SHANGHAI -- "There is nothing the Cantonese will refuse to eat, and nothing the Shanghainese will refuse to wear" is a popular Chinese adage harking back to Shanghai's 1930s heyday when it had a worldwide reputation for decadence and glamour.
I think it is a Chinese joke told by the Chinese. I remember a graduate student from Beijing telling me that, although I do not know the wording in the original language(s). But as always, context determines the sense of a meaning, so I hope not to hear that in an unfriendly setting, otherwise I would feel offended as much as any racist remark would. Maciamo put a nice, objective interpretation -- that should qualify to go into an encyclopedia of ethnic humour.
edit: Could a Chinese member help out on this one please ? Perhaps Tony, Sunshine, Inner Fire or Ranko ?
Well, I think that sentence is kind of derogatory, but it does depict one feature of Cantonese--enjoy eating so much, especially wild animals.
lexico said:
I think it is a Chinese joke told by the Chinese. I remember a graduate student from Beijing telling me that, although I do not know the wording in the original language(s).
Yeah, here's the joke I know:Žlð'Ú"ICœ—¹"Â凳•s‹hC"Vã飞"ICœ—¹飞Š÷•s‹h. (they eat everything with four legs except wooden stool and everything that can fly except airplane)
a majority of my sorority sisters are cantonese... and they say they eat "anything & everything" all the time... hence why sometimes I'm a little reluctant to go to dimsum/yumcha w/ them lol... im not into the chicken feet and intestines and stuff... =X