Gweilo or (cy=gwáilóu, pronounced ) is a common Cantonese slang for White people. The term can be literally translated as "ghoul man" or "ghost man" and has a history of racially deprecatory and pejorative use, though its modern usage is often in a general and non-derogatory context. The appropriateness of the term and whether it constitutes as an offensive ethnic slur are disputed among both Cantonese speakers and Westerners.[Brown, Jules. Gardner, Dinah. Hong Kong and Macau, 2002. Rough Guides publishing. . p 399]
Etymology and history
Gwái (,
gui in Mandarin) means "ghoul”, "ghost" or "devil",
and
lóu () means "man" or "guy". The literal translation of
gwáilóu would thus be "ghoul man" or “ghost man".
It is sometimes translated into English as "foreign devil".
In many Sinitic languages, 鬼
gwai and its local equivalents can be a derogatory term used as a curse or an insult.
The term
鬼 gwai has also been used to describe other ethnic groups, for example, a 17th-century writer from
Guangdong, , wrote that Africans "look like ghouls", and
gwáinòuh (l=ghoul slave) was once used to describe African slaves.
Usage
The term
gwái () is an adjective that can be used to express hate and deprecation, an example being the locals' expression of their hatred towards the Japanese during their occupation of Hong Kong in World War II with the same
gwái. It conveys a general bad and negative feeling but is a somewhat obsolete and archaic/old-fashioned term nowadays and other more modern terms have largely replaced
gwái for similarly negative meanings. Cantonese people sometimes call each other
sēui gwái (), which means
bad person, though more often than not it is applied affectionately, similar to "Hey, bitch!" in English when used affectionately. Nowadays, Cantonese speakers often refer to non-Chinese people by their ethnicity.
Gwáilóu is often considered to be an acceptable generic racial term for Westerners.
CFMT-TV in Toronto, Canada had a cooking show named Gwai Lo Cooking (1999) hosted by a Cantonese-speaking European chef, who was also the show's producer and the person who named the show. According to CFMT-TV, Gwei Lo was used as "a self-deprecating term of endearment".[ Appendix to 'CFMT-TV re Gwai Lo Cooking ' , CBSC Decision 99/00-0220. Decided 6 July 2000] In response to some complaints, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled that:
Related terms
Gwai is one of a number of terms to referring to non-Chinese people that can be considered controversial and potentially offensive; a list of such terms is given below:
-
gwaijai (; l=ghost boy) for a white boy.
-
gwaimui (; l=ghost girl) for a white girl.
-
gwaipo (; l=ghost woman) for white woman.
-
baakgwai (; l=white ghost) for white people.
-
haakgwai (; l=black ghost) for black people.
-
sai yan (; l=western person) for Western world.
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yeung yan (; l=overseas person) for Western world.
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ngoigwok yan (; l=foreign country person) for .
-
acha (; cy=achā; from "acchā" meaning "good" in Hindi) for . This term is considered offensive to South Asians local to Hong Kong, e.g., Hong Kong locals of Indian and/or Pakistani descent, and is not widely used.
-
molocha (摩囉差; Moors]] Indian) for .
Mandarin Chinese
Guizi (; p=guǐzi) is a
Mandarin Chinese slang term for foreigners, and has a long history of being used as a racially deprecating insult.
-
Riben guizi (; l=Japanese devil) or dongyang guizi (; l=east ocean devil) – used to refer to Japanese people.
-
Er guizi (; l=second devil) – used to refer to the Korean people soldiers who were a part of the Japanese army during the Sino-Japanese War in World War II.
[ 第一滴血──從日方史料還原平型關之戰日軍損失 (6) . People's Daily. 16 December 2011]
-
Yang guizi (; l=Western/overseas devil) or xiyang guizi (; l=west ocean devil) – used to refer to Western world.
However, xiaogui (; l=little ghost) is a common term in Mandarin Chinese for a child. Therefore, some argue that gui (鬼) in Mandarin is just a neutral word that describes something unexpected or hard to predict.
Laowai (老外; l=old foreigner/outsider) is the word most commonly used for foreigners and is a less pejorative term than guizi. Although laowai literally means "old foreigner", depending on context, "old" can be both a term of endearment and one of criticism.
See also
External links
