Study: Usage of "Laowai" (Data)

Data to accompany the main article.

Blogs: Laowai

Occurr
-ences
TranslationNotesAttitudeReference Type
BL-11109 Essential Sentences for Arguing with LaowaiThough arguing with a foreigner may seem negative, it is really just a humorous title for a list of angry English sentences.NeutralGeneral
BL-21You complain a little bit, and a laowai bangs on the desk and says: Who the fuck do you think you are? I could fire you in the morning and find a replacement by the afternoon.Note that the situation is hypothetical, not a real event.Possibly criticalSpecific (in an imagined situation)
BL-31Apart from Buddhist believers, you can see laowais everywhere, as well as young women in twos and threes (quite good looking young women). Also, many elderly Hong Kong citizens come to worship. NeutralGeneral (the writer is describing what you could see in this place on any particular day)
BL-43I couldn't comprehend the expressions with which they looked at me, because I have never been able to read a laowai's eyes. I always think the look in their eyes is very pure, very clear, and I envy them for still having that kind expression after reaching such an old age. ComplimentaryGeneral
BL-5  File not accessible  
BL-61Before hand, I never thought it might be a boss, a laowai, who would interview me, and I was really very nervous at the time.The writer seems almost to be implying that they are too unimportant to be interviewed by someone who is not only a high-level manager, but a foreigner to boot!NeutralGeneral (the writer is not referring specifically to the foreigner who interviewed them)
BL-71You might just have passed a strolling pair of young laowais pushing a foreign baby, then right ahead of you they'll be two high-level foreign managers from a Fortune 500 company.Of the Bund in Shanghai.NeutralSpecific (in an imagined situation)
BL-81And supposing the international effect is so large that even laowais don't dare buy Japanese goods, that's even better.This paragraph starts by saying that vandalising japanese-made cars will discourage chinese from buying japanese goods, so it is not critical of laowais alone.NeutralGeneral
BL-91Even a laowai who sees it will want to say: "This is the best Camera".The quoted part was written in English, so I haven't changed it.NeutralGeneral
BL-102Several tour buses full of laowais passed by, the laowais holding their videocameras and shooting non-stop. I suppose they see these scenes the same way we saw the violence against ethnic Chinese in Indonesia. Sigh.During a parade in which several japanese-made cars were vandalised.NeutralSpecific
BL-111If you don't have sufficient grounding in theory, you won't be able to even understand laowai video codec algorithms, let alone improve them.(In a comment)NeutralGeneral
BL-126"More and more laowais can use chopsticks these days"..."Please get it straight, you are the laowais here"A joke. The setting is a Chinese restaurant in America. Copied from another source.NeutralBoth general and specific usages
BL-133A colleague wearing swimming trunks came up and asked us why we weren't swimming. "There are laowais there!" we said. NeutralSpecific
BL-141So what the laowais correctly saw was not only China's cheap land, environment, and labour, but also and more importantly the market.An article copied from another source.NeutralGeneral
BL-151At the very least I'll gain proficiency in using simple [English] sentence patterns, then I won't be afraid to talk face to face with a laowai, and if worst comes to worst we can always use body language...Talking about chatting online in English.NeutralGeneral
BL-161At least there, none of the other girls look down on me, because I'm educated, furthermore my English is good, many of my clients are laowais.This is an interview with a university student who moonlights as a prostitute, taken from another source and reproduced on a personal blog. Although the laowais mentioned are paying for sex, the speaker mentions them as evidence of her English ability, thus I judge the context as neutral.NeutralSpecific
BL-172Yesterday a laowai came. When he entered the office, the receptionist looked around and saw that everyone was playing games, only she was unoccupied, so with a smile she said "Hello?" Laowai: "Hi." Receptionist: "You have what thing?"Making fun of Chinglish. Actually, I've seen this before in an email that was going around.NeutralSpecific
BL-182(a) When the laowais fight their limbs are a bit rigid, nevertheless the result is absolutely realistic.

