''Jook-sing'' or ''zuk-sing'' (竹升) is a

Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding a ...

term for an

overseas Chinese Overseas Chinese () refers to people of Chinese birth or ethnicity who reside outside Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan. As of 2011, there were over 40.3 million overseas Chinese. Terminology () or ''Hoan-kheh'' () in Hokkien, ref ...

person who was born in a Western environment or a Chinese person who more readily or strongly identifies with

Western culture Leonardo da Vinci's ''Vitruvian Man''. Based on the correlations of ideal Body proportions">human proportions with geometry described by the ancient Roman architect Vitruvius in Book III of his treatise ''De architectura''. image:Plato Pio-Cle ...

than traditional

Chinese culture Chinese culture () is one of the world's oldest cultures, originating thousands of years ago. The culture prevails across a large geographical region in East Asia and is extremely diverse and varying, with customs and traditions varying grea ...

Etymology

The term ''jook-sing'' evolved from ''zuk-gong'' (竹杠; ''zhugang'' in Mandarin) which means a "bamboo pole" or "rod". Since ''gong'' (杠) is a Cantonese

homophone A homophone () is a word that is pronounced the same (to varying extent) as another word but differs in meaning. A ''homophone'' may also differ in spelling. The two words may be spelled the same, for example ''rose'' (flower) and ''rose'' (pa ...

of the inauspicious word 降 which means "descend" or "downward", it is replaced with ''sing'' (升), which means "ascend" or "upward". The stem of the

bamboo Bamboos are a diverse group of evergreen perennial flowering plants making up the subfamily Bambusoideae of the grass family Poaceae. Giant bamboos are the largest members of the grass family. The origin of the word "bamboo" is uncertain, ...

plant is hollow and compartmentalized; thus water poured in one end does not flow out of the other end. The

metaphor A metaphor is a figure of speech that, for rhetorical effect, directly refers to one thing by mentioning another. It may provide (or obscure) clarity or identify hidden similarities between two different ideas. Metaphors are often compared wi ...

is that ''jook-sings'' are not part of either culture; water within the ''jook-sing'' does not flow and connect to either end. The term may or may not be derogatory. Use of the term predates World War II.

Modern term

North American usage

In the United States and Canada, the term is

pejorative A pejorative or slur is a word or grammatical form expressing a negative or a disrespectful connotation, a low opinion, or a lack of respect toward someone or something. It is also used to express criticism, hostility, or disregard. Sometimes, a ...

and refers to fully

Westernized Westernization (or Westernisation), also Europeanisation or occidentalization (from the ''Occident''), is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, science, education, politics, econo ...

American-born or Canadian-born Chinese. The term originates from Cantonese slang in the United States. ''Jook-sing'' persons are categorized as having Western-centric identities, values and culture. The term also refers to similar Chinese individuals in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and New Zealand.

Related colloquialisms

Banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", disting ...

() (referencing the yellow skin and white insides of the fruit when fully matured) and

Twinkie A Twinkie is an American snack cake, described as "golden sponge cake with a creamy filling". It was formerly made and distributed by Hostess Brands. The brand is currently owned by Hostess Brands, Inc. (), having been formerly owned by pri ...

(based on the snack produced by American company Hostess - again, it denotes something that is "yellow" on the outside and "white" on the inside); may be used as a pejorative term or as a non-pejorative term. *FOB (Fresh Off the Boat):

antonym In lexical semantics, opposites are words lying in an inherently incompatible binary relationship. For example, something that is ''long'' entails that it is not ''short''. It is referred to as a 'binary' relationship because there are two members ...

of ''jook-sing.'' Typically meant to indicate a Chinese-born person who propagates excessively Chinese stereotypes while living in the West.

References

Bibliography

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External links

Pilgrimage to China
by Beth Boswell Jacks
Lost Years

by Julie D. Soo {{DEFAULTSORT:Jook-Sing Cantonese words and phrases Chinese diaspora Ethnic and religious slurs