April 09, 2003

Cute

My colleagues at work here in Singapore use the word "cute" in a different way than I've heard it used before.

Typically, I associate "cute" with something sweet, good-lookin', or to do with babies/ puppies/ kittens etc. The at-work usage of "cute" contains connotations of something strange, slightly bizarre or even a bit cheeky or rude.

To refer to someone or something as "so cute" is not really a good thing. I asked a few non-work Singaporean friends about this, but they seemed as baffled as me.

After a mulling over this oddity for a while, I think I've finally got it. The Chinese equivalent word for cute is ker ai (in Mandarin), and I think it gets used in English as a direct translation - which it entirely appropriate in some cases, and not quite right in others.

[Aside: this would explain why my non-work Singaporean friends I asked didn't know what I was talking about - they don't speak a lot of Chinese (specifically Mandarin). Though anyone who speaks even a smidgen of Chinese still speaks 99.9% more Chinese than me, since my communication is limited to a few words, most of which are Hokkien and not entirely appropriate for polite conversation. How come it's so easy to learn swear words in a foreign language?]

Or it could just be that cute really does contain these other meanings in English and I just haven't picked up on them - for example, "Don't get cute with me" - how is cute being used there?

All this thinking about the word cute is making my brain hurt.

English is a funny language, and it becomes even stranger when viewed from the basis of other languages.

Posted by Kristen at April 9, 2003 07:15 AM
Comments

Here, cute, or kawaii is used for everything. It's one of the words that you begin to dread. I hear it all the time, particularly in reference to my appearance. I'm beginning to wonder if it's some kind of joke I don't get.

If I was a guy, or a more obviously manly woman I would get called kakoii. Not quite as frequent, but more blood-chilling.

Posted by: Waspish at April 9, 2003 08:08 AM

Personally, I get called an "Arschloch" a lot here in Austria, but that's another story.

Two things I enjoy about (Austrian?) German are 1)non-obscene insult words such as "Koffer" (suitcase) and "Flasche" (bottle) used to mean something along the lines of "useless moron", and the use of English expressions (or their translations) in slang - words like "cool" and "super" have been used so long as to be uncool now; "mega" was in for a while, I hear "Fett" a lot, which I guess comes from "phat"...

Posted by: Mig at April 9, 2003 08:51 AM

What Americans usually mean by cute (charming, attractive, or sexy, depending on the context) is not necessarily what you'll find in dictionaries. For example (in http://m-w.com/ ):

1 a : clever or shrewd often in an underhanded manner b : IMPERTINENT, SMART-ALECKY
2 : attractive or pretty especially in a dainty or delicate way
3 : obviously straining for effect

That's from an American dictionary. You'll find American "cute" explained for foreigners in American-to-British (American-to-Australian, etc.) dictionaries.

But you're British? Maybe British English (including yours) has been infected with the American meaning, but it has yet to spread to Singapore.

Cute is a word I cannot bring myself to use, not in the "Oooooooooooooooo, isn't that a cute dress/kitten/boy/car/haircut!" I hear the squeal of teenage girl just seeing it in print.

Posted by: Eeksy-Peeksy at April 9, 2003 09:51 AM

eeksy-peeksy - from that dictionary definition it seems i'm the one using cute in an incorrect/inaccurate way!

here's some info from dictionary.com - Word History: Cute is a good example of how a shortened form of a word can take on a life of its own, developing a sense that dissociates it from the longer word from which it was derived. Cute was originally a shortened form of acute in the sense “keenly perceptive or discerning, shrewd.” In this sense cute is first recorded in a dictionary published in 1731. Probably cute came to be used as a term of approbation for things demonstrating acuteness, and so it went on to develop its own sense of “pretty, fetching,” first recorded with reference to “gals” in 1838.

learn something new every day...

Posted by: Kristen at April 9, 2003 10:16 AM

i have been told "don't get cute with me" by my mother many times.

i think it's similar to how "sassy" used to mean talking back to your elders, but now it means being hip and "cute" and just generally outspoken and fun. :)

Posted by: duff at April 9, 2003 02:23 PM