whatever the old/original meanings, when gweilo barbarians invaded china and pushed drugs (canton was the gateway for opium, and hong kong was the drug transit point) the term now is actually more a term of standoff endearment
think about it, and realize the invasion of china by barbaric western states happened before the term gweilo.
lone marco polo was welcomed as guest of the chinese state way back when, repeatedly.
what would have happened to a lone chinese visitor to the west had he visited during marco polo time.
also realize, the western naval fleets attacked china, whereas the much earlier chinese fleet visited, said hi, freely exchanged gifts along the way, and left, starship enterprise style.
you must recognize the true shortcomings of certain short duration pop cultures and the enlightened nature of certain enduring civilizations.
but, never mind all that history of which you apparently know nothing of, and focus on your question.
re "gwei", all, and i mean ALL western expatriates (men and women) i know refer to other western expatriates as gweilo or gweipo or gweizai or gweimei (ghost oldster man or ghost oldster lady or same again, but boy or girl).
as in, "oh, yes, my gweipo boss and gweimei assistant are having trouble buying clothing in her size"
the reason for the gwei is so that, when relevant, folks know what you are talking about, as it does not say as much should one just say, "oh, yes, my boss and assistant are having trouble buying clothing in her size"
the former sentence actually says much clothing sold in hk are not meant for westerners, and so they have trouble shopping for such, whereas the latter sentence, unless further explained, makes no sense.
the gwei is sometimes prefaced by other terms, as in smart, astute, black, white, japanese, ...
you do see that, do you not, and if you do not, you are being deliberately thick, as a whale sandwich.
if you do, you learned again. |
