Hey Foreigner!

Something I hear a lot from new expats in China is "did that guy just call me a foreigner?!?" Yes. Yes he did. And yes, you are a foreigner. Get over it. Maybe in our society its rude to point out the obvious in such a way, calling people foreigners. In fact, its often somewhat racist, indicating that someone isn't from around here and doesn't belong. But in Chinese, its just what it is, and can even be a term of respect. It depends on the vocabulary, doesn't it.

There are three different ways of saying 'foreigner' in Chinese (that I know of):

老外 (Laowai)

Laowai is the term for foreigner used in the title of this blog that you are reading. It literally means 'old foreigner', where 'old' is a term of respect (isn't it funny how the opposite is implied in English). If someone calls you a laowai, you shouldn't be offended, because you are one. When someone calls you this, it's almost like you're an honoured guest. 

外国人 (Waiguoren)

Waiguoren literally means 'foreign country person'. It is neither particularly respectful or disrespectful, but neutral. It is what it is. A foreigner is a foreigner, whether you show respect or not. It might be offensive or it might not be, it depends on the tone of the voice of the speaker, and the context of the conversation. Usually there's nothing offensive about it, unless you hear other keywords in the same sentence such as "stupid", "ugly", and "should go home".

洋鬼子 (Yangguizi)

This is the one you should watch out for and be offended at if you hear it. Try not to pick a fight. It literally means 'foreign devil' and is a pretty rude word, not to be used in front of children. I was discussing with my workmate once, that it might be a cool name for a sports team, The Shanghai Yangguizi, with the team mascot being a demon wearing a basketball singlet, say. But then, the word is more inappropriate than that and could have gotten people in trouble.  Pity. It would have been pretty cool.

Today's Mem:
In America foreigners are referred to as 'Aliens', which the rest of the world take to mean, 'a creature from another planet'. In Chinese, such a creature is called a 外星人 (waixingren), which is literally 'foreign star person'. I would much rather be called a 'Laowai' any day.

The character 外 (wai) can be broken into two radicals, which mean 'dusk' and 'magic' respectively.