The first time I came to China, a “university student” on the street asked me “where are you from?” I said America and he responded “oh, do you watch Prison Break?”
This was back in 2007 (!!!) These days, Chinese watch Big Bang Theory more than probably any other American TV show.
Flash back to 2007. When my friend told me how much she loved Friends, I said “terrible… you gotta peep the good shit.” So we bought Seinfeld and The Wire. Said friend dug Seinfeld for sure, but literally could not understand even 10% of The Wire. And she spoke fluent English at the time.
Difficultly Comparison (for non-native speakers)
Textbook English < Real-Life Spoken English < Hood English (Spoken)
Like most middle-class white boys, I listened to a lot of rap music growing up. This included playing basketball while listening to “Vol 2: Hard Knock Life” on a Sony boombox, busting three-minute combos in Tony Hawk Pro Skater with Method Man and Redman’s “Blackout!” bumping in the background, and sitting on the back porch listening to “400 Degreez” trying to figure out what a “choppa” was (’98 = no urban dictionary).
Chinese kids growing up in the 1990s did not have this privilege.
Luckily, Big L’s “Ebonics” gives a three-minute briefing on about two decades of ghetto vocabulary. It’s like freebasing a slang dictionary. Though non-native speakers probably still won’t understand The Wire after studying this track, it’s a start.
Big L died from seven gunshots in 1999. Someone wanted dude dead for sure. Growing up in Harlem, he probably never dreamed that one day he would help Chinese people understand the multiple meanings of “dime,” “grill,” and “nut.”
Take notes -
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Big L – Ebonics
More about Sub Love later, but yes, there is a coloring contest.
