This line from my brother PJ, who got back (is getting back?) from a trip to Vienna (among other places he visited). He shared it on Facebook and I thought it was so good I needed to share it here. A little bit of context: his ex-wife is Chinese. So here is the great unknown line:
"I'm
not that much of a gweizai, don't offer me Western utensils, Chinese
waitress at a Japanese-Korean restaurant. (I couldn't have another
Austrian or Italian meal)."
A gweizai, or gwaylo, or gweilo, is from what I understood a Westerner, in Cantonese slang a white ghost. It is the word of the day (I started this theme in my French posts and it never picked up, let's see if it does in English). I loved the amount of cultural references in a single line (almost a single line) and the use of the Cantonese word. Oh and on a side note, as I cannot use chopsticks, I am very much a gweilo.
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5 comments:
Well, in my limited exposure, this is definitely a new term for me!
"A white ghost". That's familiar!
I'm told that the term "white" to refer to Europeans was coined by the Greeks; this having nothing to do with skin color because Europeans are actually pink skinned so the Greeks called them as red skinned; but actually referring to the fact that Europeans believed in ghosts they called "whites".
Gweizai = ghost boy. Of course, now that I'm not so young and had a right (still do?) to give those red cash envelopes, gweilo may be more appropriate.
I never noticed that your "great unknown line" post was in English instead of its usual French until you pointed it out. LOL!
Thank you all for commenting.
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