(b) A rotten movie...laowais clearly have no idea what "daoyi" means, or what "jianghu" means.

(a) Review of the movie "Kill Bill".

(b) Review of the movie "Enter the Dragon".

For statistical purposes, I have treated these two occurrences as two different contexts.

(a) Neutral

(b) Critical

(a) Specific

(b) General

BL-19  Another copy of the joke that appeared in BL-2.  
BL-202Laowai: You Chinese are really hard-working!A joke in the form of a dialogue (an apparent retelling of the same joke appeared in BL-12, but used a different word for foreigner).NeutralSpecific
BL-21A reposting of the joke in BL-20.
BL-221Why haven't laowais lost interest in rock music? For some reason it's just Chinese who have lost interest, and why haven't Chinese lost interest in other kinds of music?A short story.NeutralGeneral
BL-231A clear indication [of improvement] is that previously board meetings had been conducted in Chinese, but later the number of laowais was too many, so the meetings were conducted completely in English.An article copied from another source.NeutralSpecific?
BL-241[He] suggested that I study some North American model essays, so from the internet I downloaded 280 laowai model essays. NeutralGeneral (the writer simply means "written by foreigners", not by any specific persons in particular)
BL-251The busiest street in Pingyao is Nan Dajie, and on this street is Tianyuankui, with the most laowais and the nicest decor. NeutralGeneral
BL-261The results of the laowais' case studies which Mr Zhang gave us confirmed my thinking. NeutralGeneral (the writer simply means "formulated by foreigners", not by any specific persons in particular)
BL-271We all wish we could write long [English] sentences, just like a laowai, but are afraid of making a mistake.An article copied from another source.NeutralGeneral
BL-282[Tomatoes] are red and round, very attractive. If laowais want to take photos again, just get a pretty girl to hold up a tomato and strike a pose, won't the laowais be as envious as hell? They'll think, even anti-Japanese demonstrators are this pretty! The effect on China's image overseas will be excellent.This article is intended as humour. There is the implication that photographs taken by foreigners have tarnished China's international image, hence this context could be interpreted as slightly critical of laowais.Possibly criticalGeneral
BL-292Before hand, I never thought it might be a boss, a laowai, who would interview me, and I was really very nervous at the time.An article copied from another source.NeutralGeneral
BL-301We heard two laowais pass by, and one of them say "my poor leg"...it seems that, confronted with Mount Tai, nobody's fitness is up to scratch.The person probably said "my poor legs", indicating that they were tired of walking.NeutralSpecific
BL-31195% of Chinese are extremely envious of "laowais", who just need to save up the cost of a few meals and can then buy a BMW 3 Series, or Audi A4.Intended as humour.NeutralGeneral
BL-321Tip 40: Learn [English] terms related to sport, in order to facilitate conversation with laowais.An article copied from another source.NeutralGeneral

