阿兜仔 - What does ADOAH really mean? Big Nose Person or "foreigner"? You decide......

阿兜仔 - MAny Westerners in Taiwan do not like to be called ''ADOAH'' in public or on TV news shows. Is there a better word in spoken Taiwanese to describe Westerners, like ''WAH GOAH''?

special to the Liberty Times forum page:
forum@libertytimes.com.tw

by "Biko Lang" (pen name of an American writer living in Taiwan)

translated by Shirley Tu

大多數的台灣人認為 : 阿兜仔 這個稱謂外國人的暱稱是熱情且友善的.

但許多住在台灣工作的西方人卻認為那是一個侮辱和不尊敬的詞句.

部分西方人認為阿兜仔這個名詞根本不應該再出現在公眾場合.

此一詞語的意思是指”大鼻子的人”部
分西方人甚至認為電視節目和廣告應該要禁止使用這個詞語



你同意嗎? 無論您對這個豐富多彩的幽默俚語詞： “大鼻子的人”有什麼感覺，請你用你的幽默感來閱讀此篇文章



儘管”阿兜仔”一詞現在的意思是指外國人,但你
道他原本的意思是指高鼻子的西方人.但日本人,馬來西亞人,

印尼人,印度人,非洲人 越南人 或 菲律賓人都沒有使用類似的名詞來稱呼西方人



雖然許多台灣人被批評郭冠英,前行政院新聞局派駐多倫多台北經濟文化代表處新聞組長,

在他以匿名所寫的文章中提到 “台巴子”及”倭寇”兩詞.

多數台灣人仍然認為使用”阿兜仔”這個詞語來形容西方人並無不妥.

但部份西方人及台灣人卻認為現在的年代不在適合使用”阿兜仔”一詞來形容西方人.

特別是在公眾場合及電視媒體上. 吳宗憲先生 請問您看到這篇文章了嗎?





大多數的台灣人相信”阿兜仔”一詞並無侮辱的意思,反之則有稱讚的意味在.且是以幽默的方式呈現.



輔仁大學歷史系教授陳君楷在一封電子郵件中寫到: 大多數的台灣人相信”阿兜仔”是幽默的詞語.

但是如果大部分在台灣的西方人討厭這樣的形容,那麼台灣人就不應該在繼續使用這個詞語來形容西方人



陳教授繼續說到: 聖賢孔子說: 不要對別人做出你不想他人對你做的事.

如果台灣人不喜歡被大陸人叫台巴子.那麼我們更應該要先停止稱呼西方人”阿兜仔”.

