The "Dark Meaning" of 5 Chinese Terms

[Shelley]

Interestingly I have associated these colours with these things all my life on both sides of the Atlantic and in four counties.

 

Red - danger

Yellow - cowerdice

green - jealousy

blue - rude, porn

violet- passion

pink - girly

black - sad, death

white - purity.

 

I know that these things change in other countries ie yellow in china is for the emporor and white is for death and red is lucky.

 

Any other variations?

[Lu]

In various countries:

blue - sad

orange - Holland :-)

green - Islam (if I'm not mistaken)

[Kenny同志]

I don't like to address girls as 美女 either. To avoid it, I have resorted to 姑娘, which worked fine when I was in Qingdao.

[skylee]

It just sounds rude (PS - IMHO).

[Demonic_Duck]

I'm still curious as to the aversion to using "美女". I'm not a huge fan of the word myself, but it seems to be a widely-used and inoffensive way of getting someone's attention, so I use it. Am I missing some hidden connotation here?

 

Edit: Simul-post with Skylee.

[abcdefg]

About 美女， it is pretty casual, not terribly respectful. But it is not perceived as rude or as an attempt at flirting (in Kunming.)

 

The situation in which I hear it most often is to get the attention of a young waitress. Local people who use it that way also tend to use 帅哥 in a similar manner for young waiters.

[陳德聰]

帅哥 and 美女 make me extremely uncomfortable, but sometimes you just have to shelve your discomfort when a giant population begins to affect language shifts. I don't use them, but they are so often used that they are inescapable (uncomfortable) truths now, and I guess they could be construed as some sort of anti-superficial everyone-is-beautiful movement (hah). I just find something weirdly intimate about referring to someone's appearance when they're a stranger. Especially when guys call me 帅哥 I feel like it carries the same discomfort level as "buddy". I'm not your "buddy", we just met, so why are you calling me that? I imagine some women may feel a similar discomfort at being intimately referred to that way.

 

If I were addressing a stranger who was a woman on the street and she was approximately my age or slightly younger I would probably call her 小姐 regardless of the connotation. The only time I can imagine needing to is if she dropped her wallet or something like that, so my 善意 would likely cancel out any potential upset at being called 小姐 if she finds that offensive.

[skylee]

I agree with #27.

[Demonic_Duck]

Perhaps this is a cultural difference as well - a lot of the Chinese people I've met are far more direct about discussing others' physical appearance to their face (whether the comment is positive or negative). This could be weight, race, resemblance to a famous person, beauty, etc. etc.

 

Examples (all real):

"What did you think about the potential new recruit?"

"Well, he's black, and he has an earring."

 

"You look like Shelldon from the Big Bang Theory."

 

(To a young lady who was certainly a bit heavier than average) "You're so much fatter than the last time I saw you!"

 

"Your nose is really big!"

 

...etc.

 

I mean, "美女/帅哥" are pretty tame in comparison.

[Kenny同志]

I have also used 兄台 a few times, by the way. And the feeling is very good.

It's depressing that while I am always trying to be cordial to people and make them comfortable when addressing them, some don't do me the same favour. Up to now, it remains a mystery to me why I have been called 師傅 time and time again by migrant workers!

[Lu]

Perhaps in their world, 师傅 is the standard greeting for adult men, since most men around them would indeed be 师傅? Perhaps they feel weird saying 先生 much as others feel weird saying 美女? I wouldn't take it personally if I were you, it's probably not intended as a judgement on their part.

[Nathan Mao]

Imagine my confusion the first (so far, only) time I encountered someone calling a female teacher "先生". 

 

(先生 used to mean "teacher")

[Guest realmayo]

美女、帅哥 : I'm uncomfortable with these too, simply because they weren't used when I was first in China. If I went to America and discovered people saying 'hi sexy' or 'over here, hottie' all the time to waiters and waitresses, or to customers or whoever, I would feel the same way. Chinese people can address each other however they please but because I wasn't around during the shift in register for these terms, I find them horrible.

I don't think it's a 'cultural difference' type thing, just a time thing. Consider a new laowai in China who finds the neutral use of 同志 or 小姐 to be weird or awkward: it's the same but in reverse.

