Well, for those who stayed, that above link (no, I'm not linking it again) points to the why page of my site, as in "why 'Just a Gwai Lo'". (To save you from having to actually go to the page, here's the juicy bit: “I told my [Cantonese-speaking] roommate that if I became a famous Hong Kong pop star, my first #1 hit would be called "Just a Gwai Lo"”. I chose the screenname sillygwailo because, well, I fancy myself as one. Plus it goes well with the theme title of my weblog.) I've received at least three emails on the subject of gwai lo being a racist term from Cantonese-speaking people, and they assure me that gwai lo is indeed not racist. The problem, I assure them, is that while they might not think it's racist, I do. Or, to be more precise, did. This decision by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (!) is probably the best explanation of why I think I used gwai lo in my site's title and my screennames:
It seems that this expression, like many others in other languages, has evolved through the years. While historically, "gwai lo" may have been used by Chinese people as a derogatory remark concerning foreigners, particularly Caucasian Westerners, the persons consulted by the Council indicate that it has since lost much of its derogatory overtone. The Council finds that the expression has also lost most of its religious meaning, so that "foreign devil" no longer carries the theological significance it once did. Based on its research, the Council understands that the expression has gone from being considered offensive to, at worst, merely "impolite".
So in a sense, it's an attempt at self-deprication (after all, I'm merely a white guy), and it's pretty funny, if you ask me. The original name of this weblog was mindnumbingly dull (like I'm telling you what it was), and I suspect this site wouldn't get half the hits it does today if I went with it. Deciding on a original, clever weblog name with a story behind it is probably Step #1 in starting a weblog. Step #2 is writing about something you're qualified to talk about. At least I got the first step right.
]]>Well, for those who stayed, that above link (no, I'm not linking it again) points to the why page of my site, as in "why 'Just a Gwai Lo'". (To save you from having to actually go to the page, here's the juicy bit: “I told my [Cantonese-speaking] roommate that if I became a famous Hong Kong pop star, my first #1 hit would be called "Just a Gwai Lo"”. I chose the screenname sillygwailo because, well, I fancy myself as one. Plus it goes well with the theme title of my weblog.) I've received at least three emails on the subject of gwai lo being a racist term from Cantonese-speaking people, and they assure me that gwai lo is indeed not racist. The problem, I assure them, is that while they might not think it's racist, I do. Or, to be more precise, did. This decision by the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council (!) is probably the best explanation of why I think I used gwai lo in my site's title and my screennames:
It seems that this expression, like many others in other languages, has evolved through the years. While historically, "gwai lo" may have been used by Chinese people as a derogatory remark concerning foreigners, particularly Caucasian Westerners, the persons consulted by the Council indicate that it has since lost much of its derogatory overtone. The Council finds that the expression has also lost most of its religious meaning, so that "foreign devil" no longer carries the theological significance it once did. Based on its research, the Council understands that the expression has gone from being considered offensive to, at worst, merely "impolite".
So in a sense, it's an attempt at self-deprication (after all, I'm merely a white guy), and it's pretty funny, if you ask me. The original name of this weblog was mindnumbingly dull (like I'm telling you what it was), and I suspect this site wouldn't get half the hits it does today if I went with it. Deciding on a original, clever weblog name with a story behind it is probably Step #1 in starting a weblog. Step #2 is writing about something you're qualified to talk about. At least I got the first step right.
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