# Don't call me a foreigner



## Leopold

Hi there everyone.

"Don't call me foreigner"

I'm hoping for fast replies on this one if possible. Thanks.
I need non-Latin alphabets mainly, but any contribution will do good.

Thanks again.


PS: the original sentence in Spanish is "No me llames extranjero".

EDIT: I changed the title, I'm sorry I mistranslated it.


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## ronanpoirier

Portuguese:

Não digas que sou estranho/estrangeiro
Não me chames de estranho/estrangeiro

P.S.: Estranho may mean weird or stranger
P.S²:Estrangeiro means foreigner


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## Krümelmonster

German: "Nenn mich nicht Ausländer." 
Stranger could also be "Fremder". (I don't know any non-Latin alphabets...)


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## Jhorer Brishti

Are you in quest of a literal translation, that is word for word? The expression would not be understood by non-english/spanish/german,etc. speakers in their native language if thus translated.


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## Tino_no

Spanish: No me digas (llames) extraño.


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## linguist786

In Hindi/Urdu (sorry, non-latin script!) it would be:

Mujhko ajnabee mat bolo.


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## amikama

Hebrew:

Male to male:
*אל תקרא לי זר*

Male to female:
*אל תקראי לי זר*

Female to male:
*אל תקרא לי זרה*

Female to female:
*אל תקראי לי זרה*


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## Samaruc

Valencian-Catalan: *No em digues/diguis estranger*


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## Knuð

In Norwegian:

Ikke kall meg utlending (Don't call me foreigner)

Ikke kall meg fremmed (Don't call me stranger)


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## cyanista

Russian:

*Не называй меня  иностранце**м.*


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## linguist786

Wait a minute.. this is ambiguous.
It could either mean: 

"Don't call me, stranger" (You are telling a stranger not to call you) 

OR

"Don't call me stranger" (You are telling somebody not to call you by the name "stranger")

See what I'm getting at?


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## Knuð

^I can't see the comma in the title of the thread.


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## Leopold

Yes, I'm sorry, I should have said "foreigner" instead of "stranger". And the translation must be real, even if no-one will understand it.

And there's no ambiguity as Knuð said.

And thanks again. ; )


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## Pivra

I wrote it down phonetically, when written using Thai alphabets this would have a different spacing: 

Ther yha ma riek rao wa khon plaek hna na 

เธออย่ามาเรียก เรา ว่า คนแปลกหน้านะ


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## Mutichou

In French:
Ne m'appelez pas étranger. (formal)
Ne m'appelle pas étranger. (informal)


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## macta123

In Hindi :

Muchey ajnabee OR pardesi na bulao.


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## ukuca

In Turkish, the comma chances the meaning too
Don't call me stranger = Benden yabancı diye bahsetme
Don't call me, stranger = Beni arama (or çağırma), yabancı


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## Maja

In Serbian:

Ne nazivaj me strancem (Cyrillic: Не називај ме странцем).

Pozdrav!


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## robbie_SWE

In Swedish: 

*Kalla mig inte (för) invandrare. *
*Kalla mig inte (för) utlänning. *

In Romanian: 

*Nu ma numi strain.* 

 robbie


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## mataripis

Tagalog: Huwag mo akong ituring na iba.


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## sakvaka

*Finnish*: _Älä sano (t. kutsu) minua ulkomaalaiseksi (t. vierasmaalaiseksi)!_


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## inter1908

*Polish*: 
 Don't call me a foreigner:
Nie nazywaj mnie cudzoziemcem *or polite form* Proszę mnie nie nazywać cudzoziemcem.

Never use the first form though if you're not talking to someone who's young and/or you don't want to show disrespect to the person(s) you're talking to. The exception is of course when the person you're talking with actually *wants* you to adress him/her using the 2nd singular form, then there's no problem. If you want to know more, read about the usage of ty vs. the usage of pan/pani/państwo in Polish.


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## A.O.T.

*Ukrainian: 
*
1. Не називай мене чужинцем. (Ne nazyvay mene chuzhyntsem.)