[gato]

This article below suggests that it's derived from the American term "Yellow Journalism" (which means sensationalist reporting), which was commonly used in China in the 1920-1930s.

http://xw.qq.com/c/cul/201305160228871

“黄色”一词成为色情的代名词，与“黄色新闻”有直接关系。但该词的含义在中国从耸人听闻的刺激性新闻，到狭隘化成淫秽色情新闻的转换，既不是孤立地在新闻学内部实现的，其最终的社会化，也是“黄色”一词跳出新闻业以后，波及其他诸多文化领域后才得以形成的结果。

这种以“黄色”为纽带的跨领域文化互动，早在30年代中后期就已星星点点地出现。如1935年，即有人将专注于描写女明星一举一动、一言一笑的新闻称作“桔色新闻”，并解释说“桔色系粉红色与黄色的混合色。”

1946年前后，“黄色”一词已经开始被广泛运用到一般社会刊物、音乐、电影、文学等各主要文化领域，“黄色刊物”、“黄色音乐”、“黄色电影”、“黄色文学”等今人耳熟能详的词汇相继出现。这可以说是当时“黄色”一词淫秽色情含义生成、扩散和定型的典型表现。

[hedwards]

@Gato,that's probably it. I'd totally forgotten about that usage of the word. But, that's almost certainly the word they're referring to when they use it. It might vary somewhat regionally, but that's the most likely origin for that.

[imron]

I'm still curious as to the aversion to using "美女".

There's nothing wrong with the word per-se in the correct context, however realmayo hits the nail on the head

 

f I went to America and discovered people saying 'hi sexy' or 'over here, hottie' all the time to waiters and waitresses, or to customers or whoever, I would feel the same way.

Would you call a waitress by saying "hey babe, can I get another bowl of rice", or "hey sexy.....".  It's just an inappropriate word to use in this sort of context.

[gato]

It's really part of the sexy-ification of mainland China. You see banner ads with bikini women all over the Communist Party's Xinhua news website after all.

The 美女 and 帅哥 usage originated from TV game and interview shows in Taiwan, I believe, and morphed over time.

[abcdefg]

What I find stranger than 师傅 is the way I'm called 老板 left and right in Hong Kong and Macau. Every male guest seems to receive that false courtesy, particularly in the saunas and entertainment venues. In that particular context I can't help wondering if they think it encourages more generous tipping.

 

But with all of these things, I try to not overthink them, and just pay attention to what kind of response they elicit. I try to hear with local Chinese ears and not American ears. And then I shamelessly imitate local ways.

 

Five or six years ago I remember being in a casual Kunming restaurant with a Chinese lady friend and hailing the young waitress with 美女。My dining companion was all aghast and I asked her why. Boiled down to an emphatic "It's just not proper to do that." But she was a prim schoolteacher from a small town in NW Hunan where she said it just was never done. A surprising regional difference, if her comment is to be taken at face value.

.

I think, though I don't know for sure, that there may also be a social class difference.

 

Yesterday I went to lunch with three kind but uneducated people who were visiting Kunming from a South-Yunnan rice-farming village, and there was plenty of 美女 and 帅哥 in the restaurant. But last weekend I dined with local friends who were college-graduate professionals, and only heard the more proper 服务员。

[abcdefg]

#36 -- @Imron --

Would you call a waitress by saying "hey babe, can I get another bowl of rice", or "hey sexy.....".  It's just an inappropriate word to use in this sort of context.

 

I have spent lots of time in the American South, and there are plenty of small cafes where the waitress will come by and say (to a stranger) "Would you like your coffee warmed up, Honey?" Or "Do you want your eggs over easy, Sweetie?"

 

The local customer might very well smile, and answer, "Why, thank you, Dear, that would be nice."

 

In this case, the level of expressed intimacy and affection is a function of the location more than anything else. Local custom trumps logic.

[skylee]

I think, though I don't know for sure, that there may also be a social class difference.

I guess there is a subtle (or perhaps not so subtle) difference, as you have observed.