Joke-share

Here’s a joke that I’d like to share with all Cantonese speakers/learners – well, not all. It only works if you’re caucasian. In Norway we have a saying: Beloved child has many names. So it is with the Cantonese language. 廣東話，廣州話，粵語，中文， (Gong dung wah, Gong Jau wah, Yu yu, and Zhong man) just to name a few. In the mainland people often call it 白話，(bak wah, ‘white language’).

Last time I was in Shenzhen, it happened again: 嘩，你點解識講白話呀？Wah, lei dim gai sek gong bak wah ah? (Wow, how come you can speak white language?)
I naturally, as always, answered: 因為我有白皮膚吖嘛！Yanwai o yau bak peifu a ma! (Because I have white skin, innit.) Yes, that gets a big laugh every time. Every time. So now I’m giving my beloved joke to you.