What language is this? I can see how you think that's hypocritical, but that's different, dude. I never come up to someone and say... "Let's go play some 'futbol', whitey!", or "What up, ching chang chow? FUTBOL, b*tch!" do I? I don't care WHAT your country has "adopted." Don't say it to me to try to sound amicable just 'cuz I'm Mexican... that's just plain bad... and I don't have the correct word to call out someone who does that right now. "English, m*th* f*ck*, do you speak it?" as KingCheetah says to me. Anyway, dudes... hotballa's teaching all of us a lesson. I don't get offended... I just freakin' hate it...
All white people don't say 'dude'. You just STEREOTYPED!!!!!111!! I am officially offended. Someone alert the media.
at the end of "rush hour" when they're on the plane, doesn't chris tucker say "ni hao ma" to the stewardess? if he doesn't, it's a phrase that sounds amazingly close to that and he uses it in the same context "what's up" would be used. and jackie chan was sitting right there, and presumably even had a copy of the script where he could read the phrase, and he seemed cool with it. but maybe that's not what he said.
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1) I dont take offense to when someone says it to me because they're trying to be friendly. 2) The way it's done is usually they say it at you behind your back and with a group of friends, which is what I thought the situation was. 3) I wasn't justified in yelling at him without finding out first if he did indeed say it, however if he had said it, I would feel I did not overreact.
thats a completely different situation than being on the train and having some kid say it behind your back. The point is not the actual context of the phrase, but the delivery and situation.
I've been accused of being a replicant, even by my own director. It's tough. I sympathize with that Geico caveman. That's me, looking at Ridley's brain.
Even if they are saying it to mock you, you should take it as one of the lamest put downs ever used, since it is not even an actual slur, just speaking a foreign language. If such a tiny slight is going to send you into a rage, then you are probably going to die from stress when you continue living in the world. Next time someone says it to you, respond with the Chinese phrase for, "I am fine, thanks. How are you?" which I learned years ago but can't remember. Save your offense for when they are calling you a chink or a slope or something. Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that the "comrade" to the Russian should probably be tovarishch.
Gee ... is that for real? I never heard of such thing before. But then again, I didn't grow up in the States. what about just a "Ni Hao"? is that bad too?
Chill people. Unless the person insulting you is someone whose opinion matters to you, then just ignore it or walk away. Once you go postal and the other party responds, there is no turning back. It could be an expensive and life threathening exercise.
So 'ne ho ma' only means 'how are you?"... I see... I am honestly surprised that almost every poster in this thread replied with a sympathetic tone to hotballa who complained about being greeted with 'how are you?' in chinese. But guys were not that sympathetic when someone complained about being called 'Chinaman' (which is a known derogatory racist term) in another thread not too long ago (I am sure NewYorker will remember that thread). Yeah right, it's too sensitive to complain about being called 'Chinaman'. But it's reasonable and justifiable to complain about being greeted with 'how are you' in chinese. Isn't it unbelievable?
update: yesterday i was walking with my wife and some guy says "ni hao" to me as I walk by, when I ignore him, he says "aneo say yo" (Korean for "hello"), and then "konichiwa" (Japanese greeting I think). I stand there and stare at him for a bit as I am trying to figure out should I punch this r****d or just walk away. Finally (with an AMAZING amount of self-restraint), I say to him "it's ni hao", to which he responds "hey that's right I got it right the first time" like he got a gold star or something. No yelling from me this time.
damn where do you live. sounds like you're surrounded by a bunch of ignorant tards who have never seen asians before
