Talk about '鬼佬' Part 1/2

A short talk on why the term '鬼佬' (pronounced: Gwai Lo) is not an offensive term and why 洋人 and 西人 are inappropriate and offensive on the other hand.

Language: Cantonese, 粵語

Part 1 of 2

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• 鬼佬
• 洋人
• 西人
• 粵語
• Gwai
• Lo
• Foreigner
• Cantonese
• Part
• 1/2

[DanteLovesPizza]

@cfl1116

Really?! Never really heard that before. I mean, equally I know white people born in HK that get called 鬼佬.

[cfl1116]

@DanteLovesPizza, i do really understand what are u saying, most people in hong kong don't really care, i'm a person born in the UK...my family is chinese and i have a job in hong kong, my cantonese is not that good, people i work in hong kong saying to me, you are 鬼佬, because i don't speak good cantonese or don't understand their culture, it's really nothing do with the skin, if you not belong to that country, you will still get people say to you are 鬼佬.. just to let you know.

[DanteLovesPizza]

@cfl1116

No no, that is what I am talking about. 鬼佬 is the term to use for white people, on the other hand, 外國人 would be more offensive if the person was white, but actually born in HK.

Simply put, the term 鬼佬 is more suitable because 西人 denotes that person came from a western country, 外國人 denotes that person came from outside the country, which are both incorrect if the person was born in HK. However, 鬼佬 is used for skin colour, regardless of where they were born, which makes it more suitable.

[DanteLovesPizza]

@Buuub08

Yeah, exactly, if they meant no harm, I would not be offended, there is no reason to be offended.

I even make jokes about it myself and laugh at others about deporting me and stuff. xD

And they do, racist is a term used too often now. Even stereotypes are being called racism when they are very different things. >.>

[Buuub08]

@DanteLovesPizza Oh yea, i know what its like in the UK, been there.

How can one not accept a perfectly normal term? Do you get offended when someone calls you an Asian? Ofc not. Also i guess you are technically a foreigner in the UK, makes you feel offended? I doubt that, and that goes for me here as well. Im a westerner and you are an easterner. Offensive? I dont think so. Sure it can be used offensively, but by itself its cool imo.

Some folks just need to chill-da-fuck-out xD

[DanteLovesPizza]

@Buuub08

Yeah, I know what you mean, I guess that's why the foreigners here, in the UK, tend to stay in a group amongst themselves. People just need to lighten up a little. :/

I see, heh, well, it's cool that you can accept the term so smoothly, I mean, look at some of the comments below, even some Asians can't accept that term......

[Buuub08]

@DanteLovesPizza Oh yea they do get uptight, and that actually causes problems often making to hard to get along. As a result foreigners at times tend to distance themselves from locals, which again causes the problems to get worse.

Yep, i am white, pretty mixed ancestry though. lol

[DanteLovesPizza]

@Buuub08

I guess you're right on that. I mean, some people just get very uptight about this type of stuff.

Haha, gwai zai, huh? xD You're white then, I presume?

[Buuub08]

@DanteLovesPizza I guess one has to be of a certain kind to be able to call himself a gwai lo. The typical whitey cant do it, i suppose. They are either too old for that, dont have the necessary sense of humor, havent spent enough time in HK, or avoid being among the locals altogether. But it sure gets an interesting reaction from the crowd when 2 white guys refer to each other as "gwai lo". Up until about 10 i actually thought my nickname was gwai zai, had no clue what it meant lol.

[DanteLovesPizza]

@Buuub08

Haha, never really heard white people calling each other it, but I do see what you mean. :)