如果這些人不喜歡聽0這樣的詞語,那麼就沒有必要在繼續使用它



「我們臺灣現在仍然受到語言和種族詆譭長久歷史的影響。

我們需要為我們的自由戰鬥和設立有正義的一個新的國家。如果我們可以達到此，

我相信我們可以經由人們更加了解其他國家（地區）」，陳教授表明道。




另一位教授， 東華大學本土文化系教授紀駿傑教授，透過電子郵件說：

「我必須承認我未曾認為”阿兜仔”是一個壞的或有負面字義的用語，

而且我肯定台灣人使用它僅僅作為一個幽默字而非含有任何負面的意思」。



「然而，且很重要的是，此一用詞不意味著”阿兜仔” 是一個好的術語，即使沒有用於一個負面或誣蔑的角度」，

紀教授說。




「關於語言的最重要的事，當它被用於是指不同國家或種族或種族集團時是人的主觀感覺解決」， 紀教授說。




「根據字面”阿兜仔”，它被用於告訴或標註在臺灣的西方人…但鼻子的形狀遠不及與他們的個人特色來的重要，

這兩者是不能相提並論的」，紀教授說。




劉玉霞，這位自1992年以來居住在美國，且美國紐澤西臺灣論壇報擔任編輯並以台灣人的角度，

在信函告訴我： 「它是許多歲月我以許久不曾聽到或使用”阿兜仔”這個詞語。 當我小的時候，我使用了它。

我同意您。從美國人的觀點來看”阿兜仔”是有少許欺辱和不敏銳的用語。 它就好像稱呼某人『胖子』一樣的意思。

然而，當臺灣人叫西方人”阿兜仔”時，並沒有欺辱任何人的意思」。


「但重點是，如果有人不喜歡被冠上或被稱呼這樣的詞語，那麼就不應該使用它」，劉玉霞補充說。



「臺灣人不像西方人對有些術語與形容人體相關的字語那樣敏感，例如重量或高度或者眼睛。

某些臺灣人，當他
們說『胖』或『矮』或『小的眼睛時』也同樣感覺到難受，

但是一般來說，臺灣人不是那麼敏感的」，她說。



「下次當有人指著你叫你”阿兜仔”的時候，認真且嚴肅的告訴他或她，您不喜歡被用這樣的方式稱呼。

我相信這個人以後就不會在用這樣的字眼」，劉玉霞說。


那麼這是我給讀者的問題： ”阿兜仔”是否是臺灣人應該繼續使用的字或是應該捨棄不用呢？


無論您是否同意我的看法，我非常感興趣在你讀完這篇報導不久的將來收到您對此用語的看法與回應。

台灣人 (台灣話) 是否有更恰當的字眼來形容西方人，但不是以他們鼻子或眼睛的特徵來8
1表示呢？

BOOKS: Venus Tsai [蔡慧蓉] publishes a book about her travels around Taiwan

BOOKS

Taiwan girl used her thumb to catch rides around Taiwan and wrote a book about it!

When a 17-year-old girl from a Taipei high school embarked on a
round-the-island solo hitch-hiking trip, it landed her some national
TV publicity and an eventual book contract

by Dan Bloom


Venus Tsai [蔡慧蓉] was just 17 when she decided to hitchhike around Taiwan, by
herself, with just NY$2000 stashed in her backpack, and by the time
she was finished, 13 days later, the Yunlin County native found
herself the subject of a
TVBS news story airing on national television and a fullpage,
illustrated news article in the colorful tabloid newspaper Apple
Daily. The Taipei high school freshman made it around the island,
using her thumb, her brains and her wit, catching a total of about 25
rides up and down both coasts.

Locus Books in Taipei published Tsai's
book -- titled [十八歲的成年禮] --
on June 1, according to Locus editor Linus Liao. Based on
blog entries and photographs that Tsai took during her adventure, the
book is being marketed to
young adults nationwide.

"It's a dream come true," she said in a recent interview
over fried rice and tofu in Chiayi City. "I always wanted to hitchhike
around Taiwan, and I did it, and
now this book is coming out. I am very excited and psyched, and this
is just the beginning. I plan to travel around Malaysia this
summer, and then go to Australia on a working holiday visa for a year."

When asked why she wanted to hitchhike around Taiwan by herself at the
age of 17, Tsai said she
had once seen a Taiwanese movie called "The Most Distant Course"
[最遙遠的距離] about a sound editor who recorded many
natural sounds around the island.

"That movie inspired me to go on
my own solo hitchhiking adventure around the island," she said. "I
wanted to go out and find my dream, to make my dream come true, and
also I wanted to learn more about who I am and what I can do by
myself, on my own, so I did it," she said. "I just wanted to leave the
real world
behind and embark on my own adventure. My father wasn't very happy
about what I planned to do, but he trusted me enough to let me go,
reluctantly."

Having completed her second year at Shilin High School of Commerce in
Taipei, Tsai has decided to drop out of school for a year or two. "I
plan to finish senior year of
high school later on, when I come back to Taiwan," she said. "I'm
young and full of life, and I feel that this is the time to travel, so
I am doing it my own way."

Tsai said she enjoyed high school and that
English was one of her favorite subjects. "I guess that is
one reason I want to go overseas to live and work in Australia for a
year now, I want to live in a completely English environment and
really improve my English. I'm excited about going there," she said.

When asked where she gets the travel bug from, Tsai said: "My parents
both work in the tourism sector, my father is bus driver and
my mother is a tour guide, so I guess I have the travel bug in my
genes maybe."

Tsai was "discovered" by a TVBS camera crew and an Apple Daily
reporter by complete chance, she says, and this is was set her on the
path to becoming a published author at the age of 18.

"I was on
the final leg of hitchhiking trip when I
found myself at a traffic light in Taichung and saw a car that had
stopped at the intersection. I decided to knock on the window of the
car and ask for a ride
north," she said.

"The three people turned out to be television reporters, and when I
told them what I was doing, thumbing my way around Taiwan, they said
this would make a great news story," Tsai explained.

Tsai noted that because she was a minor when she signed the
book contract with Locus Books, the publisher asked her
father to sign the book contract for her.

"I'm still young," she said.