My girlfriend, who is Taiwanese, tells me that this word came into Taiwanese from Japanese (during the occupation) and is actually the Japanese pronunciation of “a dog.” By her reckoning, that it makes quite the racial slur towards white people and she frowns upon its use.
Can anyone else confirm this or back it up?
Does anyone here really care whether they are being called adoga or not, especially if it means “a dog”?
[quote=“MPenguin”]My girlfriend, who is Taiwanese, tells me that this word came into Taiwanese from Japanese (during the occupation) and is actually the Japanese pronunciation of “a dog.” By her reckoning, that it makes quite the racial slur towards white people and she frowns upon its use.
Can anyone else confirm this or back it up?
Does anyone here really care whether they are being called adoga or not, especially if it means “a dog”?[/quote]
I thought it meant “big nose”, or more precisely “pronounced nose”.
NO, it means long nose. From Dok pee ah. Which means Long nose in Taiwanese. The Dok means pointed and PeeAh means nose in Taiwanese. The Ah in front is a bit harder to describe. Its often used as slang for a name. Say if a Taiwanese guy is named Tam Chi Tiong. He would be called Ah Tiong. So the Ah is put in front of the long nose. And you get Ah Dok Ah.
Nothing to do with dogs.
Its not Ah Dog Ah
阿啄仔
a-tok-á
= “pointy [nosed] one”
It’s the Taiwanese word for “gringo”.
阿 = familiarizing particle
啄 = pointy
仔 = nominalizing/diminutive suffix
Its the Taiwanese version of the Mandarin “lao Wai” used in Taiwan. Which means Old Outsider. Like Americans are often called “Lao Mei” meaning Old Mericans, Mexicans are “lao Muoh” , Germans “Lao Teh” (Teh is from Teh Gwoh which means Germany). The Lao is used affectionately like in Lao peng yeo (old friend).
Sorry for my pinyin.
p.s. Although “Lao Wai” means Old OUtsider , it is actually used to denote those of the White Race exclusively .
Based on the explanations I heard in this thread, I would call this a folk etymology. It is unfortunately possible your girlfriend heard it from a source of authority who should know better.
A Korean friend of mine told me that Koreans also call foreigners ‘big nose’. It must be true that our noses are big. Meanwhile, Koreans. Never seen this in Taiwan.
Cool. Thanks for the information.
I have informed my girlfriend that she was, in fact, wrong (a pleasure I don’t get to savor too often) and even showed her this thread. I’m not sure she’s convinced yet, but I’m glad someone could shed some light on the etymology.
[quote=“Chris”]
阿啄仔
a-tok-á
= “pointy [nosed] one”
It’s the Taiwanese word for “gringo”.
阿 = familiarizing particle
啄 = pointy
仔 = nominalizing/diminutive suffix[/quote]
I finally understand (beyond its general meaning for foreigner) the word “adogah” that you guys write on flob. Thanks, Chris. I have to say, this would sound funny in Canto.
Ah - Dook - Tzai
Only little kids and deranged granpas of the lower orders make use of that epithet.
Every 20th time or so, I will draw someone’s attention to it’s place amongst the lower classes.
Yet, more often that not these days it will be some mom or grannie that will castigate the perpetrator.
Often with speedy and accurate physical prowess.
I started using the word “Jap” to refer to the Japanese after hanging out with Aussies-someone pointed out that this was racist so I stopped. It was more of an abbreviation thing. Like, Uni., Eski etc. I’m sure the Japanese have a nice word to describe foreigners though.
Another horrible word I used was “to Jew” someone, meaning to cheat someone-I heard it so much that I didn’t even realize that it referred to Jewish people. Negro? I never used it it was always black. I don’t think the words like Lao-Wai or Adogah have any racist intent.
There was a good discussion, pro and con, here, in the Taipei Times, sister newspaper of the Liberty Times, on May 19, 2009
taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/ … 2003443960
And the Liberty Times printed a Chinese-language version of the same article, translated, but just about 25 percent of the longer article in English. On July 8, 2009 in Mandarin.
libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new … day-o7.htm
And then there was a poll conducted
by a Taipei marketing
firm, from May 22 to May 24, with about 25,000 Taiwanese people
participating, and with several
questions being asked about the word adoah:
When those polled were asked “Do you use the term ‘adoah’ to refer to
Caucasians?” the results were as follows:
45 percent said
they do use the
term while 55 percent said they do not use the term.
