TA1LGUNN3R wrote:Isn't it common in China and pretty much all east Asian countries to call people fatty like it's a regular descriptor?
Calling or referring to someone as 'thin' or 'fat', or whatever, is generally more acceptable in China (I don't know about Korea or Japan). I don't know how it is for chubby folks but in China I might often get middle age/old people tell me over dinner that I'm thin and need to eat more. Commenting on someone's weight is probably going to be seen as you looking out for the fat/thin person rather than trying to insult them.
That said, a lot of that is down to language differences. In English you have all sorts of different words (fat, chubby, porky, overweight etc.) and you'd choose which word you use depending on the situation, because some are more negative than others. In America you could probably tell your partner they were putting on weight without necessarily offending them. Whereas in Chinese you have one word (pang) that is used to mean all of those things, so the subtext and meaning of it varies depending on the context in which you say it. Sometimes it will be fine, sometimes it will still be rude.
It's just a weird cultural quirk, like how Americans and Chinese both think asking acquaintances about their salary is okay whereas in the UK that's unthinkably rude. The only solution to make all people live together in harmony is to destroy all culture and rid the world of these hangups and outrages forever. Mao was right.
Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 9:31 am
