Talk:鬼仔

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Latest comment: 3 years ago by Justinrleung in topic RFV discussion: July 2020–February 2021
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This wouldn't happen to be pejorative, would it? Kappa 22:51, 7 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

That would be a question best posed to a native Cantonese speaker. Unfortunately, we are short on those at the moment. If you're really curious, you could try posting a question at the Cantodict forum. -- A-cai 23:33, 7 April 2008 (UTC)Reply
It's probably related to gweilo. 131.123.231.143 02:32, 8 April 2008 (UTC)Reply

RFV discussion: July 2020–February 2021

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Rfv-sense: an ethnic Chinese boy who only speaks English. @The dog2 — justin(r)leung (t...) | c=› } 19:16, 14 July 2020 (UTC)Reply

I definitely remember it being used as a sort-of insult in a Chinese restaurant in Australia, when the server referred to a primary-school aged ethnic Chinese boy who only spoke English but not Cantonese as 鬼仔. The dog2 (talk) 19:21, 14 July 2020 (UTC)Reply
@The dog2: (1) Remembering something isn't proof (especially when you're not a native speaker). (2) The definition seems too specific. While English is the most salient foreign language to Cantonese speakers, it's unlikely that 鬼仔 is only about speaking English. It seems to be more of a term used figuratively to describe someone of Chinese descent who has grown up in Western society, i.e. someone who is whitewashed. — justin(r)leung (t...) | c=› } 21:08, 14 July 2020 (UTC)Reply
Yeah, the sense I got was that it is similar to the using the term "banana" to refer to someone of Chinese descent raised in the West who does not speak any variety of Chinese. Most often, it applies to one from an ethnic Chinese from an English-speaking country, but I guess it could also in theory also refer to a French or German person of Chinese descent. The dog2 (talk) 21:25, 14 July 2020 (UTC)Reply