pew hue fu

“Pew hue fu,” for those who understand Toi San, it literally means, “tear a pair of pants” but for one of my aunts, it means “beautiful” in English. That one word, “beautiful,” sparked a conversation the other day with a bunch of my cousins and I while eating dinner at a Black Angus restaurant. One of my younger cousins in high school (let’s call her Alicia) was telling us about this boy whom she previously asked to her winter ball and who now has a crush on her. This is how the conversation went:

Alicia: “I know he has a crush on me, but I don’t know if I like him because all the other girls at school like him. And he’s kind of a nerd – he uses the word ‘farewell’ and who says that? He dropped me off after the dance in his Lexus and said “farewell,” and I said ‘ewww.’”

Cousins: “What? Why would you say that?”

Alicia: “Because it’s weird. He uses the word ‘apparently’ too. Who uses words like that?”

Cousins: “We do! What’s wrong with using the word ‘apparently?’”

Alicia: “I don’t know. It’s weird for people in high school. We were talking about our schedules and he said ‘Apparently, they didn’t have anymore space in that class, so I had to sign up for another one.’ Who says that? And when we were at the dance, all the other girls’ dates were complimenting them, saying ‘You look nice’ or ‘You look good’ or ‘You look pretty’ or ‘You look sexy,’ but you know what he told me? He said ‘You look beautiful.’ Who says that?!”

Cousins: “Uh, that one was the best one out of all of them. Why wouldn’t you want someone telling you that you’re beautiful? You’re supposed to say ‘Thank you.’”

Alicia: “I said ‘No, no, no.’”

Cousins: “What?! Why?!”

Alicia: “Because, he’s just kinda nerdy and he can’t dance. And no one talks like that.”

Cousins: “Just because he uses words with more than one or two syllables, it doesn’t mean it’s bad. Would you rather have someone who’s dumb and can dance and looks like an idiot than someone who’s smart that can probably learn how to dance?”

Alicia: “No, I just can’t go out with someone who can’t dance. It’s a turn off. And the other day, I said that I needed help with my Calculus homework so he helped me.”

Cousins: “Soooo…isn’t that GOOD?”

Alicia: “No. I’m like the damsel in distress and he’s like the knight in shining armor that saves me with his intelligence and not his sword.”
Cousins: “Wouldn’t you rather have a smart guy than some dumb guy with a sword? What is he going to do with a sword? And what other kinds of ‘distress’ can you being having in school?”

Alicia: “I don’t know – more fun?!”

Cousins: “OMG! He’s smart, tall, good-looking, rich and popular. Why wouldn’t you like him?”

Alicia: “I don’t know…he’s just different.”

Cousins: “You know what, maybe you should just not lead him on and let some other girl have him.”

Alicia: “No! If I don’t want him, I don’t want any other girl having him either! Hehe.”

What has the world come to?