# Do not greet the Chinese Consulat general with "Konichiwa!" **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 4, 2006, 7:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440 "2006-01-04T19:13:04Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/21 "2006-01-05T00:26:05Z")
No steer horns on the hood, preferably of a convertible Cadillac or an American pickup? Now you’ve gone and shattered another of my illusions. Next you’ll be telling me that there are actually some Democrats in Texas or that they’ve heard of vegetarian food. ---
**Author:** ![NurseCarmen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/5daacb/32.png) [@NurseCarmen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NurseCarmen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/22 "2006-01-05T00:33:38Z")
Do you sing Duetshland uber alles in Synagogues too? 😃 ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/23 "2006-01-05T01:13:52Z")
“Members of the United Nations, I present the Rwandan delegates speaking for the Hutsi and Tutu peoples…” ---
**Author:** ![devilsknew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4da419/32.png) [@devilsknew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/devilsknew)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/24 "2006-01-05T01:16:15Z")
My brother thinks Australians speak German. ---
**Author:** ![Beware\_of\_Doug](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/278dde/32.png) [@Beware\_of\_Doug](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beware_of_Doug)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/25 "2006-01-05T01:19:47Z")
> [@Alias](#): > > I used to work with several Austrians at a ski resort. You’d be surprised how many educated people think Austria and Australia are the same country. I used to know an Austrian girl who had a sweat shirt that read, “Greetings from Austria, We do not have kangaroos!” Missed opportunity again: “…but we’ve got ALPS!” …assuming said Austrian girl was well endowed, anyway… ---
**Author:** ![Manduck](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/manduck/32/256_2.png) [@Manduck](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Manduck)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/26 "2006-01-05T01:24:48Z")
> [@Cerowyn](#): > > It’s kinda like saying “zdravstvuite” to an American diplomat during the Cold War. I dunno, I think saying “konichiwa” to the Chinese consul general would be easier than saying “zdravstvuite” to anybody. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Tiger](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/6de8d8/32.png) [@Mama\_Tiger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Tiger)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/27 "2006-01-05T01:34:36Z")
> [@Dewey Finn](#): > > No steer horns on the hood, preferably of a convertible Cadillac or an American pickup? Now you’ve gone and shattered another of my illusions. Next you’ll be telling me that there are actually some Democrats in Texas or that they’ve heard of vegetarian food. If it makes you feel better, **Dewey Finn** , my father told the tale of hitchhiking home from college and getting picked up by a good ol’ boy in his Caddie convertible with steer horns on the hood, a fifth between his knees, and the honeymoon couple going at it in the back seat. :eek: But this happened in 1940 or so, so times may have changed a bit since then. And when I turned 18, back before Texas turned Republican, I got a letter from my Grandpappy advising me to “Vote for anybody you like – as long as you vote straight Democratic!” The Texas stereotypes, at least, did have some basis in fact… ---
**Author:** ![Linty\_Fresh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c5a1d2/32.png) [@Linty\_Fresh](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Linty_Fresh)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 2:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/28 "2006-01-05T02:19:37Z")
On the same note don’t make a big deal of complimenting the Chinese consul on his country’s delicious Chirazushi. If you _do_ insist on going off like this, don’t wait until he points out that Chirazushi is actually a Japanese dish and then say “Chinese, Japanese, what’s the difference?” Or at least don’t give him a glass of plum wine as a peace offering. Also don’t play the Australian or British Guessing Game ™ with strangers who have a UK accent. They don’t like it when you guess wrong. :smack: ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 10:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/29 "2006-01-05T10:59:22Z")
> [@Linty Fresh](#): > > On the same note don’t make a big deal of complimenting the Chinese consul on his country’s delicious Chirazushi. If you _do_ insist on going off like this, don’t wait until he points out that Chirazushi is actually a Japanese dish and then say “Chinese, Japanese, what’s the difference?” Or at least don’t give him a glass of plum wine as a peace offering. > > Also don’t play the Australian or British Guessing Game ™ with strangers who have a UK accent. They don’t like it when you guess wrong. :smack: Iceberg, Goldberg, what’s the difference? How can someone be so otostannous as not to be able to tell UK English from Australian English? 😕 ---
**Author:** ![Tomcat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Tomcat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tomcat)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/30 "2006-01-05T11:39:32Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Iceberg, Goldberg, what’s the difference? > > How can someone be so otostannous as not to be able to tell UK English from Australian English? 😕 What the heck does ‘otostannous’ mean? I’ve looked at 2 online dictionaries…nada. And that UK/Aussie/S. African thing might seem simple to you, but I can say from experience that it is very tough (after almost 9 years of mixing in those crowds and 6 working with S. Africans). Y’alls English is hard to pin-down. Especially a Cape Town-er emigre to Sydney that studied in Cambridge… -Tcat ---
**Author:** ![Exploding\_Kitchen](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/c89c15/32.png) [@Exploding\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exploding_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/31 "2006-01-05T11:40:38Z")
My rule of thumb is if the person sounds like an American trying to speak in a UK accent, that it’s an Aussie. I haven’t been wrong yet. ---
