She has this one phrase that she repeats when she’s mad, Bender repeated it mockingly once I think. Anyone know what she’s saying?
It sounds like “Saat say nay” in bad Cantonese. The literal translation is “kill dead you.”
Just a note. As yoyo mentioned, it’s Chinese (don’t know which dialect…I’ll take yoyo’s word that it’s Cantonese), not Japanese.
Bad Cantonese? But the voice of Amy IS Cantonese, according to the DVD commentaries. And she’d kinda cute too.
The writers, however, probably aren’t Cantonese.
But on the DVD commentary it mentions that she came up with these lines herself and that they actually are real Cantonese, if that’s what we’re agreeing it is.
ANd, upon reviewing an episode (“The Series has Landed”), I think what she says is closer to
“Dat Da Nay”
Thats the one where Bender mimicks her right?
( I had a good reason for thinking she was Japanese, I forget the reason though)
Actually, she’s from Mars.
I had always thought Japanese too, and I know the reason why I thought this: Her last name is Wong. I’ve known a few Wongs and they’ve all been Japanese.
Are there many family names shared by the Japanese and Cantonese languages?
Anyone know if Wong can also be a Cantonese name?
My suspicion is that the character was created as being Japanese but when it came for casting they just looked for an Asian actress rather than looking specifically for a Japanese actress. As the actress turned out to be Chinese they just allowed her to throw in any “Asian-speak” she could contribute so as to spice things up.
I’ve never seen the actress, but the cartoon Amy has given me wet dreams on more than one occasion.
(I can’t answer the OP, but I thought it would be appropriate for my sig line to appear in this Thread!)
AFAIK, Wong is an exclusive Chinese surname. I don’t think you can even get “Wong” in Japanese…
Well, I’m not studied on this and have no expert analysis to offer.
The Wongs I knew (unrelated, from two different families, two different parts of the U.S.) were Japanese, Catholic, and children of immigrants.
Anybody with a Linguistics background who can provide any studied insight?
“Wong” is an exclusively Chinese name.
Japanese names wioll always have more syllables. (sp?)
No background here, but Wikipeida says that Oh or O is the Japanese equivalent of Wang or Wong. It’s not a very common name, and it’s found mostly among people with Japanese ancestry.
Perhaps the Wongs you knew were either Chinese-via-Japan, or changed their surname of Oh to its Chinese equivalent since Wong seems to be more common in America.
Shoot! I meant to say that the name Oh is found mostly among Japanese people with Chinese ancestry.
Wow! Lot’s of independant confirmation!
Of the Wongs in question, I’m still in touch with one of them. I’ll have ask her about this. If it turns out she’s got Chinese ancestry, I’ll be more careful about leaving an unguarded Coke with her.
Wait a minute!!!
[QUOTE=sugaree]
Oh or O is the Japanese equivalent of Wang or Wong.
[QUOTE]
Anybody able to take a stab at reconciling these two statements?
Simply, Bosda’s comment is hyperbole.
Most native Japanese names will be 2 or more syllables, but monosyllabic family names aren’t unknown. ‘Jo’ for instance.
Speaking of Coke, I just Danny Thomased mine all over my screen 
Still, you can’t make “Wong” with the Japanese language–can’t end with the “g” sound, it’d need to be Won or Wongu or something.
Ou/Oh/O and Wang both mean “King,” in Japanese and in Chinese. Can’t promise that’s the character used in the common name, though. And not sure about Wong. I only know from trying to connect some Chinese and Japanese tellings of legends together.
Also, AFAIK, the “wo” character is used only as a particle, and never as part of a word proper?
