Niang2 shen2mo5 lao3zi5 dou1 bu4 lao3zi5 le5

Here comes the second game.

娘什麼?老子都不老子了
Niang2 shen2me0 lao3zi5 dou1 bu4 lao3zi5 le5

娘, niang2, mother
什麼, shen2me5, what
老子, lao3zi5, father
都不…了, dou1 bu4 … le5, even … not …

娘什麼?老子都不老子了
Niang2 shen2me5 lao3zi5 dou1 bu4 lao3zi5 le5
Mother what? Even my father is not father.
= Mother what? Even my father do not perform as a father.

It is a very famous sentence in Taiwan. Ask a friend who went to elementary school in Taiwan. No one will forget this sentence.

It is from 母親的教誨 by 胡適 Hu2shi4. 母親的教誨 is about Hu’s mother.

Hu told a short story in 母親的教誨.

Hu’s aunt told him to wear a sleeveless garment and said “涼了” (It’s cold).


liang2
cold

Hu is a little boy then. He didn’t wear the sleeveless garment and said that famouse sentence.

He said “老子都不老子了” (Even my father do not perform as a father) because his father is dead.

His mother heard this sentence, and was very angry. She said, “你沒有老子,是多麼得意的事!好用來說嘴!” You don’t have father. Do you think it is so proud that you can show off."

If you don’t understand what I said, you can ask any of your friends in Taiwan, and he/she definitely can explain it for you.

Now, here comes the question.

It is obvious that little Hu is punning. However, 娘 niang2 and 涼 liang2 do not pronounce identically. Why? Why Hu used two words with different pronounciations to pun?

[Mod.: Pinyin edit]

Many Chinese can’t distinguish the n- and l- sounds.

That explains a LOT…

Yes, you got the right answer.
And let’s talk more about “many chinese who can’t distinguish the n- and l- sounds”.

Where does Hu 胡適 come from?
Let’s check it in Wikipedia:
“Hu’s ancestors were from Jixi (績溪), Anhui.”
(en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hu_Shih)

There is many dialects in Anhui that don’t distinguish the n- and l- sounds. Jixi is one of them.