gweilo

Wikipedia

English

Alternative forms

• gwailo
• kwailo

Etymology

From Cantonese 鬼佬 (gweilo, “foreign devil”), from 鬼 (“ghost”) + 佬 (“a regular guy, a chap”)

Noun

gweilo (plural gweilos)

1. (ethnic slur) A Caucasian person, in China (generally a man); a ‘foreign devil’.
   • 1977, John Le Carré, The Honourable Schoolboy, Folio Society 2010, p. 179:

     She had ruffled the bed and laid a frilly nightdress on the floor because so far as the block was concerned Phoebe was the half-kwailo bastard who whored with the fat foreign devil.

Usage notes

Some Caucasians living in Hong Kong now occasionally use the English gweilo to jokingly refer to themselves.

External links

• Cartoon by Larry Feign