Knee-jerk liberals need not apply. The title is admittedly inflammatory but the message isn’t intended to be.
I saw something on TV last night that confirmed this “feeling” I had regarding Chinese people, typically first generation, that barely spoke any english. On Mad TV last night there was a sketch about a Chinese woman, who comedic trait was, among other things, answering yes/no to a question without even knowing what the question was and then just reversing it when she didn’t get the response she expected/wanted. I live in NYC and run into all types of people who don’t speak english well but very few will do this, except (some) chinese people. And I don’t mean oriental, I mean chinese. It doesn’t seem to be as much the case with Japanese or Koreans, etc. What im wondering, is there something inherently incompatible with our forms of verbal/non-verbal communication that makes this happen or at least seem to happen? Something cultural perhaps (like the feeling that it is necessary to have an answer even if it’s wrong).
I know these are some broad strokes i’ve painted but does anyone know what im talking about?
Asian would probably be better to say. Oriental is things like rugs and the express. 
Asians don’t necessarily like to be called things. (Or so It was explained to me by a Korean friend)
Huh? “Oriental” is an adjective, like “Asian” or “Eastern.” How does one construe “oriental” to mean “things?”
I don’t know, people are wierd. I only heard it from her (my friend), and nobody else, but she usually does not talk out her ass. Would be interested in knowing if she is wrong though.
Mmm…she’s not really right. I’ve heard the same explanation given to me, but it just doesn’t jive. So, check out the usage note here, for the full explanation of why “Asian” is preferred, but not to be “thought of as an ethnic slur to be avoided in all situations.”
In a number of Asian cultures, saying “Yes” really means “I understand what you’re saying”, not “I agree with you”. That is a very difficult thing to remember in a conversation.
Ummm…that last sentence was muddled. The final clause refers to the word “Oriental,” not “Asian.” So insert “Oriental is” between “is preferred, but” and “not.”
How is this different than the English “yeah”? It seems to me we use “Yes” or “Yeah” also to indicate comprehension and not necessarily agreement.
As in:
“So I says to this guy…”
“Yeah?”
“Pulkamell is a moron!”
“Yeah?”
“And his feet smell funny”
“Yeah”
etc…
i remember when i was younger, i didn’t really know how to use “no”… it’s confusing if you think about it… to the OP, it would be helpful if you give examples of the type of questoins you would ask… anyway, my example would be, the teacher would ask something along the lines of “you didn’t go to the bathroom?”, and i would answer like “yes (as in ‘i didn’t go to the bathroom’)”… i remember when being young, saying “no” to a question that was already negative, that was a little confusing – it would be like “no, i didn’t not go to the bathroom, i did go to the bathroom”…
sometimes in chinese, when you say any statement, if it’s true to you, you just say like “shi” which means “it is”, sorta… there actually no real way to say a collective “yes”… there’s “dui” (which more means “correct”), “shi” (which is like “it is”), and “hao” (which means “good” generally, but it’s basically an expression of assent)… if you ever see japanese ppl speaking, they’d prolly say “hai” a lot (similar to “hao” i think)… to say no, it’s just “bu” most of the time… now i wouldn’t say this is enuff to make generalizations, but it really depends how you ask the question… i dont think it’s necessarily a misinterpretation… when i was younger, i would perfectly understand the quesiton, but just wouldn’t know how to respond, or respond in a way that ppl could understand me… english is my first language, btw, i guess i just wasn’t taught it that well as a kid.
Seems to me you would have been happier speaking a language which has separate affirmatives or negatives for answering questions in the negative, or for contradicting people. Such languages are fairly common… for example, French has oui (yes), non (no), and si (contradicting yes); German has ja (yes), nein (no), and doch (contradicting yes).
This reminds me of my friend telling me about growing up as a missionary kid in Japan. His dad once decided to prove a point about Japanese culture, and pulled over the family car.
(In Japanese) “How do we get to Minneapolis?”
(Random pedestrian) “Oh, it’s just down the street, and make a right.”
The point being that to be unhelpful in Japanese culture is so offensive that people will just stand there until you quit trying, or else give you fake help. They can’t just tell you that you’re out of luck. Dave Barry reported the same kind of experience in “Dave Barry Does Japan.”
Yes, in China, “yes” does not necessarily mean “I agree” but also, “I’m listening” , “I hear you”, “continue”, “go ahead” etc.
I often have to explain to my Chinese friends they should not speak Chinese with English words as they will just confuse the listener. I know what they mean but most other people won’t.