Blogs: Yangguizi

Occurr
-ences
TranslationNotesAttitudeReference Type
BY-11No matter what you do, you cannot avoid [encountering troublemakers]. At the time of the 1911 revolution there were false yangguizi. In Mao Zedong's time it was also unavoidable.An article copied from another source. "False yangguizi" refers disparagingly to Chinese who pander to foreign interests.CriticalGeneral
BY-21This was something that had never occurred before in five thousand years of Chinese civilisation, yangguizi invading Beijing, seizing the Temple of Heaven and entering the Royal Palace.An article copied from another source. It is likely that the writer chooses the word yangguizi not to reflect his/her opinion towards the invaders, but to emphasise that the people of the time would have been angered and surprised.Critical (from the point of view of the chinese people at that time)Specific
BY-3, BY-43I snorted and said, "If I, a warrior, kill yangguizi, I'll wipe them all out completely, so why would I need to understand English?"...Perhaps Yijing wasn't angry with me at all, but instead had been beguiled by this yangguizi!...And you, yangguizi with your unclean DNA, while I am risking my life to safeguard social justice, you are here embracing my most beloved.A short story. Since both BY-3 and BY-4 are fragments of the same story, I have treated them as a single context for statistical purposes.CriticalBoth general and specific usages
BY-51Dynasty after dynasty, Chinese civilisation has a history of five thousand years. Just by naming the four great inventions or something like that, we could scare yangguizi into performing a Thomas Flair followed by a 3600 degree aerial spin.An article copied from another source. A Thomas Flair is a gymnastic move named after Kurt Thomas.Critical (more accurately, insulting)General
BY-61They have started name-calling to some degree, calling the forum moderators "yangguizi", and calling well-known contributors "money-grabbing commanders".It seems that this sentence describes the use of yangguizi to criticise chinese, presumably in order to accuse them of having opinions sympathetic to foreigners.CriticalThe writer describes how some people use the word to criticise specific forum moderators
BY-71Do yangguizi actually have no knees?This is in the context of a story about how foreigners greeting the chinese emperor only bowed and did not kneel, which caused great discomfort for the court, until one official suggested the explanation that foreigners have no knees. The word yangguizi is not used in telling the story, it is used by the writer in declaring how preposterous the court's explanation is. Interestingly, despite the use of the term yangguizi, the article is not concerned with the foreigners' lack of courtesy but with how the officials' diplomacy defeated their common sense. So it may be that the word yangguizi was chosen to reflect the court's conception of foreigners as being so different that they might well have no knees.NeutralGeneral
BY-81Actually just as I've said in the past, glorious inventions can in fact be forgotten, needing modern people or even a yangguizi like Joseph Needham to unbury them like one digs up ancient artefacts.An article by Ludi, copied from another source. Joseph Needham studied the history of science, technology, and medicine in China. Ludi appears to be a contemporary writer who publishes on the internet, and his opinion is that chinese society is backward and chinese should learn from the West. In this article, he exclusively uses yangguizi and guizi (devil) to refer to foreigners. Of the three occurrences of guizi, two are in the context of praising foreigners. The third, as far as I can tell, refers to but seems to play down the argument that learning from the West would put China in danger of being manipulated by the West.NeutralSpecific
BY-92I used to use these characters [which look like the thing they represent] in the first Chinese lesson of each semester to fool more than a few yangguizi. But later on this trick does not work anymore, because characters like this are quite few...One day, when Chinese dominate the world in the field of advanced scientific knowledge and invention, will not yangguizi have to sit quietly and go over and over the frequently mistaken Chinese characters until they are embedded in their memory? Neutral?General
BY-101Nowadays false yangguizi are numerous. They can change their nationality, they can dye their hair, they can speak fluent English, they can get a nose job, but can you change the colour of your skin?An article copied from another source. "False yangguizi" refers disparagingly to chinese who pander to foreign interests. Also contains one occurrence of the word guizi to refer to foreigners.CriticalGeneral
BY-111That girl has sat on the knee of every one of us guys. After studying overseas for a few years she has turned into a false yangguizi.An article copied from another source. Here "false yangguizi" refers disparagingly to someone who has adopted the habits of foreigners.CriticalSpecific
BY-121You Chinese don't fear heaven, don't fear [earth], just fear a yangguizi who opens his mouth and speaks Chinese, hahaha!An article copied from another source. Yangguizi is said in jest by a foreigner, referring to himself. Allegedly an actual event. Also note that in a separate part of the article (written by a different person) the word guizi appears twice.NeutralGeneral (although the speaker implies that the current situation is a specific instance of this general phenomenon)
BY-131Clinton's trousers, Yeltsin's face, false yangguizi in the cities, slick talkers in the countryside...An article copied from another source. A list of examples to show the range of issues covered by a certain radio programme. "False yangguizi" refers disparagingly to a person who adopts the habits of foreigners.CriticalGeneral
BY-141A yangguizi also appeared, as big and tall as always, like a large horse.This sentence appears to be the only reference to foreigners in this article (including the first half, posted separately).NeutralSpecific
BY-151That main page [of a particular Chinese blogging site] is too over-the-top...such that after stopping there for 30 seconds I just decided to create a blog on those yangguizi's blogger.com instead! Chinese always do things that way—aiming to include everything rather than aiming for elegance.This use of yangguizi seems to be in jest, casting the writer's own decision to use a non-chinese blogging service as somehow unpatriotic.Critical (but humorously so)General (the word is basically used to mean that blogger.com is a foreign site, not to refer to the owners of the site specifically)
BY-161But that damned girl hasn't contacted me since she went to Canada. I don't know, maybe she's been [kidnapped] by yangguizi.I am not sure if the word "kidnapped" is correct (I do not understand the original character, so I am assuming that it is a typo). This article also contains one use of guizi, but it refers to a chinese person (perhaps implying "invader"? I'm not sure). It also contains three uses of "false Japanese guizi" in referring to a chinese person who had studied in Japan.CriticalSpecific?

