Title: word choice - What would you call a person from India? - English Language & Usage Stack Exchange
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What would you call a person from India?
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People From India
Indian or Native American
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Content: Note that using the term "American Indian" rather than "Native American" is offensive mostly to white people on behalf of Indians, rather than to the Indians themselves. The people in question more often refer to themselves as "American Indians". Not long ago I read of a survey taken in the mid-1990s that found that (best as I recall the numbers) about 50% of American Indians preferred the term "American Indian", 35% preferred "Native American", and I presume the rest had other terms, didn't care, whatever. There's only one such person that I ever knew at all personally and he called himself "an Indian". I just did a quick Yahoo search and couldn't find anything more recent, so I don't know if that's changed. Personally, I think there's a certain irony to all this: To show greater respect for Indians, white people tell the Indians that we know better than they what they should call themselves. Sounds a little patronizing to me. But I'm probably trending from language to social commentary here. Share
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answered Dec 15 '11 at 15:25
Jay
Jay
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You can also use the term desi, which is commonly used among Indians and other South-central Asians to describe themselves.