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Gweilo or (, pronounced ) is a common Cantonese slang for Western world. The term can be literally translated as "ghoul not 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
Gwáilóu is often considered to be an acceptable generic racial term for Westerners. Also, some members of the Hong Kong community with European ancestry (particularly those with limited or zero Cantonese fluency) are indifferent to the term, and those who believe that the best way to defang a word intended as a "slur" is to embrace it, and use gweilo to refer to non-Chinese in Hong Kong. Gwailóu has, in some instances, been recognised as simply referring to white foreigners in South East Asia and now appears on Oxford Dictionaries defined as such, although non-white foreigners are not gwáilóu. While gwáilóu is used by some Cantonese speakers in informal speech, another alternative term the sound of which has several meanings sāi yàhn () is now used as well, particularly if the conversation involves a non-Chinese person. Homonyms, words that sound the same or almost the same depending on the tone, to "sai yan" include references to female genitalia or boasting and so sai yan is not necessarily a polite alternative to gwai lou. A neutral alternative would be "foreign person", pronounced ngoi gwok yan.
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:
However, xiaogui (; ) 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; ) 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.
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