| Jian Shuo, going back to the question of somebody who is 70 calling someone who is 5 "grandfather" might be something that got lost in translation. Grandfather in the west has a very specific meaning. It represent a relationship that has direct lineage between a man and the children of his children. Only that kind of relationship would it be appropriate to use grandfather. It does not represent the difference of generations of two people. I think in your scenario, I think the appropriate term would be grand uncle. That was why you confused some of the non-Chinese readers. As I have realized as an Chinese American raised in America, you can learn a language as a second language. But in order to really get the nuances of a language, you need to actually be immersed in that language. |
The Name of Chinese People