[quote=“Modest Mouse”]I have come across a few English acronyms in Taiwan that I don’t fully understand:
Acronym
What it means (I think)
What the Acronym stands for (I think/guess)
1. WC
Bathroom
Water Closet (is this some British English?)
[/quote]
Yes and no. Americans will go red in the face if you mention ‘toilet’, so in absence of a bath, and when required to take a big, long, piss, or drop a bomb, many establishments will recourse to the ancient term ‘WC’ to denote a place you can relieve yourself without necessarily bathing.
LP is from Taiwanese lan pah, which means testicles.
PK is from “penalty kick”, meaning a one-on-one contest.
WC is indeed water closet. Meaning toilet. (Yes, I’m American and I proudly say “toilet”.)
Also:
LKK (lao ke ke) = old geezer
QQ, meaning chewy
3Q meaning “thank you”
3C = consumer electronics (computers, cameras, cell phones)
NG = “no good” (from the movie industry, used for designating a bad take)
K = to hit
A = to steal or otherwise acquire in an illicit manner
I always use toilet. Why should I say ‘bathroom’, if I don’t want to take a shower or a bath? Also, I try to annoy Americans by speaking and writing British English, although I am not quite sure if this succeeds. Maybe it is more effectful by annoying Taiwanese, who don’t know, that there is a country called England (or Great Britain) where English is spoken
What do you say if you want to go to the bathroom, by the way?
Why not just speak and write your natural way, whatever that may be, without any obnoxious effort to annoy anyone? :loco: People are more likely to react negatively to people who display obnoxious intent, as opposed to the style of the speech or writing per se. British English coming from friendly, socially well-adjusted individuals sounds quite lovely to my (semi-)American ears.
It’s direct mailing, I believe, and I think you’re right in terms of it being a very local abbreviation.
Well, of course I don’t really want to annoy anyone… Just in a funny way. Maybe not annoy, but rather tease.
But because I don’t have much contact with Americans, this is more a theoretical issue. But I really like to do it with Taiwanese, because I think their “foreign = America“ attitude is a little bit weird