So this puts a whole new spin on the supposedly innocuous term Ang Moh, which I have always hated for a number of reasons:
- it serves only to divide people
- it serves only to state the obvious (that someone is different from the speaker)
- it's often superfluous and adds nothing meaningful to a conversation
- it's usually incorrect (as most or many Caucasians don't have red hair)
And now we learn that, for some at least, Ang Moh / Red Hair is the short form for Ang Moh Kau / Red Haired Monkey. So it's the unspoken slur / inside joke that poses as something else.
So what's "black" in Hokkien?
the lynx wrote:x9200 wrote:the lynx wrote:For some 'aww' factor:
There was a Western expat who used to live opposite my house back in home town. One day, I was in a neighbourhood florist and this guy came in to buy some flowers.
The florist was at the back of the shop while her little girl was playing around in the shop.
So the Ang Moh dude went over to the intrigued girl (probably never seen a foreigner before) and told her in these exact words,
"Please go and tell mommy that red-haired monkey wants to buy some flowers."
LOL moment!

And everybody knows that the red hair monkey is orang-utan. And as there is nothing derogatory in calling someone a person from the forest so nothing pejorative in Angmoh as well.
Well the Hokkiens in my home town refer to Caucasians as Ang Moh Kau (loosely translated as red-haired monkey). So I don't think they picture orang utan in their mind when they say it.
Still I was very impressed by that guy's sense of humour and his ability to understand the colloquial nuances on the local community.
And orang utans are soooooo adorable!