When people were asked “If you learned that this term of adoah was considered
offensive by some Westerners living in Taiwan, would you
stop using it?” the results were as follows:
93 percent said they would no longer use the word “adoah” …while 7 percent said they would continue to use
it.
In the poll, the total sample
size was 25,276 respondents, distributed in terms of age and gender
proportionately to the general population, with ages ranging from 13
to 64, the news reports said.
And a blog carries about 200 comments, pro and con, from Taiwanese readers of the two newspaper, in English and Chinese. The comments are more interesting than anything else.
I have the original Michael Jackson HIStory CD in which he has the words “Jew me, sue me” in the lyrics of a song. I saw a news report back then that people had complained and the CD was going to be recalled and a new version released. I rushed out and bought a copy right then and there, hoping that one day it would be a collector’s item.
[quote=“tommy525”]Its the Taiwanese version of the Mandarin “lao Wai” used in Taiwan. Which means Old Outsider. Like Americans are often called “Lao Mei” meaning Old Mericans, Mexicans are “lao Muoh” , Germans “Lao Teh” (Teh is from Teh Gwoh which means Germany). The [color=#FF0000]Lao is used affectionately[/color] like in Lao peng yeo (old friend).
Sorry for my Pinyin.
p.s. Although “Lao Wai” means Old OUtsider , it is actually used to denote those of the White Race exclusively .[/quote]
I don’t need that kind of affection, thanks very much. That’s like saying if I refer to someone as “my cracker”, that’s ok because the addition of “my” makes it affectionate…
I don’t mind 老外 (lao wai) at all because of its affectionate nature. But I’ve heard 阿啄仔 (a-tok-a) or “adogah”) used in derisive tones enough that I dislike the term.
I used to feel the same way, but my Chinese teacher reckons it’s offensive. He’s married to a New Yorker and he says he takes people to task if they refer to her as a 老外.
I don’t much like the term 外國人 either. Sure, it’s technically correct, but once again it’s not universally used when referring to all foreigners.
Uitlander, auschlander, foreigner or 外國人. It’s all the same. Back home I wouldn’t refer to some in any of those ways as I’d assume you were a Saffa. Once you opened your mouth or I found out otherwise I’d refer to you as Japanese, Taiwanese, American or Canadian.
IMHO, if nothing else it’s just not polite.
Today there is a letter to the editor in Mandarin in the Liberty Times, the mothership of the
Taipei Times, and it’s from a retired former translator/interpretor for US-Taiwan militaryrelations in Taipei. (Maybe someone can translate it here later into English…) I think he agrees with us, that adoah is NOT such a good word to use anymore… and in the end, it’s up to the Taiwanese people themselves, TV stars, newspaper editors, the general publicn, in-laws, to decide whether to retire adoah or keep it in circulation. It’s their decision to make, since it’s their country, and their culture, and their language. We can only watch on the sidelines and debate the issues.
翻譯官回應「阿凸仔」
◎ 黃大河
署名Biko Lang的西方人士，在自由廣場投書呼籲台灣人：請別叫我「阿凸仔」！其理由是因為許多住在台灣工作的西方人認為，那是一個侮辱和不尊敬的詞句，不應該出現在公眾場合。
筆者同意Biko的看法。打從少年時代開始接觸西方傳教士，到了成年在美軍駐台顧問團工作，筆者接觸過的西方人為數不少，但是我始終沒有使用過「阿凸仔」來稱呼西方人。當然，我承認目前在台灣還有許多人使用「阿凸仔」來稱呼西方人。在新加坡、馬來西亞等國家使用福建方言的華人族群裡，他們雖然不講出「阿凸仔」，卻使用另類獨特的稱呼。他們把西方白種人統稱為「紅毛仔」，看場合有時也叫「紅毛猴」，而且是現在進行式。在新加坡的地理中心地帶就有個大社區叫做紅毛橋（Ang Mo Kio）。新加坡政府早察覺到此語不妥，所以帶頭把華文的正式名稱改為「宏茂橋」，以期誘導新加坡人漸漸地淡忘「紅毛橋」。高明吧！比較之下，台灣的政府對此現象似乎很遲鈍，令「有品」的台灣人無語問蒼天。（作者早期曾任美軍駐台顧問團翻譯官，部落格http://www.goodweber.com/?4151）
libertytimes.com.tw/2009/new … day-o6.htm
In addition, a Taiwanese man studying for PHD at UC Berkley in USA told me in an email today:
"… I want to pay my respect to you Westerners in Taiwan for saying it out and loud about the ADOAH slang. It is NOT a good word anymore, and never really was, to tell the truth. The truth is something we Taiwanese don’t always like to confess, too, as you might know. I know, because I am…Taiwanese!
