Happy Chinese New Year!
I had forgotten it was the holiday and ordered some Chinese food from Cheng’s Garden tonight. As I got there, I noticed the celebratory red paper lanterns about the establishment and noticed that the place was packed with large Asian families.
Remembering the phrase as I received my order, I politely said to the stressed waiter:
“Gung hay fat choy” (Gun hay fah choy) which means, “Wishing you prosperity”.
His eyes lit up, probably because in suburban-hell America, I was most likely the only white non-Chinese speaking customer who actually new the custom.
To reward me for being so polite, I was offered a piece of sugared pineapple. Following up with a, “Xie xie” (pronounced Scheh, Scheh), he smiled and said “You’re welcome.”
I’ve always liked having handy phrases in different languages as a matter of polite discourse, but tonight, these made me feel rather nice instead of being a smart-ass in front of my co-workers!
DOn’t forget the second part
something something lazy loy
(something about giving someone their damn lucky money. Note, only applys to children and unmarried adults that are shamed into marrying by being given… free money? like children, but still… )
Very cool. I don’t happen across many Pig Latin restaurants in my travels, so my handy phrases are often kept to myself.
Appyhay Ridayfay!
I like the new look, Kate!
Be careful about offending Northerners with that phrase! Lucky your restaurant owners are Cantonese.
Mandarin is Gong Shi Fa Tsai, but many of them also use Shin Nen Quai Luh.
Ed, It’s:
Gong Shi Fa Tsai; Hong Bao Nai Lai?: Prosperity to you, now where’s the red bag?
At work it’s the other dialect…
ends with Lazy Loi. Remember, 3 main languages, 50+ dialects. ‘True’ chineeses reject the Manchu’s foregin language
Foxwoods is in high celebration this week. My many players and coworkers are delilghted to tell me of all of their celebrations and preparations.Lucky money in red envelopes are the tip of choice for their kind blackjack dealer. There will be a lion dance at 1:oo on Sunday through the casinos and concourse. A woman told me that in America, Chinese New year is very subdued. In China there are 10 days of celebrations with family converging and eating and celebrating. She was sad that here it is only celebrated for one day. Everyone eats very richly and traditional foods are served and enjoyed.
Gambling is a very traditional way to add excitement to the holiday. The Chinese are inveterate gamblers and very good ones….very disciplined and smart. Baccarat is the game of choice with huge amounts being wagered at any time It still amazes me how much!
Just a few notes from the pit.
hatway igpay atinlay estaurantsray avehay ouyay omecay crossaay? Iay ouldway ikelay otay rytay tiay!
Janiece:
Thank you! I happen to like this design a lot. I’m very picky when it comes to themes, I don’t know why, but I’m just anal like that.
John:
Thanks for the insightful corrections. The last thing I want to do is piss off the Chinese!
Ed:
Stop hitting up people for red envelopes! Think of the children!
Mom:
I can imagine it’s got to be crazy there right now at Foxwoods! Hope you’re getting a ton of tips!
Ed - The vast majority of Chinese (over 800 million) are Northern Han and speak a dialect of Mandarin, which is the default “Chinese” language in China. Manchurian was a different language altogether, related to Mongolian, Korean and Japanese (which are not tonal) and written with a script that resembles Thai.
There are only 5 main language groups groups in China that are widely represented in restaurants in America: Mandarin, Cantonese, Fujianaese / Taiwanese, Hakka, and Hunanese. (Sichuanese is a dialect of Mandarin, not a separate language).
There are a lot of ethnic, reginoal, and politcal rivalries that make using the wrong language on someone range from amusing to mildy insulting. I was in a Chinese restaurant with my Father-in-Law yesterday. He and my wife were speaking Mandarin. He is from Tsingdao, and has a pronounced regional accent (even I can hear it). the waitress (from Beijing) said “You speak with an accent, you must be Taiwanese”. He replied “Hell no, I’m Northeastern Chinese”. She replied “Well, we’re all Chinese anyway”. That got my wife’s dander up - she’s half Taiwanese, speaks both languages. She said “that’s what you’d like to think, but we don’t”. There you have a native Chinese sticking her foot in her mouth - for us Gweilo, it’s even harder. If you say “Gun Hay Fat Choy” to a Mandarin speaker, they’ll smile and nod becuase they don’t want to lose a customer, but secretly they’re thinking “dumb American - I’m not one of those dirty Southerners who eat anything with 4 legs except the table” - not the impression you wish to leave.
Chinese people often compound the confusion by giving half-assed explanations to us Gweilo
- for instance, Chinese new year lasts 15 days into the first lunar month, not 10, and ends with the lantern festival.
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