| Words for foreigners... | |
|---|---|
| Apr 23, 2007 15:38 |   |
 | I looked up the word "foreigner" in my Wenlin electronic dictionary and found a number of different ways to say foreigner. 洋人 ocean/person - yángrén...which I imagine is like saying "he is from across the pond..." ...the pond being the Atlantic Ocean... 番客 (measure word)/guest - fānkè...that's kinda nice...but what the devil is a measure word in this case...bad guest, good guest, big guest, little guest? 番子 (measure word)/child - fānzi... there's that measure word again...and it is being translated as barbarian! ...well I guess some parent's children are little barbarians rather than little angels. 红毛 red/hair - hóngmáo ... some of the first foreigners must have been from Ireland ;) ...that is what the reference is, correct - ??? - foreign people rarely have the jet black hair of the Chinese. 老外 - lǎowài - foreigner or layman 外国人 outside/country/person - wàiguórén ... makes sense and usually pretty obvious 外人 outside/person - wàirén ... a stranger 外族 outside/people or nationality - wàizú ... people not of the same clan ... not necessarily a foreigner from outside of China I just found it interesting how the characters are put together to derive meanings... |
| Apr 23, 2007 19:43 | #1 |
| Some words are derogatory. |
| Apr 23, 2007 21:43 | #2 |
| 洋人= Westerner. In this context 洋 refers to the West, probably because the Westerners who had the biggest impact on China arrived by ship, starting from the Ming Dynasty. 洋 meaning Western crops up in a few other words, such as 洋车 meaning 自行车/bicycle, although I'm not so sure how common these words are today. In my experience, 洋车 is more commonly used by older people in rural areas. Correct me if I'm wrong. 番, according to my 新华字典 bilingual edition, is defined first as 'foreign, barbarian', then as 'replace', then as a measure word. I don't find 番客 so nice. 老外 is very common, but is usually used to refer to Westerners, especially those of the white-skinned variety. Not often used to refer to people of other skin colours. Some people find it offensive, although the word itself is essentially neutral. Of course, it can be used offensively, but then again, so can any word. As for derogatory words, I have been called 洋鬼子 on a couple of occasions. Not a pleasant experience, especially considering the people calling me that did not have the balls to face up to me, they just muttered it as they were walking by, no doubt assuming I wouldn't understand. 红毛 suits me perfectly. |
| Apr 24, 2007 01:14 | #3 |
| 洋车 is used to describle cars, I think. And 洋 was frequently used in the past. E.g.: 洋火, which is called 火柴(the match) now. 洋伞, which is called 阳伞(sun umbrella) now. 洋葱(onion), etc. All the foreign stuffs were called 洋xxx in the past. |
| May 10, 2007 01:59 | #4 |
| there are some other names,such as 大鼻子, 鬼子 |
| May 10, 2007 10:00 | #5 |
| Big nose...that fits me :) Foreign devil...that fits a lot of us. ...although those expressions are generally used by the ignorant. Correct? |
| May 11, 2007 00:42 | #6 |
| 洋车 for cars? No, in my experience it refers to bicycles. That could be different in different parts of China, though. |
| May 13, 2007 20:54 | #7 |
| So interesting!!! We usually call russian Da Bi Zi,haha:-) |
| May 13, 2007 21:02 | #8 |
| I called people's name intead of any of what you had mentioned above. |
| May 13, 2007 23:18 | #9 |
| 'I called people's name intead of any of what you had mentioned above.' Lizxli, how do you call other people, their names or nicknames? |
| May 17, 2007 11:44 | #10 |
| Liz thinking-- what to say--? |
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