Up yours!

[Shane]

You can tell I'm having a bad day - two rants in one day!

So there I was this afternoon, waiting by the side of the road, wanting to cross over. Suddenly, a coach went past, and the driver honked his horn at me.

When I looked at him, he stuck two fingers up at me! I guess he was 'just being friendly', right?

And don't tell me it happened because 'there's too many people in China'. ;D

[George61]

Urally, the boot is on the other foot ...or in this case the fingers are on trhe other hand! I have never seen that. maybe that driver has wide experience.

[Shane]

Maybe he's getting ready for the Olympics ;D

[acjade]

Let it go. Didn't mean a thing. He had snot stuck on his fingers and jusn't couldn't get rid of it.

[Shane]

acjade said:

Let it go. Didn't mean a thing. He had snot stuck on his fingers and jusn't couldn't get rid of it.

lol

Funny thing is, you're probably absolutely right. Oh, and it didn't bother me. I just did it back to him, smiling.

[Nate M]

I thought in Britain the backwards "v for victory" was basically the same as m'kay off. Maybe he had a British English teacher back in the day.

[Newbs]

Yeah, the V sign with the palm facing outwards is Victory, with the hand the other way it means m'kay you, etc... but that's not used much in Australia nowadays. We just use one finger, the middle one, with palm facing inwards. Well, it's often hot down there, why use 2 fingers when 1 will do and you can save some energy?

When Bush snr. visited Australia many years ago he was being driven past some supporters and so he decided to give them the V for victory sign but his hand was around the wrong way, oops!

Do Chinese know what 1, or 2, fingers mean? If so, I am pi$$ed off. There have been dozens of times when I have wanted to use the sign, to yokels, etc. but haven't because I figured they don't know what it means. Damn, all this time I could have been communicating with the locals and increasing our understanding of each other. Missed opportunities there.

[hankuh]

Oh! This reminds me of my own lil' incident a few weeks ago. After working out at the health club, QiQi, a Chinese-Canadian teacher, and I were all chatting at a bus stop, waiting for the bus to take us back to campus.
Suddenly, a nice black "Santana" car with tinted windows pulled over.
One fat guy with a crew cut and black glasses opened his door, and started shouting, "HELOO!"
Well, I just kept on chatting and ignored him, but then--without even looking at him--I gave him the big finger, and continued chatting with my wife and the Chinese-Canadian. I didn't look at the thug, so I didn't give the idiot any face. Well, then they drove off, but after they had gone about 40 yards, the fat thug looked back and screamed out the window in a rage, shaking his fist at me,"m'kay YOU! YOU MOTHERm'kayER!"

I immediately dropped my gym bag, and stared sprinting full force towards them. They immediately peeled rubber and it was obvious they were scared pooless. I mean, all I wanted to do was compliment the moron for his clear modern English!

QiQi said, "I have never seen you run so fast!"

"Do you think he knew what the finger meant?" I asked.

"Not at first. His friend probably had to explain it to him, and then told him what to say!" QiQi said.

Now, that's progress!

[Newbs]

Since I last posted 2 things have happened.

1. One of the kids in my class who knows diddly squat about English but is a great artist has drawn a wonderful picture of a hand giving the finger. He's 12yo and I'm damn sure he knows what it means.

2. Hairy Arse has posted a wonderful account of what happens if you stand up to the morons who yell out hello. Raoul, a beer please for Hairy on George's my tab.

[Ruth]

Hairy Ass, that is SO funny. Thanks for sharing.

I never have enough nerve to give the finger. Either that or it was bred into me that nice girls don't do that.

[Mr Nobody]

Just want to point out the two fingers wasn't originally for saying mkay off. It was after the battle of agincourt or crecy, when the french were getting the sharp end of the english bowmen, they say that when they win, they will cut off the bow fingers off every archer. The two fingers is to show that the archers still have them.

And good on ya, Oh, Hairy One. The beer is on me (make it cheap, Raoul, I just spent a lot getting here)

[Newbs]

Well, I'm sure that when Hairy did the finger to the yokel the yokel thought, "Tian A, This guy knows all about the Battle of Agincourt. I'm outta here."

Houston, Middle Kingdom base here, nobody has landed.

[gengrant]

reminds me of 2002 when I was teaching 8 year olds in Huizhou and had to tell one of them not to bring cups of water to class since she spilled more than she drank...

clear as day, she looks right at me, flips me the USAnian One Fingered Salute and says without a lick of mispronunciation "M'kay You!"



Ever try to explain to an 8 year old (in English) who doesn't really understand English that what she just did is inappropriate?



Very funny now, though!
I wish I had just said to her:

[Wolf]

When I first read Shane's post, I wasn't sure if the cab driver had given you the peace sign (or some Austrailian/Welsh Bowman variant thereof) or if he had flipped you the bird with both hands while steering with his knees and pressing the accelorator with sheer force of will.

Actually, I think it's because there are not enough people in China. Not enough visible/linguistic minorities.

Reactions to obviously different people in China are grossly exaggerated by lack of exposure (combined with a skewered portrayal of All Others by the media.)

I think I told this story on this board about 10 times already, but one day I was waiting for a friend while standing in front of a Univeristy (not the one I taught at.) Then this 8 year old girl comes up to me and says "Hello." I didn't respond. I just thought to myself: what a perfect hello. She said it at a normal volume, looked me in the eye, moved to within conversational distance first, had great pronunciation, etc.

