articles
China Elevator Stories
When Saying Good Night Means More Than Just Good Night
In Chinese, saying ‘good night’ can carry a different implication.
04/04/2013
Ruth Silbermayr
Author
The following incident happens in 2011 while I’m still living in Vienna:
I receive a message from a Chinese acquaintance. He asks me a simple question and ends with: “Good night.” Since it’s already quite late in the evening, I reply with: “Good night,” without giving it much thought.
The next evening, he sends me another message, ending it again with: “Good night.” I read it the next morning, and something about the repeated “good night” feels a bit off. I decide to stop replying.
After I ignore his messages for another two weeks, he finally gives up texting me.
Curious, I ask a Chinese friend about it. She explains that in Chinese, ending a message with “good night” can sometimes be an indirect way of saying: “I’m in love with you.”
When I mention that he only stopped texting after two weeks, she laughs and says that was fast; if I’d been unlucky, he might have kept trying for much longer.
Did you know that saying “good night” could imply someone was in love with you?