No matter how many excuses we Taiwanese have for that “adoah” term, what matters is how the people being defined by this term think about it - obviously they are totally unhappy and feel insulted, so we must apologize and recognize this mistake and make an effort to clean it.
Too often Taiwanese and especially Chinese like to coin these disrespectful terms for other people - they say “little Japan”, “India A-San” etc, and I think that all needs to be fixed. One hundred years ago Japanese called Chinese “feeble dude in the East Asia” - How’s that? pretty bloody bad!"
AND here are two more Taiwanese people, professors in this case, with PHDs, at major universities here, and they also agree ADOAH should be retired ASAP, if the general public agrees. Of course, the general public has not voted on this yet: 
to wit, from that Taipei Times article cited above: [May 18]
Chen Chun-kai (陳君愷), a professor of history at Fujen Catholic University, said: “Although most Taiwanese truly think adoah is a humorous word, if most Western foreigners in Taiwan hate that word … then that word is no doubt a bad word and should not be used anymore by our people.”
Chen added: “Confucius said: ‘Do not do unto others what you would not want others to do unto you.’ So if we Taiwanese don’t like to hear Mainlanders calling us taibazi, then Taiwanese should stop using that word adoah in reference to Westerners. There is no need to keep using the word adoah anymore, if those who hear the word don’t like it.”
“We Taiwanese are still crippled by a long history of linguistic and ethnic slurs, even now. We need to fight for our freedom and establish a new nation with justice. If we can achieve this, I believe that we will also learn more from people in other countries,” Chen said.
Another professor, Chi Chun-chieh (紀駿傑), who teaches in the Department of Indigenous Cultures at National Dong Hwa University, said: “I must admit that I never thought that adoah was a bad or negative term, and I am sure that people here use it as merely a humorous word and not in any negative sense at all.”
“However, and this is important, this common usage does not mean that adoah is a good term, even though it is not used in a negative or pejorative way,” Chi said.
“The most important thing about language when it is used to refer to different national or ethnic or racial groups are the subjective feelings of people being addressed,” Chi said.
“In terms of the word adoah as it is used to speak about or address Westerners in Taiwan … the shape of a person’s nose is not relevant compared to his or her more important personal characteristics,” he said.
I’m actually quite moved to see Taiwanese speaking sense on this issue for once…I’ve argued against use of the term for years and been amazed at the number of people who argue it is a term of respect as in “oh but we admire your sharp noses”. Offense is in the nose of the one being addressed as is pointed out in these articles. And offense is definitely taken…the fact that it is seen as humorous is the give away…it is never respectful to make fun of someones appearance. :liar:
Plus what is doubly offensive is that in most cases people use the term in the presumption that the dumb foreigner cannot understand it since it is Taiwanese.
This is, of course, the icing on the cake, you nailed it.
I also am disgusted at the ongoing acceptance of this.
Don’t give me that bullshit about “Oh, in Taiwan culture there’s no insult intended”.
My ass.
Anyone who’s ever caught a local out who was smugly using the term in the bumpkin-esque assurance that no White Monkey would understand because it’s in Taiwanese has seen that momentary flash of embarrassment and discomfort.
As plain as the (tall/pronounced) nose on your face, you bet they’re using it in a derogatory fashion, you damn betcha, and they know it too.
I STILL have this fantasy of running a takeaway sandwich/burger stand somewhere in the West and when a Taiwanese customer comes in, yelling across the grill:
“The chicken burger’s for the slanty-eyed yellowface”
No offence intended, of course…