2. Не називайте мене чужинцем. (Ne nazyvaite mene chuzhyntsem.)

#1 is used when you speak to somebody (a friend or a well-known person) friendly or in a familiar manner.
#2 is used when you speak to somebody politely or there are more than one person on the other side.


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## ThomasK

Dutch has not been mentioned yet, I think:

_Noem mij geen *vreemde. *_(V*reemdeling *would be 'stranger').


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## Angelo di fuoco

Chinese (simplified): 
别叫我外人。 (bié jiào http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=别叫我外人#wǒ http://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=别叫我外人#wàirén). (don't call me foreigner).
别叫我老外。 (bié jiàohttp://www.mdbg.net/chindict/chindict.php?page=worddict&wdrst=0&wdqb=别叫我外人# wǒ lǎowài). (don't call me foreigner).
The difference between wàirén and lǎowài is that the first is (almost) never said directly to a person and that the second is respectful and can be used when addressing a foreigner or said about him in his presence.


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## nooij

ThomasK said:


> Dutch has not been mentioned yet, I think:
> 
> _Noem mij geen *vreemde. *_(V*reemdeling *would be 'stranger').



And "foreigner" would be "buitenlander". 

(_Noem mij geen *buitenlander*_)


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## Orlin

Maja said:


> In Serbian:
> 
> Ne nazivaj(te)* me strancem (Cyrillic: Не називај(те)* ме странцем).
> 
> Pozdrav!


* -_te/те is added _for formal or plural, not used for informal singular.
Bulgarian: _Не ме наричай(те) чужденец. Те _is use for formal or plural too.


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## 雅各

Angelo, you said "The difference between wàirén and lǎowài is that the first is (almost) never said directly to a person and that  the second is respectful and can be used when addressing a foreigner or  said about him in his presence." Maybe in your opinion one of these words is "respectful", but when would the term be relevant? Would the person in question be working for the government in the department of immigration in which the use of the term is unavoidable? I suggest that if it's not relevant, then it's rude. For example, if you walk into a shop in China and say that you want to buy something, and the shopkeeper needs to check with his colleague whether they have the item, it would be irrelevant to mention your status of nationality.  i.e. "This foreigner wants to know if we've got any wild pepper."


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## Angelo di fuoco

Hello Jake (may I call you so?),

yes, one of the two word is respectful, and not only in my opinion: the difference between 外人 and 老外 is that the first is just a generic term (foreign person, stranger), while the second contains 外: old (connotation: wise and venerable), which is often used when addressing people - and some animals, too. There is another word for "old" ("旧"), which is used for things and means they are worn out, and a third (故), which is used for old, but generally valuable (and valued) things and traditions.
老虎 - tiger, but the actual name of the animal is just 虎.
老师 - teacher, but only if speaking about a person or talking to him/her. If the same person had to indicate his/her profession in a bureaucratic form, he/she would say/write 教师.
大哥 - "big brother", but could be (and is often) said to a taxi driver.

One of the fascinating thing about the Chinese language are its uncountable ways to address people and other beings: their are (or were) about twenty or thirty ways for a man to say "my wife" or for a woman to say "my husband".


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## apmoy70

In Greek:

«Μη με λες/λέτε ξένο/ξένη*»
/mi me les [informal or sing.]/'lete [form. or pl.] 'kseno [for masculine]/'kseni [feminine]/

*Modern Greek noun and adj. «ξένος, -νη, -νο» ('ksenos, _m._/'kseni, _f._/'kseno, _n._)--> _foreigner, alien, stranger_  deriving from the Classical one «ξένος, -νη, -νον» ('ksĕnŏs, _m._/ksĕnē, _f._/'ksĕnŏn, _n._) meaning the same; PIE base *ghosti-, _strange_ (cf. Lat. _hostis, hospes_; Rus. _господь_, Bulg. _господ_, BCS _господ/gospod_, Fr. _hôte_, Ger. _gast_, Eng. _guest_)


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## ThomasK

DUTCH (correction !): 

I have made a stupid mistake: 
- _vreemdeling _or more literal _buitenlander _for _foreigner _(foreign country, buiten-land, outside-land)
- *vreemde *for _stranger_


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## Encolpius

Oh, yes, those were the days, my friend, when people got many answers in this forum. 

