Today I learned 2 new ways of politely declining in Chinese. I already know about 4. How many ways can there be to express one thing?!
Anyways, for those who don't know, here's a lesson in Chinese manners:
When a guest arrives to a house and is asked by the host what s/he wants to drink, s/he should reply: “It doesn’t matter!”, namely: ‘”随便” (sui bian).
And why? Well, because if the guest asks for a coke, and the host doesn’t have any coke to offer, it’s an uncomfortable situation.
By replying ‘it doesn’t matter’ you’ll never risk letting your host lose face.
And I thought Swedes had a tendency to overdo politeness? Man, we’ve got much to learn!
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1 comment:
what was the second way?
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