Tuesday, November 23, 2004

roots

growing up in a hokkien household yet largely influenced by the maternal cantonese, i constantly found myself struggling between the dialects during my younger days. contrary to what some popular culture critics might say, tv's an extremely powerful medium for all ages. i mastered cantonese within a span of six months thru cheesy cantonese serials and films. hokkien on the other hand didn't pick up a similar momentum. instead, its gruff nature regressed its way into the back of my brain and surreptitiously surfaced in bouts of anger when "fuck" ain't as satisfying as "chicken bye" or "nah hia". both of which are hardly utilised due to the vulgarity and blue collarness of the lingo. no offence but i'm not exactly proud of it as witnessed in many public occasions and younger lian days.

certain things i picked up from my cantonese roots:
we talk loud. but since i'm only half cantonese, my volume's more controlled. pseudo master and me dread getting caught between popo and mom during dinner. they tend to ignore you and shout across the table anyway. and guess what? the dining table ain't that big after all. ouch. and we're great cooks, soups and desserts in particular. again, since i'm only half cantonese, my cooking skills are limited to a half as well.

certain things from my hokkien roots:
we're pretty *that deserved a wah lau eh but it's true* hokkien girls are known to be pretty and teochew girls for their gentleness-ala yew siuness.

btw, i've always wondered and cursed the moron who coined the goosebump-raising local phase "steady pom pi pi". can you please tell me what the fuck is that?

bee wrote this at 9:12 PM

2peekaboos

2peekaboos

At 8:09 PM,  adrock2xander said...

Ehm...

i feel compelled to write bout my brushes with the lesser language i.e Mandarin and her cousins after readin your post...

 

At 8:33 PM,  bee said...

haham go ahead, i wanna read your take on it!

 

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