. Basically, you listen to them chat for a bit then they ask you something and you have a choice of three responses, which happens four times during each chat, and each hostess needs to be chatted to three times before they open up a side story and then you can ignore them forever.

I’m doing the second chat with the (hopefully!) last one, a cutesy hostess who used to be an idol. She’s talking about how she forgets how to pronounce things, like the place the club is and even guests’ names. The responses you can make are:

“That’s part of your appeal.”

“You’re kinda dumb, huh?”

“You should really get that fixed.”

… and I’m just thinking of the dynamics here. You’re this girl’s boss, and you’re basically in a date-like setting, and in the previous selection there’s the implication she’s crushing on the PC, and the game lets you either say that her personality is good for her job, or she’s an utter wreck of a human being.

Not much middle ground for the mini-game there, eh game.

[scriver]

Well, the term "Caucasian" for "white people broadly" is both separate from its use referring to the Caucasus specifically, and pretty globally widespread.

No, only Americans use Caucasian as synonymous with "white" in modern parlance. As far as I know rest of the world only use it for people or peoples from the Caucasus region, at least when they're using the English language online.

[delphonso]

Yeah, abroad most people just say 'white'.

[Frumple]

I mean, for what it's worth most people stateside just say white, too. Caucasian as a standin for it mostly just shows up on paperwork, and from what I've noticed even that's phasing out, albeit slowly.

Which... makes sense, really. White as a racial designation is functionally a nonsense term with no consistent meaning, and caucasian as a synonym for it is somehow even worse. The world doesn't have to make sense, so it gets used at all, but awareness of how little sense the usage makes has slowly been growing so folks are shying away.

[voliol]

I mean, for what it's worth most people stateside just say white, too. Caucasian as a standin for it mostly just shows up on paperwork, and from what I've noticed even that's phasing out, albeit slowly.

Which... makes sense, really. White as a racial designation is functionally a nonsense term with no consistent meaning, and caucasian as a synonym for it is somehow even worse. The world doesn't have to make sense, so it gets used at all, but awareness of how little sense the usage makes has slowly been growing so folks are shying away.

[scriver]

I mean, for what it's worth most people stateside just say white, too. Caucasian as a standin for it mostly just shows up on paperwork, and from what I've noticed even that's phasing out, albeit slowly.

Which... makes sense, really. White as a racial designation is functionally a nonsense term with no consistent meaning, and caucasian as a synonym for it is somehow even worse. The world doesn't have to make sense, so it gets used at all, but awareness of how little sense the usage makes has slowly been growing so folks are shying away.

It comes from the three race system, which if you go by the original theory Caucasus is smack dab in the middle of what it considered "white" (iceland-Sahara-India triangel basically). It's just that modern American ideas on who is white is much more narrow than that. So it makes sense in that way.

Otherwise what volli said

[Maximum Spin]

No, only Americans use Caucasian as synonymous with "white" in modern parlance. As far as I know rest of the world only use it for people or peoples from the Caucasus region, at least when they're using the English language online.

I have heard people from around the Anglosphere use it. Australia, New Zealand, at least one Brit. It may be sampling error and not common, but it's certainly not NONEXISTENT.

[Magmacube_tr]

Okay guys, what's with the Caucasian craze you're having right now? It's weird. I am like very much of Caucasian descent ya know?

On a more serious note, why do American's use Caucasian instead of "white"?

[Maximum Spin]

On a more serious note, why do American's use Caucasian instead of "white"?

I strongly suspect it's because WASPs feel awkward saying "white", like it might be racist. The same kind of people who whisper "black" even when they are saying something fully innocuous.

But I swear, other people around the world DO say it, okay. I was JUST TALKING TO ONE.

[Frumple]

It's... largely the exact other direction? The term's usage stateside mostly arose out of horseshit related to scientific racism, and has largely maintained by inertia mixed with shits that are quite fond of that nonsense. It's definitely not an attempt to dodge racist sentiment, heh.