Notes » March 2004

Achoo!

The English subtitles of a Cantonese-language commercial for cold medicine translated the sound of a sneeze as Hut-Chee!

That is the actual Cantonese word for sneeze, but it's more accurate when romanised as hat chi.

Why don't the Chinese say achoo? To the Cantonese ear, it would sound like someone's familiar name. For example, my wife's Chinese name is Mee-po. I often call her by her familiar name: Ah-po.

We Westerners must sound hilarious when we sneeze Ah-chu!

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