Articles
China Elevator Stories
When Saying Good Night Means Much More Than Just Good Night
Saying “good night” has a different implication in Chinese.
04/04/2013
Ruth Silbermayr-Song
Author
The following incident happened in 2011, while I was still living in Vienna:
I get a message from a Chinese acquaintance. He asks me a simple question and ends the message with: “Good night”. It’s already quite late in the evening, and I reply “good night” in return, not thinking too much about it.
The next evening he sends me another message, ending it with “good night”. I read the message the morning of the next day. It all feels a bit off, and I stop replying to his messages.
He gives up on texting me after I ignore his messages for another two weeks.
I decide to ask a Chinese girlfriend about it. She tells me that this is an indirect way in Chinese of saying “I’m in love with you”.
When I tell her that he gave up on texting me after two weeks, she laughs and states that this was fast. If I were unlucky, he may have harassed me for much longer.
Did you know saying “good night” could imply a person was in love with you?