Laowai Heroes
Foreigner Yells at Person Cutting in Line In Three Chinese Dialects
The only thing missing was a mic drop
Charles Liu, May 25, 2016 11:48am
Queue cutting is rampant in China, and offenders are not often called to task for it. When a foreigner falls victim to it, though, there is often a language barrier preventing a response. This wasn’t an issue for one foreigner who called out a perpetrator in not one, but three Chinese dialects.
The man repeatedly tells the woman that cut in front of him, in flawless Mandarin, “Hello? Hello? Can you please line-up in the queue behind?” The woman pretends not to understand him, and ignorantly says in a Wuhan dialect, “What is this ‘zebra’ talking about? I don’t understand a word you are saying.”
The man responds in the Wuhan dialect, “Don’t cut in line. Do you understand me now?”
The woman tries to gain the upper hand by responding in a Dongbei dialect. “What do you want? When did you see me cut in line?” and used a common Chinese insult meaning “You must be sick.”
Without breaking a sweat, the man answers in the Dongbei dialect, “Go stand in line, otherwise everyone here will criticize you. What do you mean ‘What do you want?’ Your cutting in line should have a rational reason.”
The woman, clearly (and rightly) giving up, said “Are you sick? I’m not eating, not eating!” as she walked away from the line.
We applaud this unnamed man for not only calling out someone for jumping the queue, but also for calling out her ignorant comments with dignity. Good on you, sir!
Watch the video here.
