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Farang, insult or not?


khunsanuk

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Very interesting thread. Similarly, in Japan, we have the tricky term "gaijin" which is used to describe non-Japanese (usually non-Asian, caucasian, to tell the truth; they have a different term for "black" people and tend to refer to other Asians by country-name. They'll a Thai person "Thai-jin" rather than "gaijin"). They tend to see the world in binary: Japanese (with other Asians let in on the subs' bench) versus Whites. They're still coming to terms with ebony folks. :rolleyes:

 

Etymologically speaking, gai-jin means "outside person", and is thus separatist and (many claim) racist and offensive. Some westerners get in a real rage if they're referred to as "gaijin". :cussing: Others (myself included) don't care, f*ck it, whatever, anything for a quiet life. :hippie: (Unless, maybe like one of the instances Khun Sanuk outlined in Thailand, it's prefaced by a rude-ish "ano" = "that" and without the polite suffix "-san" added. Then it pisses me off, especially if said to my face by some bastard who knows I speak Japanese. Like someone in the UK barking, "That foreigner wants another beer," to someone's face, while addressing all the other customers as sir or madam. Not very polite.)

 

I think whether or not he or she gets a heat on and makes a fuss most usually says more about the person addressed as farang/gaijin than it does about the (possibly racist, possibly not racist but simply unthinking or just lazily going for convenient labelling) intentions of the speaker.

 

Just my two yen's worth. Good thread. Very interesting. :applause:

 

jack :help:

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I get my back up when I'm refered to as "man" - the pronoun used for animals! I've never heard it accept from someone uneducated and ususally obnoxious, such as the upcountry hooker-type gal who used it about me - as she was standing on the pavement outside the Seven Eleven and drinking from a big bottle of Singha with a plastic straw.

 

:onfire:

 

 

 

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I get my back up when I'm refered to as "man" - the pronoun used for animals! I've never heard it accept from someone uneducated and ususally obnoxious, such as the upcountry hooker-type gal who used it about me - as she was standing on the pavement outside the Seven Eleven and drinking from a big bottle of Singha with a plastic straw.

 

:onfire:

 

 

 

Yes, "man" as third person pronoun can be quite crude and offensive (especially when used toward an adult one doesn't know), but keep in mind it is not the exact equivalent of "it" in English, nor is it just a pronoun for animals. "Man" is also used in an affectionate way to refer to those one is intimate with, including family members (though only family members younger than oneself).

 

That said, most Thai will not tolerate it coming out of a farang mouth, whether you use it socially appropriately or not. Hearing that word (and many others) coming out of a foreign mouth fucks with their image of Thai as a "genteel," "cultured" language, which is part of a social engineering/government propoganda campaign that has been hugely successful...Thai prior to the 1930s sounded nothing like its hyper-polite ("sawatdee," "khaaaa," "krrrrap") current form.

 

preahko

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