gweilos?

[Sino Defender]

You info is from the 1980s! A Cha is not use anymore, Yan Do is used now as someone already pointed out. Bun bun too is not used anymore, and if used it is derogatory, you should not use that word.

his information is accurate. a cha is being used very often among the local communities. i was born and raised in hk. maybe it's because of your indian background that people don't say it to your face. but it is still very commonly used.

[kombuchakid]

One Gwei Lo term not mentioned on this thread is Haak Gwei [Lo].
And whatever happened to Mo Lo Cha?
I always found that to be more civil.
And the proper response to Ah Cha?
Ah Chew! [not geshundheit]
And finally The year of the Rat began yesterday, so put on your talismans and set up your wind chimes.
Fengshui master says Chinese New Year should begin on Feb 4 - Yahoo! Singapore News

[jgl]

I get called Lo Wei which is Mandarin equivalent, so I am informed by my Chinese wife.

As an aside, Lo Fan is the term used instead of gweilo in the US. Apparently the political correctness police have made inroads into American Chinese culture.

I occasionally get called gweilo by my relatives (I'm ethnically Chinese). I've used the term to describe others, and Caucasian friends have used it to describe each other or themselves. Of all terms that might offend the politically correct, I think that gweilo really ranks at the bottom of the pile, if it should even rank at all.

[Boris]

As an aside, Lo Fan is the term used instead of gweilo in the US. Apparently the political correctness police have made inroads into American Chinese culture.

A famous man once said " America and England - two countries separated by the same language "
Seems the same is true in the Chinese community abroad.

[flyingchair]

The term is originally not a pleasant one but has become acceptable over time. If I hear it I react according to context.

For those who do not hear the lingo, if you hear something that sounds like "say gweilo" you can be assured it was not very nice. Literally translated he is wishing you dead and froma practical translation it's about the same as the f word with an ing on the end of it.

[sera]

Re: that colourful "say" adj. in HK - depends on the context.

But note the stressed bits of the particular phrase: "SAY gwei-LO".

Usually the tone is clearly RUDE - even when muttered under one's breath. Just as unsavoury as using the old ignorant forms: "Ah Cha" or "Bun Bun", even thoughtlessly.

[flyingchair]

Well I suppose it could mean four gweilos as without the "goh" inbetween...