One of the first things I set out to do after moving to Hong Kong was to learn the Cantonese translation of "thank you." My thinking was then, even if I never learn Cantonese (and I doubt if I ever will), it's important to show gratitude in the local tounge. It just seems more sincere.
So I looked it up and the word is m-goy. Pronounced uhm-goy.
Like unggoy, but with an "m".
Now, as you can imagine, this causes me utmost distress. A complete stranger does something nice for you like give up his seat on the tram since you're carrying groceries and then the right thing to do is to call him a monkey?
My secretary gets me copies of documents and I'm expected to call her an ape?
People say that the Chinese are generally not the most refined bunch, pero sobra naman yata yun.
What really made my head spin was to find out that uhm-goy is also the Cantonese word for "excuse me". So if you're trying to get off the crowded tram with your groceries, you're supposed to approach the person in front of you and say softly, "Baboon."
Then to the next guy, "Orangutan"
And until you get off the platform, calling complete strangers, "Primate. Early man."
I'm sorry, I just can't. To hell with gratitude.
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