Tonight I was given one of the coolest and most painful compliments I have ever heard from a friend’s Taiwanese wife. It was meant to be purely a compliment but when translated to English, its juuuuuuuust a bit painful.
Rough translation to english:
“you must have been really handsome when you were thin” 
[quote=“Lo Pan”]Tonight I was given one of the coolest and most painful compliments I have ever heard from a friend’s Taiwanese wife. It was meant to be purely a compliment but when translated to English, its juuuuuuuust a bit painful.
Rough translation to english:
“you must have been really handsome when you were thin” [/quote]
It’s not the worst thing…"You’ll become really pretty if you lose some weight’ is. Been there, heard it all. Oh and, the converse, “You’re thin now, you look better” hurts MUCH more.
This seems appropriate here.
I have never seen Titanic and I was telling a young lady this fact, to which she replied
“Well I’m not surprised, it’s because you have no heart!”
Yes love. you know me soooooooooooooooo well
A really nice old lady on the bus the other day told me: “You’re really FAT, but you have a handsome face”.
Tonight I was trying to explain to a long time Taiwanese friend and former student about a recent physical health problem I’ve been dealing with. This is a purely physical thing, but his one questions was, “It’s not caused by mental problem?”
HAHAHA! OUCH!!
And back when I was thin (5’8" and about 57 KG), Taiwanese people used to tell me, “You should be careful, you’re about to get fat!”
To practice “either” and “both”, I had students get into pairs and come up with a sentence to express a commonality. Two girls told me “we both hate looking at your balding hair”.
I’m okay, but they may have to repeat the semester.
[quote=“divea”]
It’s not the worst thing…"You’ll become really pretty if you lose some weight’ is. Been there, heard it all. Oh and, the converse, “You’re thin now, you look better” hurts MUCH more.[/quote]
having been on both ends of the fat/thin spectrum, I always prefer to hear “you look better now that you are thin” than “you’d look better if you were thin”
very very close to what was said this evening… and seriously? you? fat?
[quote=“ThreadKiller”]To practice “either” and “both”, I had students get into pairs and come up with a sentence to express a commonality. Two girls told me “we both hate looking at your balding hair”.
I’m okay, but they may have to repeat the semester.[/quote]
I think you may have taught them an even more valuable lesson!!!
Oh that reminds me, I was like 15, at a social gathering, all pretty and walking high in the air when an aunty smiled and asked me who my mum was? I pointed at my mum, and the lady goes, “oh you are so beautiful, I thought you had a different mother”. :bluemad:
I used to hang out a lot with my Vietnamese neighbor all the time. We didn’t have any language in common but we’d hang out for hours at a time anyways. One day she kept gesturing to her legs and my legs, her legs and my legs. It took a while to understand what she was getting at but a basic translation of her body language would be this:
“Your legs: SO FAT!!! My legs: SO THIN!!!”
And I was considered thin in America =(
My wife and I were walking past two 12 year old boys near our apartment in Neihu. One of them said “hello”. However, I was deep in conversation with my better half and didn’t react.
When the boy realized that I wasn’t responding, he decided to up the ante with something more complicated, and he had to work fast. What was flung my way stopped me dead in my tracks. To this young man, it was logical to tell a woman that she was pretty, and since I was obviously a man, he decided to say…
“You are so handsome.”
[quote=“Got To Be Kidding”]My wife and I were walking past two 12 year old boys near our apartment in Neihu. One of them said “hello”. However, I was deep in conversation with my better half and didn’t react.
When the boy realized that I wasn’t responding, he decided to up the ante with something more complicated, and he had to work fast. What was flung my way stopped me dead in my tracks. To this young man, it was logical to tell a woman that she was pretty, and since I was obviously a man, he decided to say…
“You are so handsome.”[/quote]
So??? I tell the handsome men I meet, they are really handsome! I tell all the beautiful women, they are gorgeous, what’s the big deal?? Men come and tell my husband he has a beautiful wife and ladies will greet us as a couple and say “your handsome husband blah blah blah”. Men are not supposed to be told they look good?
In this context it sounded like a preteen boy prostitute propositioning him.
Yes. It did.
Yes. It did.[/quote]
Oh c’mon, in Taiwan??? The boys don’t know how to proposition girls even…you guys think too much. 
You have no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Fortunately, your wife has no taste.
Yes. It did.[/quote]
Oh c’mon, in Taiwan??? The boys don’t know how to proposition girls even…you guys think too much. [/quote]
It’s not that I think the boy was a prostitute! It’s just that where there are boy prostitues, that’s what they say, and so it is definitely not an appropriate thing to say to a stranger. Just like we wouldn’t teach girls to say “Hey mister, wanna party?”, even though there is nothing actually wrong with going to a party.
You’re a woman saying it to a man, so it’s OK.
You’re a woman saying it to a woman, so it’s OK.
They’re men complimenting a woman on her looks, so it’s OK.
They’re women complimenting a man on his looks, so it’s OK.
Depends on the sex and sexual orientation of the parties involved.
In the culture where I come from (US), men don’t usually call other men “handsome” unless they’re gay. If a man calls another man handsome, the homoerotic connotation may make the “target” of the compliment feel rather uncomfortable if he’s not gay.
I myself would much rather be called “handsome” by a woman. I’m comfortable enough with my sexuality that I don’t mind being called “handsome” by a man, but to me, if it comes from a man it just sounds insincere (unless he’s gay, in which case I feel flattered, but then have to stress to him that I’m not interested!).
You’re a woman saying it to a man, so it’s OK.
You’re a woman saying it to a woman, so it’s OK.
They’re men complimenting a woman on her looks, so it’s OK.
They’re women complimenting a man on his looks, so it’s OK.
Depends on the sex and sexual orientation of the parties involved.
In the culture where I come from (US), men don’t usually call other men “handsome” unless they’re gay. If a man calls another man handsome, the homoerotic connotation may make the “target” of the compliment feel rather uncomfortable if he’s not gay.
I myself would much rather be called “handsome” by a woman. I’m comfortable enough with my sexuality that I don’t mind being called “handsome” by a man, but to me, if it comes from a man it just sounds insincere (unless he’s gay, in which case I feel flattered, but then have to stress to him that I’m not interested!).[/quote]
Ha, that is funny.
she lied to you, sorry man. look at the bright side, your not totally blind.
[quote=“ThreadKiller”]To practice “either” and “both”, I had students get into pairs and come up with a sentence to express a commonality. Two girls told me “we both hate looking at your balding hair”.
I’m okay, but they may have to repeat the semester.[/quote]
that would deserve a A+. they managed the task asked of them, and told the truth. A+