*Hungarian*: Ne hívj idegennek! Ne nevezz idegennek! [idegen stranger]


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## gorm_den_gamle

Angelo di fuoco said:


> [...]yes, one of the two word is respectful, and not only in my opinion: the difference between 外人 and 老外 is that the first is just a generic term (foreign person, stranger), while the second contains 外: old (connotation: wise and venerable), which is often used when addressing people - and some animals, too. There is another word for "old" ("旧"), which is used for things and means they are worn out, and a third (故), which is used for old, but generally valuable (and valued) things and traditions.
> 老虎 - tiger, but the actual name of the animal is just 虎.
> 老师 - teacher, but only if speaking about a person or talking to him/her. If the same person had to indicate his/her profession in a bureaucratic form, he/she would say/write 教师.
> 大哥 - "big brother", but could be (and is often) said to a taxi driver.



Hi Angelo,

It's a few years later, so, sorry to rehash this. I probably didn't see your reply at the time.

I just find it amazing that people who try to justify "老外", then provide an exposition on the "老" part. That leaves out the "外", my friend. Now, I object to the word in the way it is used by the Chinese, which is to mainly refer to white people... and furthermore, to continue using the term when the Chinese migrate to or visit Western countries. These are only two of many reasons why the laowai term is objectionable.

Moderator note: Off-topic part removed. Please read the forum rules before posting. Thanks.


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## Messquito

Traditional Chinese in Taiwan:
別叫我*外國人*。bié jiào wǒ wài guó rén 。外國+人=Foreign country+person=foreigner
別叫我*老外*。bié jiào wǒ lǎo wài 。老外 often refers to white people, latinos, Arabs, Indians, those who look fairly different from us, other than people from Japan, Korea, China or Southeast Asia.
別(bié)=不要(bú yaò) It's a phonetically-shortened form.


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## SuperXW

Angelo di fuoco said:


> Chinese (simplified):
> 别叫我外人。 (bié jiào wǒ wàirén). (don't call me foreigner).


外人 should definitely not be translated as "foreigner"...
外人 is just "outsider". If you are talking about some family affairs with your wife, you don't want others to know, anyone who is not your family member would be called 外人 "outsider".
Foreigner should be 外国人, as mentioned by Messquito.



gorm_den_gamle said:


> I just find it amazing that people who try to justify "老外", then provide an exposition on the "老" part. That leaves out the "外", my friend. Now, I object to the word in the way it is used by the Chinese, which is to mainly refer to white people... and furthermore, to continue using the term when the Chinese migrate to or visit Western countries. These are only two of many reasons why the laowai term is objectionable.


I admit what you said are pitiful truth.  But are they good reasons to object the whole word, or just reasons to adjust its usage? (I.e. Chinese should call all the foreigners 老外, not just white people; they should not use it in other countries, etc.)
If you think 老外 is already objectionable...do you know its Cantonese equivalence 鬼佬?


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## bibax

Czech:

The literal translation (similar to Polish, Ukrainian, etc.): *Nenazývej/nenazývejte mě cizincem! *(informal/formal)

More colloquial, idiomatic: *Neříkej mi "cizinče"!* (Do not say me "foreigner"!), cizinče is vocative of cizinec (= foreigner);

- Cizinče, tvé kolty visí proklatě nízko. _Foreigner, your colts are hanging damn low._
- Neříkej mi "cizinče"!  _Don't call me foreigner!_
- Prásk! _Bang!
[from the Wild West]_


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## ilocas2

Czech:

Neříkej o mně, že jsem cizinec.


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## 810senior

Japanese:

外人呼ばわりしないでください。 gaijin yobawari shinaide kudasai
外人と呼ぶな。 gaijin to yobuna (rude)


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