The Sociolinguistic Troubles of a Tortured ABC Soul...

Being the blissfully ignorant ABC (Australian Born Chinese) child that I am, I tend to use phrases in Chinese quite liberally without first checking beforehand whether or not there are any sociolinguistic consequences to saying a certain phrase.

One such example is the term "Ma Lut Lo" which I thought meant something similar to "that fella" in Cantonese (with a similar sense of colloquialism as the English term), since I hear one of my grandmas using it every now and then.

It was only recently that I learnt otherwise when Mum AND Dad both scolded me for using the word to refer to a customer at the restaurant. Apparently it's rather insulting and very crude and proper young ladies should never use such a word in public (although it's less frowned upon the older you get since rudeness is supposed to accompany the onset of senility).

Following on from that incident, Mum sent me this attachment this week with the following message:

Hi Kylie,

That's why Dad told you not to say Ma Lut Lo.

Mum

..."a zeal for foot-massages"...ewww....