`  :::Strangely enough, I have talked to a Vietnamese man who was a coworker of mine on this subject, and he assured me that Viet Cong is pejorative.  In point of fact, he'd never even heard the term until his twenties when he first saw Hollywood movies.  It implies significant untruths about a group which had a major influence on its region's history.  The first untruth being that it was a primarily communist organization.  This implication is indefensible as it contributes to a misunderstanding of the larger conflict.  I also had a history professor who made a damned convincing case which included source material from linguists and regional experts.  I have never heard a single person who is familiar with the nuances of the politics of Vietnam who believes Viet Cong is a satisfactory term for the NLF.  And the fact that Viet Cong is the more common name is irrelevant.  In 1930, nigger was far more common than ``black`` or ``african american`` in parts of the US. Just because a word is popularly misused does not validate the usage.`