# Asian dopers help need asian symbol for... **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [April 18, 2002, 5:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342 "2002-04-18T17:03:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 6:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342/21 "2002-04-20T18:45:18Z")
explanation of usage of the term “Asian Symbols”. I was thinking “Congi”, realized I had no idea how to spell it, and didn’t want a typo in the thread title. Nothing more siniter than that. Thanks, by the way, for giving me the benefit of doubt about it. (Plus I didn’t want to simply ask for instance for the Japanese equivalent, since maybe a Korean or Chinese equivalent would be easier to get) The effect that I’m looking for is the equivalent of “fuck you” or “fuck this”, but since it’ d be out in public, I didn’t want it to be immediately recognizable (as it would be if it were in English, Spanish, French, German etc.). Tho’ there’s quite a few folk from Korea, Vietnam, Cambodia etc. around, they’re not likely to be near my cube or even pass by close enough to see it. And, of course, there’s going to be a plastic dish on it in the first place. thanks again for all the help. ---
**Author:** ![Lamia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/8e7dd6/32.png) [@Lamia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lamia)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342/22 "2002-04-20T20:10:51Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by wring \* > \*\*explanation of usage of the term “Asian Symbols”. I was thinking “Congi”, realized I had no idea how to spell it, and didn’t want a typo in the thread title. \*\* FWIW, I believe the word you were thinking of is “kanji”, which is a Japanese system of writing based on Chinese characters. ---
**Author:** ![wring](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/838e76/32.png) [@wring](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wring)\ **Post date:** [April 20, 2002, 8:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342/23 "2002-04-20T20:18:58Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Lamia \* > \*\* > > FWIW, I believe the word you were thinking of is “kanji”, which is a Japanese system of writing based on Chinese characters. \*\* that’s\*\* IT\*\* ! see, I’d only heard the word, never seen it spelled, but the “congi” just looked wrong, tried looking it up, but of course, if you have three out of five letters wrong, you’ll not be in luck often, eh? thanks. And see, I’d have been correct, it would have been misspelled in the thread title which would have been very bad. ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342/24 "2002-04-21T01:13:15Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by LurkMeister \* > \*\*Personally, while I agree with the sentiment that “lumping all Asians into a single ethnic mass” is racist stereotyping, \*\* Sorry, but I have to say WTF? Europeans, Africans, Middle Easterners… I think if you go to that other thread, you will not find that someone has stated the above premise. If they have, I will gradly go debunk it there. Perhaps you are confusing the terms “Asian” and “Oriental” as they are used in the US. “Oriental” was primarily a colonial British term, and therefore contained an inherent negative bias. ---
**Author:** ![Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/c77e96/32.png) [@Speaker\_for\_the\_Dead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Speaker_for_the_Dead)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 2:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342/25 "2002-04-21T02:12:04Z")
I never thought of Oriental as negative… ---
**Author:** ![Urban\_Ranger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/e9c0ed/32.png) [@Urban\_Ranger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Urban_Ranger)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 4:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342/26 "2002-04-21T04:42:47Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by China Guy \* > Well, depends on where you are. I’ve seen it in print with this character. It is written differently in different places and contexts. Regardless, Chinese will know what it is from context and the pronunciation radical. The first character’s more like it, but since it is a regional character (not national), so most people won’t know what you wrote. I am not talking about Cantonese or any of those regional language/dialect either. Just plain Chinese. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![China\_Guy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/779978/32.png) [@China\_Guy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/China_Guy)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 6:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342/27 "2002-04-21T06:42:52Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Speaker for the Dead \* > \*\*I never thought of Oriental as negative… \*\* I never did either. However, I changed my tune during and after this [thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?s=&threadid=71909&highlight=kipling) I’m not sure if I agree with most of the reasons commonly cited but “oriental” does have an inherent negative bias as a colonial word. Some and perhaps a growing consensus of Asian-Americans do not like the term and perfer to be called “Asian.” Fair enough, I’m happy to comply and to try explain to others why since I did a lot of searching on the issue and the colonial root is what finally made sense to _me_. To further complicate matters, Asian and Oriental have different meanings in the commonwealth countries including Canada. In addition, in Asia, the terms are used interchangeably. ---
**Author:** ![puubs](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/779978/32.png) [@puubs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/puubs)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 8:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342/28 "2002-04-21T08:00:35Z")
the tread that china guy posted is pretty interesting… i actually never thought the term “oriental” was that offensive until i took a chinese film class (btw, i’m chinese), and saw that the term could imply colonialism (which okay, big deal), but more so, a feeling of mysticism to those “from the orient” derived from these colonial times… i think the argument was that calling ppl by this term basically objectifies them… anyway, i wont take the argument any further, and while in the past, use of the term has been somewhat acceptible, it really brings a weird feeling whenever i hear it said… i haven’t been personally called it, but i really wouldnt’ care for it if i was… i think i heard an argument that considering this relationship, the west could be called “occidental”, but since that is a term hardly used, i dunno, i guess it could be confusing… i am reminded of the book “red china blues” in which a canadian chinese women was visiting some americans that have been in china for some time (and not back to the US at all)… they spoke a bit in english and to the author’s surprise, they called her a “chinaman”, to which she was extremely offended (this was around the 70s)… but then they explained, that’s just what the term was when they were living back in the states (probably way before the 50s or 40s), and i believe they did apologize a bit… so shrug… ---
**Author:** ![RaginAzn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9fc348/32.png) [@RaginAzn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RaginAzn)\ **Post date:** [April 21, 2002, 3:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342/29 "2002-04-21T15:21:43Z")
Here’s a popular Cantonese one that gets thrown around in Chinatown a lot: Puk gai, which means, “Trip on the street” In Chinese, it’s about as derrogatory as “Fuck You” and is nice and short. In short, it’s wishing for your target to go poor, and ‘trip on the street’ and end up living there. Chinese people have a thing against going poor (which sometimes gets somewhat ironic). Sorry, but I don’t know how to write it (I’m Chinese illiterate, and the most I can do is speak with a half-American accent.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/asian-dopers-help-need-asian-symbol-for/104342.md?page=1)