Comments on: Don’t forget to say “please” and “thank you.”

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Wed, 28 Dec 2011 09:51:51 +0000

Ben,
I know this post is more than 4 years old, but thank you for it! It’s well-thought-out and well-written, and I’m going to show it to my students! They head to America soon, and hopefully this will help them American 礼貌 versus Chinese 客气. Thanks!!

By: Marian Rosenberg

Marian Rosenberg — Sat, 30 Jul 2011 15:14:45 +0000

RE: Thank You

A local laowai friend of mine whose I Chinese I tend to listen to quite carefully owing to her having vastly more standard pronunciation than I do (albeit a much smaller vocabulary) has the tendency to do cut off the second syllable in 谢谢 when thanking people in that us-Americans-thank-everybody-but-I’m-really-not-the-slightest-bit-thankful-that-you-did-your-job-and-are-not-a-complete-moron way and to fully pronounce it when she’s actually thankful.

Almost every native speaking friend of ours who we’ve asked this about since I noticed it is a) entirely unaware that she does this until after it was pointed it out for the first time and b) thinks that the people she’s giving the truncated thank you to will be so surprised that they are being thanked at all as to not know or care that they are receiving a different kind of thank you than she’d give if actually thankful.

RE: Sneezing

At least in Hainan, if you sneeze once they say “有人想你” (someone’s thinking of you) and if you sneeze twice they say “有人骂你” (someone’s criticizing you).

I’ve asked quite a couple of friends and neighbors what it means when you sneeze three or more times and I either get blank looks or (from the parents of small children) “有感冒哈哈哈” (have a cold HA HA HA).

-M

By: Alan

Alan — Thu, 24 May 2007 18:41:06 +0000

What you have observed is a Mainland Chinese thing. It might also be a Fuzhou or Southern Chinese thing. I am originally from Fuzhou, but it has been so long ago when I lived there. The only thing makes me Fuzhou now is that my parents and siblings still live there. I understand that Mainland Chinese in general don’t use “please” and “thank you” much. However, Taiwan Chinese are just like Americans when coming to “please” and “thank you.” They also over-use “sorry.” Many American friends have said to me that they don’t understand why Chinese (mainly Taiwanese) would say sorry when it’s not even their fault. I think they may have confused the meaning of sorry as in apologizing to the sorry as in feeling bad. e.g., I am so sorry your girlfriend stood you up last night. Because of this drastic cultural difference, many Mainland Chinese folks in America have been misunderstood as abrasive or rude. Fuzhou-ren is generally polite and more humble than northerners.

By: Heilong

Heilong — Thu, 24 May 2007 00:21:05 +0000

I done a brief study on superstitions of Europe and what I had read about the God Bless You thing was that When a person sneezes was the only time when a Demon could enter your body trough your nose. Saying God Bless You could prevent this from happening.

On a side note, I think its awful that America is changing anything with religious context for example: the Easter Bunny is now called the Holiday Bunny, A curse word is now referred to as a Cuse word and its just a matter of time before they rename Christmas. What’s up these festivals are losing their meanings.

By: Gustaf Hansen

Gustaf Hansen — Tue, 22 May 2007 07:16:06 +0000

ken: In Swedish it’s written as “prosit” and the meaning would translate something like “may it benefit you”. It comes from the latin word “prosit” which also would have a similar meaning. Why we Swedes would use the word comes from the same superstition as Jeremy Bollman described in his comment, a bad demon is exiting your body.

On a side note: the Germans use this same word when drinking to say “cheers” (their pronunciation/spelling is “prost”).

By: Jeremy Bollman

Jeremy Bollman — Mon, 21 May 2007 17:24:46 +0000

I always heard that blessing someone when they sneeze comes from people thinking a demon was exiting their body, therefore are in need of a blessing. Which is probably a crock, but that is what I grew up thinking. When I was in Japan wondering about this cultural difference my Japanese friends told me that it was a little embarrassing to sneeze in public; so why would you draw attention to it by saying something in response?

By: Danielle

Danielle — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 08:34:37 +0000

Ken i totally agree with you about the “politeness” and “impoliteness”. Well, but i guess i am an exception in that case. I mean, when i say “Gesundheit” to others who sneeze, i do show my feelings. I do wisper quietly in my heart that i wish them “good health”……

By: chriswaugh_bj

chriswaugh_bj — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:54:42 +0000

I won’t comment on whether 300 should be called 肉麻 or not. It was just an interesting new word for me, especially considering how I learnt it.

Ben, I believe saying “God Bless You” or “Gableshoo” or “Bleshoo” (Kiwi equivalent) does originally come from some superstition about sneezing and illness. Not sure of the exact origin, though.

Ken, you’re right, it is more about what is considered polite, and is really more ritual than anything else. Certainly has nothing to do with some cultures being “veiled” and others being “open”.

By: James Chiang

James Chiang — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:29:41 +0000

Maybe 肉麻 in English means “cheesy.”But I meant using 肉麻 to describe the movie 300 is not proper.

By: Benjamin Ross

Benjamin Ross — Wed, 18 Apr 2007 04:08:57 +0000

I had always heard that us white folk saying “God Bless You” or as we say it nowadays “Gableshoo” comes from the time of the Black Plague in Europe. When people were heard sneezing, others would say “God Bless You” out of fear that they had the plague. However, this story could have come from the same people who concocted Santa Clause and the Tooth Fairy. Anybody know for sure?