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.
Well, in my limited exposure, this is definitely a new term for me!
ReplyDelete"A white ghost". That's familiar!
ReplyDeleteI'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.
ReplyDeleteI never noticed that your "great unknown line" post was in English instead of its usual French until you pointed it out. LOL!
ReplyDeleteThank you all for commenting.
ReplyDelete