News: Laowai

Occurr
-ences
TranslationNotesReference Type
NL-11Headline: Qingdao's first case of illegal border-crossing by a foreign family; The laowais have already been deported to their home countryInterestingly, these laowais are presumably of asian appearance, being citizens of an unnamed country in southern Asia.Specific
NL-22At Qingming Festival, at the invitation of a friend I accompanied a group of laowais on a sightseeing trip to Zhujiajiao.A restaurant review. This trip with foreigners, which is only a prelude to the article, was too busy to fit in a meal and so the author makes a return trip to Zhujiajiao with a friend the same evening to sup on the local seafood. Whether the author's disappointment at departing Zhujiajiao on an empty stomach can be blamed on the foreigners is left up to the reader to judge.Specific
NL-36Headline: "Laowais" from 19 countries award high marks; 80% are happy to live in ShanghaiIn this report on a survey conducted on foreigners' attitudes towards Shanghai, the words waiguoren and laowai are used interchangeably. The word laowai is presented in quotation marks in the headline, as is its first occurrence in the article. The article also contains two occurrences of waiguo renshi, an even more formal and detached term for foreigner.Specific
NL-42Every friendly pair of eyes was focussed on the young and handsome laowai standing on the platform...During the interview, although there was the occasional word that he momentarily did not understand, it was only necessary for me to repeat it once and this adorable laowai would tap his head and then immediately understand.This laowai is from Nepal, and is Fuzhou's first foreign student awarded a doctorate. The language of this article is not neutral, it is very positive.Specific
NL-51Headline: The change from "waiguoren" to "laowai" as a word for foreignerUnfortunately, this appears to be only the first article in a series, and does not actually discuss the term laowai.N/A
NL-6  Identical to NL-3. 
NL-7  Identical to NL-3, but with a different headline. 
NL-87Headline: In Guizhou, laowais celebrate Labour Day golden weekAn photo-heavy article about elderly american tourists, with a positive spin. The photograph captions use the word laowai extensively, while the one-paragraph article itself uses the adjective "American" instead.Specific
NL-96Headline: Laowai unreasonably causes an argument and vents his anger on a guardOne odd thing about this article is that the foreigner is mainly referred to by name except for the second last paragraph where he is referred to three times as "[the] laowai" instead.Specific
NL-101Have a look at these alternative travel methods of "laowais". Can they give you any inspiration for your trip? General
NL-115Headline: Laowai enters an abandoned well at night, just to look for his birth certificate...According to our understanding, [the] laowai came to Xiamen in April...We are informed that while writing his statement, this laowai's mind was very clear. Specific
NL-121Headline: Cantonese Opera intoxicates both laowais and localsThis headline juxtaposes laowai with laoxiang ("old" + "village"), a word meaning a person from one's own village/area.Specific
NL-132Headline: Strange affair at the World Table Tennis Championships: [A] laowai's foremost task is to go shopping...The onlookers were all impressed that a laowai could haggle so well.When this article refers specifically to the foreigner, it says "Ghana team member", not laowai or waiguoren.Specific
NL-141Headline: Laowais enjoy spending time at a Chinese teahouseThe article is about a certain event at a teahouse and the body of the article uses the expressions "foreign friends" and "foreign students", not laowai.Specific
NL-151Headline: [A] laowai's evaluation of the English versions of Jin Yong's novels Specific
NL-162"I'm just proof that it's possible for Chinese to cook western food even better than a laowai!" says Long Weiyan confidently...And this position [chief chef in a western restaurant in China] is usually "dominated" by a laowai. General
NL-171Xiangsheng-performing laowai Dashan will also hold a live interactive activity with a distinctive and unique style...at 1pm on May 3, on the first floor of Northern Book City. Specific

