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{{Short description|Informal Chinese term for "foreigner"}}
{{More citations needed |date=May 2023}}

'''''Laowai''''' is the [[Pinyin]] pronunciation/transliteration of {{lang|zh|{{linktext|老外}}}} ([[pinyin]]: ''lǎowài'', <small>lit.</small>&nbsp;"old foreign"), an informal term or slang for "foreigner" and/or non-Chinese national, usually neutral but possibly impolite or loose in some circumstances. Formal and polite Chinese terms for foreigner include ''wàiguórén'' ({{zh|t={{linktext|外國人}}|s={{linktext|外国人}}|l=foreigner}}), ''wàibīn'' ({{zh|s={{linktext|外宾}}|t={{linktext|外賓}}|l=foreigner guest|labels=no}}),  ''guójì yǒurén'' {{zh|s={{linktext|国际|友人}}|t={{linktext|國際|友人}}|l=international friend|labels=no}}) and ''wàiguó pengyou'' ({{zh|s={{linktext|外國|朋友}}|t={{linktext|外国|朋友}}|l=foreigner friend|labels=no}}).<ref>"[http://www.waze.net/china/laowai.php Culture: Seven Ways to Say 'Foreigner']". 17 Mar 2004. Accessed 15 Jun 2014.</ref> "Laowai" is commonly used to refer to foreigners of non-East Asian ethnicities, primarily White, Black, and Brown people.<ref name="TROE96">{{cite book|last1 = Gauthier|first1 = Sharol |title = CultureShock! Shangha|year = 2019|publisher = [[Marshall Cavendish]]|location = Singapore|page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=FLXLDwAAQBAJ&dq=laowai+term+used+in+shanghai&pg=PT36]|quote = Laowai, one of a couple Chinese words for foreigner, is one of the most common words a expat will hear in Shanghai. (...) Rather than taking offense, relax and enjoy your unique position, which, if you are of African descent or if you are a blue-eyed blonde, will give you celebrity ranking.}}</ref><ref name="TROE100">{{cite book|last1 = Schmitt|first1 = Casey R. |title = Wannabes and Avatars: Anti-Racist Allies and Ethnic Appropriation in an age of Bloggin Facebook and Twitter |year = 2017 |quote = Laowai's [...] are big, especially black people's.|page = [https://books.google.com/books?id=eUA9DwAAQBAJ&dq=black+people+are+laowai&pg=PA272 272]}}</ref><ref>Mair, Victor. "[http://languagelog.ldc.upenn.edu/nll/?p=11626 Laowai: the old furriner]" at ''Language Log''. 9 Apr 2014. Accessed 15 Jun 2014.</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://jiangxi.jxnews.com.cn/system/2013/02/08/012285502.shtml|title=老外喜过中国年-中国年-江西新闻网|work=jxnews.com.cn}}</ref> The term usually does not refer to ethnic [[Han Chinese|Han]] of non-Chinese citizenship or other Asian ethnicities.

==Etymology==

The use of the word {{zh|c={{linktext|老外}}|labels=no}} began in the 1980s, likely as an abbreviation of the term {{linktext|外國人}} (foreigner) into {{lang|zh|{{linktext|外}}}} plus the prefix {{lang|zh|{{linktext|老}}}}.

As characters and words, {{zh|c={{linktext|老}}|labels=no}} ''lǎo'' means "old; senior; aged"; {{zh|c={{linktext|外}}|labels=no}} ''wài'' means "out; outside; external; outer", and by extension various meanings including "appearance; faraway; distant; non-local; foreign; informal; other; unorthodox".