Then she asks me "Are you Wolf?" (well, she used my offline name, although my offline Chinese name to this day is still Wolf.) WOW SHE'S TALKING TO ME! Oh yeah, and she has the ability to read my mind. BUT SHE'S TALKING TO ME AND THAT'S THE MIRACLE.

It turns out that she was the daughter of the person I was waiting for. Her family had lived in Beijing and Zuhai, and she had been around all sorts of people all her life. Thus it was second nature (first nature) for her to address me the way you would, say, a human being.

Sometimes the exaggerated gestures ARE meant to be friendly. Sometimes not. But I found that usually the non-friendly ones are about as subltle as a trian wreck and far from ambigous (with random street meetings, anyway.)

[Mr Nobody]

Wolf is right, most of the bowman, especially early in the middle ages were welsh. In fact, evidence suggests that the longbow was a welsh development. But it was an English army.

Wolf, you cracked me up with the "not enough people" comment. But I know what you mean.

I am in the zoo! Look at me eat my own poo!

Pass me a banana.

[Newbs]

Yeah, Wolf, you're right about the exaggerated gestures sometimes genuinely meant as a friendly gesture. I was out with a Chinese guy I know and his 14yo daughter, whose English isn't bad, last weekend. We ended up in one of the tourist traps in Hangzhou. Some USAnians walked past and she just said "Hello." She got no response from her attempt to try her English out on some foreigners, although she didn't seem to be too worried about their response.

But when the local baijiu swilling @#$%^& yell out "HELLO." behind my back I bloody well know that they are NOT being friendly, they are being bloody jerks.

Newbs

[gengrant]

I am in the zoo!

welcome to the jungle...and save a spot for me!

[Mr Nobody]

I got one right here for you, next to the monkeys.

[woza17]

Tank now don't get pissed off with me but I am an amiable peace loving sometimes overly friendly type of woman. I love the hullos. I would have said a hulloo and tried to get a lift home, have a few drinkies out of the car bar. I am often annoying the Chinese with my Nei haos I am trying to perfect my pronunciation. If I don't say nei hao at least one hundred times a day to my Chinese brothers and sisters a day I haven't filled my quota.
for example Mr Yang the man that fixes the bicycles. When I leave the uni and arrive I have to have a nei hao. He has started hiding in his little tin shed but undaunted a rap on the tin and a big nie hao. Hey I started it and I will see it to the end. His cronies think this is really funny and make sure that he addresses me with a nei hao. He is a lovely man, great body, lovely old faded tattoo of a dragon on his forearm and skin women would die for, a kung fu guy.

Hulllooo

[acjade]

WEnt up to one of the school's restaurants today to buy some take out. Got a big cheezy helloo..oo..oo from a guy being slowly scorched to death behind a giant wok. Focused on the cold noodle bar next door I , stood still, looked around and then yelled back at Mi fuc he [glow=red,2,300]Ni hao....ao....aoo!!![/glow] The whole restaurant burst out laughing and then clapped.

[hankuh]

nah, I ain't pissed off--been here long enough to distinguish a sincere hello and one that is said as a jeer to gain face with the culprit's buddies.
I generally repeat hello to little children, and various well-mannered old folks who don't go into a snickering debacle, nudging their old friends to do the same.
If it's said in sincerity, I say hello; if it's not, I just ignore it--plain and simple. Unless some bajiu swilling hooligan drives up, attempts to interrupt my conversation, then I give him the finger--but I don't look at him nor speak.
(although to be candid, in the past I have retorted with a whole gamut of Chinese obscenties, now, I much rather not even acknowledge them).
By the way, quite a few Chinese don't approve of the insincere hello. I remember when I was in Shanghai on a very early morning and QiQi were in a breakfast diner, chatting and looking over our documents. This jerk came over, and said, "Helloooo" and departed quickly giggling. A Chinese man at another table, just adjacent to our own, just glared at the jerk.

[acjade]

Went up to the village supermarket this morning for cigarettes and milk. As you do. A Chinese man pushed in front of me but I kept my space and eyed the fuwuyuan with a laser like stare. The fuwuyuan hesitated for a split thirty seconds and then continued serving me. I could feel the absolute surprise in the dude. It was totally palpable.

[con's fly is open]

Attagirl, Jade, take no poo from the swine. This is China's absolute worst behaviour. I'm painfully polite, but this gets my back up: getting my ticket to Dalian at the train station, some creep tried to push past me- this, with those rails channelling us into a line! I respondined with a "Hey!" and stepped ahead, Putting my elbow out in front of him.
I wonder whether he was embarrassed at being a jerk, or just figured "oh well, it was worth a try."

[acjade]

Passivity rules here but this sort of thing they have to be assertive in? Sheesh!
Still it does demonstrate that the collective conscious can undertake independent action when motivated. Maybe I should have asked the gentleman concerned to come talk to my classes on proaction.

[Beausie]

I didn't know I had elbows til I'd been in line in China a few times! Buying tickets at the bus station, train station, et al. I've definitely learned to stop the ignorant buggers shoving their arms/elbows in front of me. One of the benefits of being a large western lady - shove the buggers out of the way. Then find the really nice, friendly, helpful people who put themselves out to look after me. As my Canadian friends say, Go Figure!