As I was hopping through the channels yesterday, I landed myself on Astro Supersport where they were showing a live table tennis match. It was the quarter-final of the world championship between 2 Chinese players. Since I was trying to wait for the heater to do its job before I shower, I reckon I might as well watch it for a while.
Those who play racquet games will know that there are certain lucky shots that can happen which will gain you instant points. In the game of tennis and badminton, it’s when the tennis ball or shuttlecock hit the top of the net and lands just on your opponent’s court, leaving your opponent helpless. In the game of squash, it’s when the ball hits the corner of the wall where it will almost certainly not bounce for your opponent to return a shot.
In the game of table tennis, it’s when the ball hit the top of the net or when the ball lands itself at the edge of the able. In the latter, the opponent will not able to judge the awkward bounce thus unable to return the shot most of the time.
When lady luck is smiling at you during such shots, a player exhibiting sportsmanship will usually offer his/her apology to the opponent.
Back to the table tennis game I was watching… there was a shot by defending champion Wang LiQin of China which landed at the edge of the table of Chen Qi (also of China). Naturally, Chen Qi was unable to return the shot due to the awkward bounce of the ball. Just then, Wang LiQin shouted across the table…
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“Sorry! Sorry!”
Gee… isn’t it supposed to be “dui bu chi”? What’s wrong with these Cina-s?
1 year ago… Saving the environment?
2 years ago… A kid at 6 and what is 5?
Those who play racquet games will know that there are certain lucky shots that can happen which will gain you instant points. In the game of tennis and badminton, it’s when the tennis ball or shuttlecock hit the top of the net and lands just on your opponent’s court, leaving your opponent helpless. In the game of squash, it’s when the ball hits the corner of the wall where it will almost certainly not bounce for your opponent to return a shot.
In the game of table tennis, it’s when the ball hit the top of the net or when the ball lands itself at the edge of the able. In the latter, the opponent will not able to judge the awkward bounce thus unable to return the shot most of the time.When lady luck is smiling at you during such shots, a player exhibiting sportsmanship will usually offer his/her apology to the opponent.
Back to the table tennis game I was watching… there was a shot by defending champion Wang LiQin of China which landed at the edge of the table of Chen Qi (also of China). Naturally, Chen Qi was unable to return the shot due to the awkward bounce of the ball. Just then, Wang LiQin shouted across the table…
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“Sorry! Sorry!”Gee… isn’t it supposed to be “dui bu chi”? What’s wrong with these Cina-s?
1 year ago… Saving the environment?
2 years ago… A kid at 6 and what is 5?
15 comments:
What's wrong with saying "sorry" instead of "dui bu qi"? Anyway sorry only have 2 syllables, whereas "dui bu qi" has 3, so sorry is easier to say. haha!
haha! that's so cute... whether is sorry or dui bu qi.. still there is apologies!
World Championship. Watched by the whole world. More people understand "sorry" than "dui bu qi". LOL!!! :P
Maybe they are used to saying sorry so their non-chinese opponents can understand
mayb is the awkwardness
I thought he said "Soli ... soli .." which is actually Chinese wooo ....
aiyah got pattern liao ur posting..
all the suspense lines...
haha
ahaha!! funny! i can imagine... =p
maybe sorry has become an easier word to say, rather than meaning it. i mean if we say 'dui bu chi' it sounds very 'heavy'. but sorry sorry, can be something very casual and sometimes we can even don't mean it.
well, just a thought...
I say 'sorry' more than 'tui-pu-chi', 'thank you' more than 'xie xie', and frankly, I am quite ashamed of myself.
Maybe the umpire is a foreigner & the Chinese player didn't want him to think that he is cursing in Chinese. :p
agree with leyaw. It's just a natural reaction when they are playing I reckon. Just like when you bump into someone in a foreign land, you will still say "sorry" even if you know what it is called in the local language.
They need to speak more English, la.. International acceptability :)
i say..he's a gentlemen! =P maybe he wana get westernized! =P
This shows that Chinese are getting a lot of American influence.
foongpc - yeah, save some breath for the games eh? haha...
bosscat - it just surprises me.
day-dreamer - haha.. but it was played in japan... maybe they should apologise in jap?
leyaw - hmmm... make sence woh...
tieroflife - of using dui-bu-chi?
leno - hahaha... damn bad la u.
constantly craving joe - hahaha... that has always been my style... :P
lynn-w - that's true. hey, what happened to your passionate writing site?
siew - tell me about it, i think ppl here doesnt use do-jeh or em-koi anymore. a shame indeed.
jemima - dont think the umpire needs to hear the apology... he wont lose a point if he doesnt :P
ven - if you bump into someone in china, do you still say sorry?
rashikaps - and international tournament is the best place to practise isnt it? haha.
huei - then all sportsmen also gentlemen leh...
jam - indeed... one day, i think the cina will speak better english compared to us.
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