{{zh|c={{linktext|老}}|labels=no}} is a common colloquial prefix of respect (partly out of the value of seniority conferred), its use dating back to some of the earliest Mandarin vernacular records. In Mandarin, the prefix is well-established enough that it is now inseparably fixed in many words, where its original meaning is lost. For example, {{zh|s={{linktext|老师}}|t={{linktext|老師}}|labels=no}} ''lǎoshī'' "teacher" is composed of {{zh|c={{linktext|老}}|labels=no}} ''lǎo'' and {{zh|s={{linktext|师}}|t={{linktext|師}}|labels=no}} ''shī'' "teacher", and the original word for "teacher" {{zh|s={{linktext|师}}|t={{linktext|師}}|labels=no}} ''shī'' cannot be used alone. Other examples include {{zh|s={{linktext|老天爷}}|t={{linktext|老天爺}}|labels=no}} ''lǎotiānyé'' "(Lord of) Heavens", {{zh|s={{linktext|老乡}}|t={{linktext|老鄉}}|labels=no}} ''lǎoxiāng'' "fellow townspeople", {{zh|c={{linktext|老虎}}|labels=no}} ''lǎohǔ'' "[[tiger]]", and even {{zh|c={{linktext|老鼠}}|labels=no}} ''lǎoshǔ'' "[[mouse]]", an animal traditionally despised for its cultural character as well as its significant damages to humans.

In its active use, the prefix {{zh|c={{linktext|老}}|labels=no}} ''lǎo'' is most often added to surnames to show respect in informal [[register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] towards anyone not definitively young. This is often contrasted to another prefix {{zh|c={{linktext|小}}|labels=no}} ''xiǎo'' "small; little; young", which, added to surnames, shows closeness and friendly affection in informal [[register (sociolinguistics)|registers]] towards anyone more junior and at least slightly younger than the speaker. Another much less common and rather restricted use is attaching {{zh|c={{linktext|老}}|labels=no}} to a descriptor to mark such a person, with a slightly humorous undertone. For example, {{zh|t={{linktext|老頑固}}|s={{linktext|老顽固}}|labels=no}} ''lǎowángù'' "a stubborn one" is composed from {{zh|t={{linktext|頑固}}|s={{linktext|顽固}}|labels=no}} ''wángù'' "stubborn".

The associations of the prefix {{lang|zh|{{linktext|老}}}} can be positive, indicating age or experience&mdash;such as ''lǎopéngyou'' ({{zh|c={{linktext|老|朋友}}|l=old friend|labels=no}})&mdash;or respect, as in the familiar use of ''lǎo'' to denote the senior and respected members of families or to address teachers ({{zh|s={{linktext|老师}}|t={{linktext|老師}}|labels=no}}, ''lǎoshī''). It may also be used in combination with part of a person's name (usually the family name) to refer to that person in a familiar and respectful way (for example a person with the surname [[Zhou (surname)|周]], or Zhōu, could be referred to as 老周, literally "Old Zhōu"). This usage is reserved exclusively for adults, but implies familiarity rather than seniority, and is often attached to specific individuals as a nickname rather than being freely used.

However, in certain restricted contexts, it can also carry negative connotations of being old or aged looking ({{zh|s={{linktext|老头子}}|t={{linktext|老頭子}}|labels=no}}), boring old {{linktext|sticks-in-the-mud}}&mdash;as in ''lǎo gǔdǒng'' ({{zh|c={{linktext|老古董}}}})&mdash;or of years of experience and contempt&mdash;as in ''lǎo dōngxi'' ({{zh|s={{linktext|老东西}}|t={{linktext|老東西}}|labels=no|l=old bastard}}, <small>lit.</small> "old thing"). It may be used in the [[Chinese theater|arts]] or in jokes with the sense of "always" or "very": a famous comedy role was named the ''Lǎoniān'' ([[:zh:相亲 (小品)|老蔫]], "Constantly Listless"). As a pun with ''lǎoshī'' "teacher", {{zh|s={{linktext|老师}}|t={{linktext|老師}}|labels=no}}, [[Tom Hardy]] was affectionately known in mainland China as ''Lǎoshī'' ({{nowrap|{{zh|t={{linktext|老|濕}}}};}} <small>[[simplified characters|s]]</small>&nbsp;{{lang|zh|{{linktext|老|湿}}}}; Constantly Wet) partly for his perpetually shiny hair.<ref>"汤老湿(昵称)" "[https://movie.douban.com/celebrity/1049489/ 汤姆·哈迪 (豆瓣)]"</ref>

