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Occidental

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 7:13 am
by BarbaraK
today's Good word, wester, reminded me of this :Occident/ Occidental.
We are very familiar with their opposites: Orient/Oriental
It became evident to me when I was teaching Spanish that the students did not realize "Occidente" was a cognate like "Oriente"
I rarely see or hear "Occident" or"Occidental" used. I knew of a company "Occidental Petroleum", based in California..the West.

Re: Occidental

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 4:47 pm
by Slava
True, we rarely hear or see occidental. Could it be that as we, at least where I am, are the Occident, we don't use it?

Interestingly, Occident is related to occasion. An occasion is what happens when the appropriate things "fall" together. As in say, The Fourth of July fell on a Thursday this year.

Re: Occidental

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 6:50 pm
by Perry Lassiter
We don't have occasion to use occident, because we use west instead. The Orient to me refers to China and Japan, while we in the west have begun saying the Middle East. I remember a slight jar when my seminary professors referred to the oriental mindset, when speaking of the Hebrew mindset, especially in the OT. The media frequently speak of us as "the west."

Re: Occidental

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 7:21 pm
by Slava
I most sincerely hope that no one is truly referring to China and Japan as the Middle East!

Re: Occidental

Posted: Fri Sep 06, 2013 11:29 pm
by Perry Lassiter
Not at all what I meant. I don't personally apply "orient" to the Middle East. Orient to me in synonymous with the far east. Many scholars refer to Middle Eastern ideas as the oriental mind.

Re: Occidental

Posted: Sat Sep 07, 2013 1:44 am
by Philip Hudson
My many students from China, Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, and The Philippines are unanimous in not liking the word Oriental. They prefer the word Asian. Since the etymology of each means the same and we use them to mean the same, it may be strange to us. It is politically correct to call a people by the name they choose.