Three years ago I had the unprecedented opportunity to travel to China with my Dad and the Former Secretary of Health and Human Services. It was incredible. We had the secret service in tow...the whole nine yards. It was the trip of a lifetime.
While we were in Shanghai, we had a personal shopper showing us around and she kept saying "bu yao" to everyone who approached her trying to sell their wares. So, I asked her what she was saying and she replied "no want".
Well that is all it took to set me off. Now, I could speak Chinese and felt very empowered. So the next time someone approached us, I gave a very stern "bu yao!" To which the guy replied, in English, "Oh you want me to give you a $1000? How about I give you a thousand dollars?" I wasn't prepared to be responded to in English after my first attempt at speaking Chinese. So, something didn't quite compute and I just kept yelling "bu yao" at the guy. It was impressive to say the least...
even more powerful than " bu yao" is the word, " mai le" pronounced " my la". this means i already bought one. while bu yao works ok, mai le is what i use to perform what i call a " three second shutdown" because it works everytime. that is a good post and especially entertaining to those of us who have spent time in zhong guo (china.)
ReplyDeletehaha, that is a good one. even more powerful than bu yao, is mai le, pronounced like " my la." this means i already bought one. it is very effective. good post h. :)
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