NonStick World: Pam Kong's Weblog

My kid has been complaining about her foot hurting whenever we ask her to do something she doesn't want to do. Since I, by default, got a medical degree when I birthed her I tried to diagnose the problem. Here is today's Chinglish word.

gum-ing
- verb
steadily applying weight or force
"My foot hurts where you are gum-ing."

Today's Chinglish word is inspired by Melanie's comment on another entry.

So
- verb
to list or name numerals in order
My sister - "Mui, that's 1."
Mui - "You're not my mommy. You can't so me."

All Chinese-Americans know what Chinglish is. I never really thought about it growing up, but we used it a lot in my family. It was, sometimes, the only way to communicate with our parents, and they with us.

But my kid is speaking now, a lot. In fact, she won't shut up. It's after hearing her Chinglish that I realized there are two kinds. English Chinglish and Chinese Chinglish. English Chinglish is where you speak English and throw in Chinese terms (what we siblings use with each other and my daughter with me). Chinese Chinglish is where you speak Chinese and throw in English terms (what we used with our parents).

So, I thought I would share my daughter's Chinglish because a) people may identify and 2) it's just damn funny.

Today's word?

cha-er
-noun
person who applies in a thin layer or coating
"I'll be the cha-er for the cupcakes. You be the sprinkler."