News: Waiguoren

Occurr
-ences
TranslationNotesReference Type
NW-14A mother gave birth to three daughters. When the eldest married a waiguoren, everybody said "That's a common occurrence".Part of a joke, used in this article for rhetorical reasons.Specific
NW-29In 2004, over 500 waiguoren from a total of 19 countries participated in the survey.This article also contains the word laowai, and has already been discussed in that section (see NL-3).Specific
NW-31On May 10, the Kuwaiti government issued a command to all departments to strengthen security surrounding strategic national facilities such as airports, seaports, and oil fields, as well as sensitive locations such as government departments and agencies, foreign consulates in Kuwait, and residential areas where waiguoren are concentrated. Specific?
NW-454Headline: The change from "waiguoren" to "laowai" as a word for foreigner Both general and specific usages
NW-5  Identical to NW-2. 
NW-6  Identical to NW-2, but with a different headline. 
NW-71Reasons [for not calling America home] include dissatisfaction with the conservative style of the government, falling in love with and marrying a waiguoren, interest in foreign cultures, desire for an adventurous life, lower cost of living, and work requirements.In this context, waiguoren refers to a non-american.General
NW-81On May 9, a group calling themselves the "Army of Ansar al-Sunna" announced on an internet site that on the evening on May 8 they had ambushed a convoy of waiguoren in the desert of western Iraq and detained one Japanese as a hostage.In this context, waiguoren refers to a non-Iraqi.Specific
NW-9  This is an article regarding the japanese hostage detained in Iraq, and uses waiguoren in the same context as NW-8. 
NW-104Five waiguoren and the 12 Iraqi guards acting as their escort exchanged fire with the "Army of Ansar al-Sunna".In this context, waiguoren refers to a non-Iraqi.Specific
NW-11  This is an article regarding the japanese hostage detained in Iraq, and uses waiguoren in the same context as NW-10. 
NW-124Such a strange way of thinking, possessing a "Chinese flavour" to some extent—do you think that if waiguoren do not win a gold medal they might just say "I'm not playing anymore"?A rebuttal to the suggestion that because China won all the gold medals at the World Table Tennis Championships, the International Table Tennis Federation might change the rules of the game.General
NW-133Headline: Tibet's development and change is changing the way waiguoren view it General
NW-143According to Liu Dianzhong, it is difficult for waiguoren to learn Chinese chess due to the limitations imposed by culture, history, and way of thinking. General
NW-152Title of a joke: How waiguoren see sesame balls General
NW-16  Same article as NW-15. 
NW-17  Same article as NW-15. 
NW-182Headline: Car bomb explodes in Baghdad killing 9 Iraqis and 4 waiguoren Specific
NW-191Following a tip-off, Pakistani security forces last week descended on Mardan, a town often frequented by waiguoren, located 50 kilometres north-east of Peshawar, a provincial capital near the north-western border.Presumably, the waiguoren are predominantly from nearby Middle Eastern countries.General
NW-202Lu Xun...offers the following insightful analysis regarding waiguoren who praise "China's intrinsic culture"... General
NW-21  Same article as NW-15. 
NW-22  Same article as NW-20. 
NW-231Headline: Russia honours waiguoren who supported it during World War II; 27 Chinese veterans receive commendations Specific