Westerners, more often Europeans, staying or vacationing in Hong Kong have come to embrace the term gweilo (gwáilóu), a term native Cantonese speakers commonly use to refer to them which is loosely translated into English as “foreign devil”.
Westerners, more often Europeans, staying or vacationing in Hong Kong have come to embrace the term gweilo (gwáilóu), a term native Cantonese speakers commonly use to refer to them which is loosely translated into English as “foreign devil”.
European Merchants in Canton, in 1858, Gweilo, meaning “ghost man”, refers to the pale skin of Europeans. Photo: SCMP
“Foreign devil” is how gweilo, that widely used epithet in Hong Kong for Caucasians, is usually translated. Composed of the Cantonese 鬼 “gwái” (“ghost”) and 佬 “lóu” (“man, chap, regular guy”), gweilo/gwai lo literally means “ghost/devil man”, and has been considered pejorative, especially if prefaced by 死 (“dead”), to give séi gwáilóu, akin to “damn foreigner”. The Oxford English Dictionary’s earliest documentation, in an 1878 Far East glossary, is kwei-tsze, kuei-tzu ˘ (“devil”), with “kwai-lo” noted in 1969.
But the generally-accepted, friendly-sounding title is unlike others used by neighboring countries when referring to visiting White folks.
Photo: Nextshark
Locals in other Asian countries merely use direct translations of their physical characteristics, while gweilo is a bit more complicated. A combination of “gwái”, which means “ghost/devil”, and “lóu”, which means “man”, it literally means “ghostly/devil man”. A combination of “gwái”, which means “ghost/devil”, and “lóu”, which means “man”, it literally means “ghostly/devil man”.
An autobiography by Martin Booth of growing up in colonial Hong Kong. Photo: SCMP
In earlier times, Gwái in itself has conveyed a generally negative feeling as Cantonese people would sometimes call each other sēui gwái to mean he/she is a bad person.
Back then, it was also pejoratively used with the preface “séi” (dead). To say “séi gwáilóu” is akin to saying “damn foreign devil”. Over time, many have come to consider it to be an acceptable generic term for Caucasians and are now often used in non-derogatory context.
Photo: Nextshark
People in Hong Kong with European ancestry, especially the younger generation, have come to embrace the term today with some products and establishments in Hong Kong adopting the term as trendy brand names.
But while gweilo is now defined in the Oxford Dictionary as simply referring to foreigners, there is still some lingering debate whether the term is indeed derogatory or even racist. Some Cantonese speakers who find its use problematic would rather use term sāi yàn “western person” as an alternative.
Yes, there is also a craft beer brand called Gweilo, which was started in Hong Kong by two expatriates. Photo: SCMP
Hong Kong Free Press’ Catherine Wang argued that the word was coined as a form of resistance to Europeans colonization (oppression) and not one that was coined through oppressing or enslaving others.
Explaining why it is important to understand its context before passing judgment, she wrote: “Yes, ‘gweilo’ points out whiteness. Yes, ‘gweilo’ can be used in a derogatory sense, like most phrases known to man. But is gweilo morally corrupt, ‘extremely racist’, and inexcusable? No. Because behind ‘gweilo’, unlike most racially charged terms, is a history of resistance to oppression rather than its perpetration.”
Photo: Nextshark
But ‘semantic bleaching’ – the phenomenon of a word losing its shades of meaning – does occur. Words such as angmoh and gweilo have shifted in meaning to become less polemic, at least in certain contexts. In particular, gweilos themselves have increasingly taken ownership of the term, re-appropriating it as a more lighthearted, endearing self-identification.
You can find blogs, bars and beers in Hong Kong, and even a Canadian cooking show, bearing the name now.
Source: Nextshark & SCMP
