Skip to main content

Agreement

So, I have an Asian last name. I understand some of the cultural mores and a small amount of Cantonese. I can even pronounce some of it surprisingly well. While no one is going to confuse me for the most traditional Chinese person ever, I also don't feel like I'm out of place with my Chinese family. Heck, I even manage to surprise people every now and again.

Of the limited Chinese I do understand, though, there are a few that have come up in amusing ways. I have a friend who will occasionally respond to IM's (side note: the phrase "IM messages" just seems wrong to me, because the second word is redundant) with a "hai!" She's basically just saying "yes" in another language. It's simple enough language that I understand it, but I'm always amused. It's a little bit like someone who will say "danke" or "grazie" instead of "thank you." It's sort of endearing in its own way.

However, the one that's far more amusing is the Cantonese "okay." It's apparently transcribed as "hou" many times, but it sounds a lot more like "ho." You have to get the tones right, but the basic sound is right. I've never really thought much of it, since that's just the way the word is pronounced. Well, I haven't thought about it much until recently.

I have a coworker who is decidedly more Chinese than I am. She has a slight Cantonese accent when she speaks English, but more importantly, she thinks in Cantonese. There have been times when I have noticed that she has literally translated a concept or saying from Cantonese, so it sounds like slightly awkward English. I'm sure I do that too with Spanish at times, but that's not the point. The point is that her first reaction is always in a non-English language.

That means that if I have to send IM's to her about some work, I will occasionally receive a response back that says "ho." I know what she means because of my aforementioned, limited Cantonese skills. She's basically agreeing with me or saying that something sounds like a good idea. But it's different, and I don't see it very often. So it makes me chuckle.

And as my "hai!" friend pointed out, it can definitely be taken the wrong way. This is doubly amusing to me. Not only could HR end up involved for an entirely innocent remark, but "hai" is criticizing "ho" about the proper way to speak Chinglish. Like I said, doubly amusing.

I'm going to have to keep up my Chinese. It's apparently quite useful at work.
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

New York City Trip (Day 3)

By the third day of the trip, I was tired enough from the previous day's adventures/subway rides that I felt like sleeping in. And sleep in I did. I think I woke up at something like 11:30 or noon. Of course, that meant that a later start to the day, which started the vicious cycle all over again. By the time we rolled into Manhattan, it was about two in the afternoon. I had tentatively set aside Sunday to see something on Broadway, so we headed over to the tkts booth for discount tickets. There were actually various 3PM options, and after mulling our options, we figured it'd be a good idea to catch one of those. We settled on The Toxic Avenger , which was actually an off-Broadway option. However, we hadn't eaten yet, and the show started about 15 minutes after we got our tickets. Enter the food carts. There happened to be one right outside the theater, and the guy charged a little bit of a premium for the convenience. Still, I was hungry, and I had yet to try...
1 comment
Read more

Moment of Truth

I forget where I first heard it (I think it might have been Descartes), but I have long been a fan of the notion that certain things just have a " ring of truth " to them. If you've never heard the idiom before, the basic idea is that some things are super-true. They are not just true, but they are so obviously true, that as soon as you hear them, you recognize the truthiness inherent in them. I usually get excited when I hear one of these, since it means that I am a tiny bit less ignorant from that moment forward. For the first time in memory, though, I experienced the ring of truth. First, let me paint the scene with a little bit of background. I'd made plans to have dinner with my friend, but we'd agreed to play it by ear. The end result was that we ended up settling on a pretty late dinner in a local spot. That worked out just fine, since we weren't shooting for gourmet, we just wanted to grab some food and catch up in the process. So, we headed out to ...
Post a Comment
Read more

All Good Things ...

August 8, 2009. Over twelve years ago, I started blogging with this simple post . I didn't really have a great reason for starting the blog, other than I wanted to try it out. I wanted to try writing and putting it where others could read it. I don't know, it just seemed like a new adventure to try. Along the way, there have been all sorts of posts and all sorts of life events, but through it all, I kept writing. It just became a part of what I do at some point. It wasn't a matter of whether I was going to write a blog post, it was a matter of when. The Mild Wife has described it as a "writing practice," and it was one of the reasons why I kept writing. Honestly, it's good practice, and it gives me an opportunity to hone my craft. I'm no professional author, but we all have to write stuff in our everyday lives. Why not give yourself reps to get better at it? However, I think it's time for that practice to change. My weekly anecdotes sure kept me amused...
Post a Comment
Read more