Did My Local Chinese Restaurant Insult Me?

[jbradfor]

I was picking up dinner from our local Chinese restaurant, and to confirm the order she asked if I ordered A, B, and C. I replied that I don't know, as my wife ordered. She then commented no wonder there are no pot stickers.

What did she mean by that? Was she implying that pot stickers are foreigner-only food, and that real Chinese wouldn't order them? [We eat there often enough that they recognize me and know my wife is Chinese.] That seems strange to me, as their food in general is pretty Americanized, and I have had pot stickers in China (just not very common).

And, for the record, I don't always order pot stickers, only about 1/3 the time.

[skylee]

I have never heard of the term "pot stickers" before. 鍋貼. hmmmm.

[Tony Gann]

Usually "Pot Stickers" are not ordered in dinner time.

[gato]

She knows you like your pot stickers.

[jbradfor]

@skylee, you got it right. The 鍋貼 I've had in China tend to be long and skinny, with dough slightly different than standard 水餃. However, the 鍋貼 here tend to be basically pan-fried 水餃. :angry: :angry: Not as good. But, it seems, good enough that I still order them....

[Shi Tong]

I reckon gato is right, I think she knows you like your 鍋貼 is all. At least I hope so ;)

BTW, I'm sure you know that 鍋貼 is a 点心 diǎn​xin and is probably more often eaten in the afternoon.. or at least, that's what I've heard

[roddy]

Ooooh, now I know what I want for lunch.

I think you've been teased, not insulted. Whether they were teasing you for being foreign or liking stodgy fried lumps of dough and meat is hard to say, but assume the best.

[Kenny同志]

I think you've been teased,.

Yes, she was teasing you. She assumed you'd order pot stickers if it had been you who made the order.

[crazy-meiguoren]

You were teased, not insulted. At least you weren't owned. :rolleyes:

[jbradfor]

I think I feel better, thanks. But how would she know that I eat them, as opposed to my ordering them for my wife? Unless they notice how I wolf them down when we dine-in....

@crazy-meiguoren: or pwn3d :blink:

[gougou]

You know, even if pot-stickers were a foreigner-only food, and even if that was what she meant, why would that be insulting? After all, you are a foreigner (to them), aren't you?

[anonymoose]

I think, to be on the safe side, you should take it as an insult. I mean, if she did insult you, and you don't realise you've been insulted, it'll just make you look even more stupid (like Luxun's Ah-Q).

[roddy]

At least she didn't call into the back 'Hey, cancel the pot-stickers, looks like his wife's got him on a diet.'

[Kenny同志]

I think, to be on the safe side, you should take it as an insult. I mean, if she did insult you, and you don't realise you've been insulted, it'll just make you look even more stupid (like Luxun's Ah-Q).

But that would hurt the lady. I think it would be better to ask what she had said before taking it as an insult.

[anonymoose]

But that would hurt the lady. I think it would be better to ask what she had said before taking it as an insult.

He knows what she said - she made some highly inflammatory comments about pot stickers.

[Kenny同志]

He knows what she said - she made some highly inflammatory comments about pot stickers.

This is of course not the case. A native speaker can instantly tell she was teasing the OP. I think Jabradfor knew the exact words but failed to detect the amusing quality therein.

[anonymoose]

This is of course not the case. A native speaker can instantly tell she was teasing the OP. I think Jabradfor knew the exact words but not their meaning.

A native speaker of which language? Jbradfor didn't say which language she was speaking.

[Kenny同志]

A native speaker of which language? Jbradfor didn't say which language she was speaking.

I assume she was speaking Chinese, so it's another matter if she was speaking English. However, for a Chinese, the amusing quality is instantly detetable, no matter she was using Chinese or English(assuming she knows English).

[jbradfor]

Somehow the recent shift in the tone of this thread is no longer making me feel better :blink:

For the record, we speak in English. Their Mandarin has a really strong Zhejiang accent and I can't understand more than just a couple of words when they talk.

[anonymoose]

Lighten up guys. A native speaker should know that my post was a joke.