jook-sing

9.9

A person of Chinese background raised outside Chinese culture who people often insult for not knowing language or traditions

noun

Slur

: [término despectivo para una persona de origen chino criada fuera de la cultura china]

She was dismissed as a jook-sing by some of her relatives for not speaking Cantonese fluently.

Examples

Growing up as a jook-sing meant feeling caught between two cultures.
Some community members resented being labeled jook-sing, finding the term insulting.
He feels like a jook-sing in his own family.
Some people call him a jook-sing because he doesn't speak Chinese.
She felt like a jook-sing when her relatives discussed traditions she didn't know about.
Growing up in America, he was often called a jook-sing by those who thought he had abandoned his culture.
Many young adults of Chinese descent struggle with being labeled a jook-sing if they don't embrace their heritage.

Surface Forms

jook-sing singular

jook-sings plural

Etymology

Jook-sing comes from Cantonese and likely combines juk 'bamboo' and sang 'born'. A helpful way to remember it is to think 'born of bamboo', meaning someone who looks Chinese on the outside but was raised outside Chinese culture. That's why the term is often used as an offensive label for people seen as not knowing Chinese language or traditions.