**Author:** ![brownie55](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/f14d63/32.png) [@brownie55](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brownie55)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/32 "2006-01-05T13:34:29Z")
> [@Tomcat](#): > > What the heck does ‘otostannous’ mean? I’ve looked at 2 online dictionaries…nada. > > And that UK/Aussie/S. African thing might seem simple to you, but I can say from experience that it is very tough (after almost 9 years of mixing in those crowds and 6 working with S. Africans). Y’alls English is hard to pin-down. Especially a Cape Town-er emigre to Sydney that studied in Cambridge… > > -Tcat Brewaking it down: Oto = ear Stannous = relating to tin Tin ear? ---
**Author:** ![Malacandra](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Malacandra](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Malacandra)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 1:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/33 "2006-01-05T13:41:57Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > Brewaking it down: > > Oto = ear > Stannous = relating to tin > > Tin ear? Yup. Completely made-up word on my part, but I was confident someone would puzzle out the roots pretty quickly. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Doctor\_Jackson](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/doctor_jackson/32/32_2.png) [@Doctor\_Jackson](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Doctor_Jackson)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 4:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/34 "2006-01-05T16:03:50Z")
> [@Manduck](#): > > zdravstvuite > [@Cerowyn](#): > > zdravstvuite Bless y’all. Must be something going around. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Weird\_One](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/7bcc69/32.png) [@The\_Weird\_One](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Weird_One)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/35 "2006-01-05T16:59:58Z")
Oh, yeah, and never suggest to a Guamanian that Guam is an American colony. ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/36 "2006-01-05T22:28:05Z")
> [@Malacandra](#): > > Yup. Completely made-up word on my part, but I was confident someone would puzzle out the roots pretty quickly. 😛 I got it, anyway. Obviously there’s plenty of uniquely Australian slang, but on a purely phonetic basis, a lot Australians have accents that sound pretty indistinguishable from British to me. I dunno - maybe Australian accents sound very distinct to Brits, but you sound fairly similar to one another. I doubt I could tell an English-speaking South African apart from a Brit either. ---
**Author:** ![Raguleader](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/258eb7/32.png) [@Raguleader](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Raguleader)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/37 "2006-01-05T23:08:35Z")
> [@Linty Fresh](#): > > Also don’t play the Australian or British Guessing Game ™ with strangers who have a UK accent. They don’t like it when you guess wrong. :smack: Especially when it’s a cute girl from South Africa. Boy did I ever start THAT conversation off on the wrong foot. :smack: Oh, and you DO see lots of folks in pickups and cowboy hats in Texas, you just have to hang out in the right towns. Of course, I live in a town where there is more than one bar with a wooden porch and western style swinging doors. What’s fun is trying to perpetuate these stereotypes though. I remember living in rural Oklahoma and trying to convince people there (with varying degrees of sucess) that in Western Texas, we have these large rabbits with antlers that we call Jackalopes. They usually start to key into the fact that I’m pulling their leg when I get to the part about saddling them and herding cattle. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2006, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/38 "2006-01-05T23:16:49Z")
> [@brownie55](#): > > Brewaking it down: > > Oto = ear > Stannous = relating to tin > > Tin ear? It’s like ferrognathus. Y’know, “steely-jawed.” Yes, I know it’s actually iron ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 12:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/39 "2006-01-06T00:55:53Z")
> [@cher3](#): > > This reminds me of being at camp when we had a visiting counselor from Switzerland. One of the other counselors asked him, “Do you call your language Swiss or Swedish?” He hesitated a moment and then said, “We call it German.” HAH! I am giggling over this answer for some inexplicable reason. This is right up there with the doper who had the faux pas in german as a kid and said, " I shit the naked lady!" ---
**Author:** ![Shirley\_Ujest](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shirley\_Ujest](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shirley_Ujest)\ **Post date:** [January 6, 2006, 12:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440/40 "2006-01-06T00:57:09Z")
> [@devilsknew](#): > > My brother thinks Australians speak German. Nah, that’s just the kangaroos. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-not-greet-the-chinese-consulat-general-with-konichiwa/338440.md?page=3)