"Oh my Lady"

When at the museum, I speak almost entirely in English--my primary role is to provide them with the opportunity to practice their speaking and listening comprehension. It doesn't do much for my Chinese, but I am still glad to help.

One of my colleagues frequently exclaims "oh my Lady," which I found very odd. Since her English needs a bit of work, I try to pick and choose what to correct and when, so as not to overwhelm her.

I let this one sit for a while since it wasn't a big deal. However, when she used it again last week I decided to broach the subject. I explained that in English, we frequently say "Oh my God" and/or "Oh Jesus/Christ." I then explained how in Italian they say "Oh Madonna," but that we don't use the Virgin's name like that in English.

I never would have anticipated her following response: "Oh, I know. But in China, instead of 'oh my God' we've started saying 'oh my Lady Gaga.'" She then stated, with pride, that she has personally shortened it to "oh my Lady." Ingenious, no?

It took me a few moments to recover. I then smiled, shook my head, and chuckled. "I think my friends back home will get a kick out of this," I responded.

After chatting with my friend Alina about it and reading a similar side note in this article from the New Yorker ("We spoke in Chinese, but when he was surprised he’d say, “Oh, my Lady Gaga!,” an English expression he’d picked up at school"), it would seem that this is all too true. Students who cannot manage to string together a single sentence in English will, however, regularly use this phrase.

Pop-culture is a force that should not to be underestimated. Perhaps Lady Gaga could be used to promote diplomacy? In this context, "Bad Romance" might reflect Sino-American relations?

Food for thought.

  

Sorry, Hillary. Not much competition, here.


(This should be fairly obvious, but these are not my original photos. If you'd like the original source, just let me know)