Restaurant Phrases in Mandarin Chinese

Let’s listen to the conversation below:

Gùkè (顾客) : Fúwùyuán, wǒ yào diǎncān. (服务员, 我要点餐。)

Customer: Excuse me, I would like to order. (lit. Waiter-I-want-to order a meal)

Fúwùyuán (服务员): Hǎo de. (好的。)

Waiter/Waitress: OK

If you have failed to catch a waiter’s attention in a busy restaurant in China, you need to call out “fúwùyuán” (服务员). Do not address a waitress as “xiǎojiě” (小姐, Miss) because the word refers to a prostitute in some parts of China.

A: Wǒ qǐngkè . (我请客。)

A: It’s my treat!

B: duō bùhǎo-yìsi, wǒ’men AA zhì ba? (多不好意思, 我们AA制吧?)

B: That’s very kind of you (but I will feel indebted). How about we go dutch? (lit. so-“embarrassed”, we-AA-system-ok?)

“Bùhǎo-yìsi” (不好意思) is another Chinese phrases with no direct English equivalent. In the above situation, a Chinese person may find it “embarrassed/shy” to accept a free meal. However, it doesn’t mean a rejection. Chinese culture have different notions of what constitutes embarrassment.

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