The character has come to be used for specific nationality as well, with ''lǎo-'' functioning as a colloquial equivalent for ''-guórén'': ''lǎoměi'' ({{zh|c={{linktext|老|美}}|l=[[US|American]]|labels=no}}), ''lǎomò'' ({{zh|c={{linktext|老|墨}}|l=[[Mexicans|Mexican]]|labels=no}}); even ''lǎozhōng'' ({{lang|zh|{{linktext|老|中}}}}) to refer to Chinese ({{zh|s={{linktext|中國人}}|t={{linktext|中国人}}|p=Zhōngguórén|labels=no}}) themselves.

==Informality of the term==
The term is not considered necessarily offensive by those who choose to use it, but it may become so from context (tone, manner, situation, etc.). Among the Chinese, the term is informal and may be used in a neutral, genial, or even good-humored way.<ref name=pd/> Varyingly, it is ironically embraced, begrudgingly accepted, openly resented or not minded at all among the Western expatriate community.<ref>''Beyond Beyond Well Being''. "[http://beyondwellbeing.com/al/1998/01/the_laowai_racism_and_personal.html The "Laowai", Racism and Personal Space in China]". 16 Jan 1998. Accessed 15 Jun 2014.</ref><ref>''Shanghai Star''. "[http://www.china.org.cn/english/12952.htm Laowai Is What You Make It]". 18 May 2001, Hosted by China.org, 2001. Accessed 15 Jun 2014.</ref>

The official Chinese press has expressed concern about inappropriate use of laowai and avoids it in all formal reporting.{{refn|Although note its use in such informal human-interest stories as [http://ah.anhuinews.com/system/2012/03/27/004864645.shtml this photo caption] from the Chinese edition of ''[[Anhui News]]''.}}

Mark Rowswell, known under the stage name [[Dashan]], is one of the most famous Western nationals in China's media industry and has admitted a place for the term. However, he recognizes it as [[pejorative]] and stated that "it is the foreigners [in China] who can't speak any Chinese who are truly 'laowai'" ({{zh|s={{linktext|不|會|說|漢語|的|外國人|那|纔|叫|老外|呢}}|t={{linktext|不|会|说|汉语|的|外国人|那|才|叫|老外|呢}}|labels=no}}).<ref>New Year's Gala (at 186:17). CCTV, 2011.</ref> Many take that as implying that the term laowai is one that many, including Dashan himself, would prefer to avoid.{{Citation needed|date=October 2020}}

Editorials, written by Chinese and non-Chinese, have appeared in English- and Chinese-language newspapers about the subject, particularly around the time of the [[2008 Summer Olympics]] in [[Beijing]],<ref name=pd>''People's Daily Online''. "[http://english.peopledaily.com.cn/90001/90780/91345/6325229.html Is 'Laowai' a negative term?]". 21 Dec 2007. Accessed 15 Jun 2014.</ref> when Chinese governments launched campaigns aimed at curbing use of the term in possibly-offensive situations.{{Citation needed|date=May 2014}}

==See also==
{{Portal|China}}
{{Wiktionary|laowai|老外}}
*''[[Ang Mo]]'' ("redhead" in [[Hokkien]]/[[Min Nan]]/[[Teochew dialect|Teochew]])
*[[China Hands]]
*''[[Gaijin]]'' ("outsider" in [[Japanese language|Japanese]])
*''[[Gweilo]]'' ("ghoulie" in [[Cantonese language|Cantonese]])
*[[Permanent Foreigner]]s

==References==
{{reflist|2}}

{{Ethnic slurs}}

[[Category:Chinese slang]]
[[Category:Chinese words and phrases]]
[[Category:Ethno-cultural designations]]
[[Category:Expatriates in China|*]]