Another consfusing thing is the way they use yes/no to answer a negative question. For instance, if I ask “Oh? You didn’t have lunch yet?” , in English you’d say “No” (I didn’t have lunch yet) but in Chinese you’d say “Yes” (I didn’t have lunch yet). That confuses the heck out of English speakers so my advice to the Chinese is to a) learn proper Englis usage and b) do not use just yes or no but make the whole sentence.
This is not new of course. You might remember the song “Yes, we have no bananas” which dates back to the 1920s and had this phenomenon as the theme.
I have noticed that in Latin America, “I don’t know” is an answer people avoid. They will give you bad directions instead of admitting they don’t know where it is you want to go. I had a boss in Venezuela who would get upset with me because I would tell her “no se” when I didn’t know the answer to her question. But some people in every culture feel the need to do this. An American ex-boyfriend would drive me crazy because he would always make up an answer to my questions, even if he didn’t have a clue what the right answer was.
>> he would always make up an answer to my questions, even if he didn’t have a clue what the right answer was
I know what you mean. We have a bunch of people like that around here 
KidC, you’re going to have to get more specific than that. Remember, bets are off when you’re talking to people who speak English as a second language. It’s already been explained that Chinese does not have an direct equivalent of yes and no. Also, that the cultural context in saying yes may be different. It’s has also been explained that people often say yes in america when they don’t mean yes. Which is the correct way to answer a negative question “you didn’t wash your hands after peeing?” Won’t even start with double negatives.
Asian, I feel it necessary to point out, in the US context means Asian-American.
Asian-Americans generally perfer to be called Americans, Asian-Americans, Asians for short or by their country of ethnicity. The reason cited that makes sense to me is that “oriental” is a leftover colonial European term (eg British) and had an inherently negative connotation.
In Commonwealth countries, Oriental and Asian have different meanings and connotations than in the US.
In Asia, people use the terms Asian and Oriental interchangeably.
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- It’s not just Chinese, it is many eastern countries/cultures, and apparently others as well…
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- I was told by someone whose parents did this that the reason was that they didn’t speak English well at all, but in the culture they were raised in it was considered extremely impolite not to respond. So for instance, they’d watch your facial expressions and if it appeared that you were being negative about something, they’d say “no” when they thought you wanted any answer, even though they didn’t really understand what you said. - DougC
KidCharlemagne writes:
> Knee-jerk liberals need not apply.
O.K.
> The title is admittedly inflammatory but the message isn’t
i> ntended to be.
All right.
> I saw something on TV last night that confirmed this “feeling” I
> had regarding Chinese people, typically first generation, that
> barely spoke any english.
Uh huh.
> On Mad TV last night there was a sketch about a Chinese
> woman, who comedic trait was, among other things, answering
> yes/no to a question without even knowing what the question
> was and then just reversing it when she didn’t get the
> response she expected/wanted.
Oh, I see.
> I live in NYC and run into all types of people who don’t speak
> english well but very few will do this, except (some) chinese
> people.
Right, right.
> And I don’t mean oriental, I mean chinese.
Hmm.
> It doesn’t seem to be as much the case with Japanese or
> Koreans, etc.
O.K. . . . Hmm.
> What im wondering, is there something inherently incompatible
> with our forms of verbal/non-verbal communication that makes
> this happen or at least seem to happen?
Well, um, perhaps . . .
> Something cultural perhaps (like the feeling that it is necessary
> to have an answer even if it’s wrong).
Yes, it could be.
> I know these are some broad strokes i’ve painted but does
> anyone know what im talking about?
O.K. then. Well, um, what was your question?
Wendell,
Do you see the “Why” at the beginning of the post subject and the question mark at the end? That’s called a question.
Thanks for your useless response, which, for the life of me I can’t imagine why you would take the time to make, especially given that 16 others before you got the question. Why I’m deigning myself to respond to you is equally bewildering.
Tough Day?
I DO see this in Japan quite a lot, actually, and find myself doing the same thing when I speak Japanese.
Part of it is just getting carried away with the conversation and not really paying attention. Mr. has learned this quirk of mine, so sometimes he will say “Did you REALLY understand what I just said?” and I have to blush and say no.
When teaching English over here, I was amazed at the amount of Japanese people who hate making mistakes. Its almost as if they feel its some kind of crime to stuff up. So rather than admit they don’t know something they’d pretend they DID and find the answer for themselves later.
I think the reason why some Asians hate making mistakes is because of their schooling back in their country be it Korea, Japan, etc. I’m Korean so I have an idea…
If you would tell your teacher in school “I don’t know” to a question, chances are you would be verbally reprimanded for “not paying attention in class” or something. After a while, it may become almost second nature to avoid the “I don’t know” response. Quite different from the American culture, where most teachers would just shrug it off and pick someone else who’s raising their hand in the classroom.