JSLALALAND

CITY & ITS PEOPLE

The Taiwanese Subtext Dictionary

When Taiwanese people say '還好' (it's okay), it usually isn't. This bilingual edition flips the LA subtext dictionary: send it straight to the foreign partner, ABC friend or coworker who keeps asking 'wait, is 還好 good or bad?'

Translated from Jasmine’s original Chinese. The illustrated slides are on the interactive reader.

Key points

Full text

  1. No.01 | 還好 (it's okay)

    Actually means: "Not great, but I won't make it your problem." Ask a Taiwanese person how the food was, get 'it's OK,' and don't go back.

  2. No.02 | 不用啦不用啦 (no need, no need)

    Actually means: "Please insist two more times." Gifts, treating someone to a meal, putting food on their plate: you have to push three times before they accept. For foreign partners: Offer again. Then once more.

  3. No.03 | 再看看, 看情況, 我考慮看看 (we'll see, depends, let me think about it)

    Three ways to say it, one answer: "No." The Taiwanese twin of the Angeleno "I'll let you know."

  4. No.04 | 吃飽沒？ (have you eaten?)

    Actually means: "Hi, I care about you." It's not an invitation to eat; just say 'I ate,' even if you haven't. The Taiwanese version of "How's it going?"

  5. No.05 | 隨便 (whatever)

    Actually means: "I have an opinion. Please guess it." People who say 'whatever' usually have three places they don't want to go. Don't choose for them; give three options.

  6. No.06 | 你先忙 (you go ahead, you're busy)

    Actually means: "I'm ending this call now." The period at the end of a Taiwanese phone call; when you hear it, answer: 'OK, OK, OK, bye-bye.'

  7. No.07 | 改天請你吃飯 (dinner's on me some other time)

    Actually means: "Thank you, I owe you one." Same family as "Let's grab coffee sometime," except Taiwanese people occasionally do actually treat you.

  8. No.08 | 多吃一點, 外套穿上 (eat more, put a jacket on)

    Actually means: "I love you." Taiwanese parents rarely say I love you; they put it in your bowl, and in the jacket they hand you before you go out.

  9. No.09 | 不好意思 (sorry / excuse me)

    Sorry, excuse me, thank you and could you help me, four in one. Squeezing past, asking directions, imposing on someone, getting helped, it's all this phrase, up to twenty times a day.

  10. No.10 | 沒關係 (it's fine)

    Actually means: "It matters a little, but let's move on." The breezier the tone, the more it really doesn't matter; the flatter, the more it does. Listen to the tone, not the words.

  11. No.11 | 好啦好啦 (okay, okay)

    One 'fine' is a yes, two is surrender, three is: stop talking about it. The number of 'fine's equals how much patience is left.

  12. No.12 | 有空來坐坐 (come by when you're free)

    Actually means: "It was nice seeing you." It's not an invitation; if you really want to meet up, name the day. A distant cousin of "We should hang out!"

  13. No.13 | 慢走 (take it slow)

    Actually means: "Take care getting home." It's not telling you to walk slowly; it's the gentlest goodbye you say seeing someone off.

  14. No.14 | 你變瘦了, 你胖了 (you got thinner, you got fatter; elders only)

    Actually means: "I've been paying attention to you." In Taiwan it's elders showing they care (even if you want to roll your eyes); in the US, never try it.

  15. No.15 | 辛苦了 (thanks for your hard work)

    Actually means: "I see your effort." English doesn't have this phrase; the closest, "Thank you for your hard work," is missing that warmth.

  16. Taiwanese words with no English

    熱鬧 (lively buzz), 人情味 (human warmth), 撒嬌 (playful pleading), 緣分 (fated connection), and 加油, translated literally as 'add oil' (meaning: you've got this). Some words can only be translated by living together.

  17. The hardest thing to translate isn't a word

    It's that 'I won't say it, but you should know' kind of tenderness. Taiwanese people don't say 'I love you' much, but we have a hundred ways to ask 'have you eaten?'

In this series

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An original JSLALALAND field guide by Jasmine Chang (@jslalaland).