Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Slang in Asia-Pt.1

Since living here, my friends and I have developed an extensive slang vocabulary to better articulate the flavors of the culture in Taipei, Taiwan:

Sars:
Short for Sorry.
"Sars I'm late, I forgot to turn on my alarm this morning."

Ahab:
Noun derived from Captain Ahab in Moby Dick who obsessively pursued the Big White Whale. Refers to a local women who specifically tries to get white foreign boyfriends or someone who has Western Fetish or an Americanizer.
" Gurl is such an Ahab. She goes after anything that's white. Can't she at least date someone foreign and not homeless looking??!"

Done Hwa'ed:
Phrase referring to hip and expensive Zhongxiao Dunhua area in Taipei where you will shop your salary away.
"Hwa" is the Mandarin Chinese word for "spend".
"I feel like shit. I up and done hwa'ed all my money yesterday on shoes and now I can't pay my rent."

Carnie:
Noun that describes a really square looking, usually older foreign guy scoping for young hot asian chicks. Derived from Carnegies, a bar in Taipei that has a reputation for lots of Local Asian Girl/Foreigner One Night Stands.
"OMG- that guy in the Members Only Jacket? TOTAL CARNIE! Hide your sister!"

Avian:
Adjective that describes a place of squalor that could easily breed filth and disease. Or a description of feeling ill yourself.
"I'm feeling a little avian right now after sitting on that bus with all the Asians coughing with their mouths open."

Dropping the English Bomb:
Phrase that describes the unique experience of being Asian and completely blending in..until you start speaking fluent English and the people around you snap their heads to stare.
"Shite...I just dropped the English bomb in the elevator when I answered your call and everyone stared at me like a freak."

Jap-Off:
Noun describing a contest usually between two Asian Americans of non-Japanese denomination to see who gets mistaken for being Japanese more while living in Taiwan. (Because if your Chinese sucks and you're Asian, you're obviously Japanese. No WAY are you American! Americans have blonde hair and blue eyes!)
"I WIN the Jap-Off! The 7-Eleven girl just said 'Arigato' to me when I left the store!"


Okay..that's it for now. More later. I promise.

3 comments:

Dwat said...

ZOO WAS DA BOMB, DA BIG ASS ENGLISH BOMB.

I pity those Chimps.

D

-jason- said...

'done hwa'ed' and the 'e-bomb'. that's some brilliant stuff right there.

pekkle01 said...

I get mistaken for Vietnamese, Cambodian, and Filipino here. Rarely immediately IDed as Chinese. Hardly American, unless I open my mouth. Heh.