[shotamerican]

hrmm. my family is filipino, and they call my husband kuya (older brother). doesn't bother him none.
his family, being japanese, calls me onee (older sister). doesn't bother me.

we're both guilty of overusing "kawaii" though. mainly cause we can't help but gawk at cute things (kittens, babies, etc.)

i never really used "kawaii" until i became fluent, though.
BUT, he still uses tagalog forms of endearment, such as "kuya" "auntie" "uncle" "ate" "tita"... and it's not weird at all. he doesn't speak tagalog. but it just sounds natural.

some of my best gal friends are white, and they even use the tagalog terms of endearment with my family as well. it's never been weird.

WHAT IS WEIRD, let me tell you, is when i go to a "normal" american's house, and i have no idea what to call the parents. god. it's the most awkward thing for me to call 'em by the first names. i feel like i'm committing a sin or something!

[HaplessChild]

hrmm. my family is filipino, and they call my husband kuya (older brother). doesn't bother him none.
his family, being japanese, calls me onee (older sister). doesn't bother me.

we're both guilty of overusing "kawaii" though. mainly cause we can't help but gawk at cute things (kittens, babies, etc.)

i never really used "kawaii" until i became fluent, though.
BUT, he still uses tagalog forms of endearment, such as "kuya" "auntie" "uncle" "ate" "tita"... and it's not weird at all. he doesn't speak tagalog. but it just sounds natural.

some of my best gal friends are white, and they even use the tagalog terms of endearment with my family as well. it's never been weird.

WHAT IS WEIRD, let me tell you, is when i go to a "normal" american's house, and i have no idea what to call the parents. god. it's the most awkward thing for me to call 'em by the first names. i feel like i'm committing a sin or something!

From what I gather "oppa" is much more about respect than kuya, as kuya is really just a term of endearment. I'm like that, I call everyone in the family kuya and ate. Anything else just feels too detached.

[LennyRin]

-edit

i wrote this whole thing.. and then i wasnt making sense even to myself.. so i deleted and started over.. anywho...

i am guilty of fangirling and using "oppa"

i dont think i over use it...

i am not korean but i am studying it and have been for the past few years...

i find it strange to call my korean friends "oppa" i dont call them that..

i am only guilty of using it during my fangirling syndromes..

i only use it for one person.. Kim Jaejoong oppa.. <--- annoy you much? kkkkk

anywho... it annoyed me at first when i started fangirling.. only 2 years ago.. i never used it.. and thought it was weird when other fangirls did.. ive grown to kinda kinda accept it.. it still gets to me sometimes.. cuz in my definition it should be used for those you are close with.. even though my korean friends ask me to call them oppa, i still find it hard to do so..

what annoys me the MOST tho, is when non koreans joke around saying "geudae? or araso!" JUST to joke about it.. its like making fun of chinese and saying "ching chong ching chong" annoys the crap out of me.. anywho.. but yeah.. imo

[[HyuNi]]

WHAT IS WEIRD, let me tell you, is when i go to a "normal" american's house, and i have no idea what to call the parents. god. it's the most awkward thing for me to call 'em by the first names. i feel like i'm committing a sin or something!

SO TRUE!
It's like:
"Hello Mr. Smith" - Me
"Hey John. Call me Dan" - Mr. Smith
"um... ok Mr. Smi-.... ... Da...n.... ?? ..." - Me

And then I avoid him the rest of the night until I see him again sometime later and it's the same lines over again, every time we meet.

I get so frazzled because not only do they want you to call them by their first names, but they actually WANT you to keep your shoes on!

Both things... just don't seem right doing. haha

[joogrlpekaun]

^ That really depends on the people. I'm a "normal" American, I guess, whatever that's understood to mean, but I NEVER call my friends' parents by their first names. I've never been asked to, either. Then again, I'm still only 20 years old, so maybe that will change as I continue to get older. And then there's the fact that more than half of my friends from the past few years are actually some sort of Asian, anyway. It would be weird and awkward for me, too, though. Even weirder to me is calling your own parents by name; it's not that common, but you'd never catch me doing that. I still remember how long it took me to get used to using first names with coworkers at my first job when I was 16 and nobody else was even under 30, too. It was actually almost painful like pulling teeth for a while.

The shoes thing depends, too. I've been in houses where everyone keeps shoes on, houses where the people just didn't care, and houses where everyone takes their shoes off in the front hall (and woe betide the person who wears them on the carpet!). It's not an actual rule in my family, and we often wear our shoes around the house when we're bringing things into the house from outside and putting them away or just running in to grab something, for example, but usually we take our shoes off by the door whenever we come in to stay. No special sandals or slippers needed, though; socks or bare feet are fine. We usually take our shoes off by the door at my relatives' houses, too.

Since it's not really prescribed culturally one way or another the way it is in most Asian cultures, I usually copy whatever the people who own the home do with their shoes when I visit someone's house. And since you're often not expected to know automatically if you need to take your shoes off, sometimes the hosts will actually tell you if you do (or more like suggest it...but you know it's not really just a suggestion) or tell you it's fine to leave them on. I used to get "Why don't you leave your shoes here?" about as often as "Just come on in and don't worry about your shoes."

[HaplessChild]

SO TRUE!
It's like:
"Hello Mr. Smith" - Me
"Hey John. Call me Dan" - Mr. Smith
"um... ok Mr. Smi-.... ... Da...n.... ?? ..." - Me

And then I avoid him the rest of the night until I see him again sometime later and it's the same lines over again, every time we meet.

I get so frazzled because not only do they want you to call them by their first names, but they actually WANT you to keep your shoes on!

Both things... just don't seem right doing. haha

LOL, my bf's friend calls my bf's dad by his first name and I never know who he's talking about.

[영원한 사랑]

You don't have to be close to someone to use oppa. For me, if they are quite a bit older than me then I automatically use oppa along with 존대말. Like say they were around my age, I would probably just use 존대말 until we get closer. For me, its about the age difference...whether or not to use oppa or not when i first meet them.

[suki_*]

oppa sounds alright, if girls don't say it in a cute orgasmic "OPPPPPAAAA" whiny way.

it's not even cute?

[cavil.]

Who cares? It's just what it is. Culture is culture, bro.

[lil_miss_kawaii]

I am not korean but the guy i am seeing tells me to call him Oppa ~

I find it weird if i say it in person because I dont do tht with people i know
I am chinese and i dont call guys like "gor gor" or girls "jer jer"

Even if I was in Korea and learnt the lanaguage I dont think id call ppl oppa or unni unless they asked me

I prob call the older gens like Ahjussi or Ahjumma ~ but then im not korean so i would still find tht weird...

[Li Li]

You don't have to be close to someone to use oppa. For me, if they are quite a bit older than me then I automatically use oppa along with 존대말. Like say they were around my age, I would probably just use 존대말 until we get closer. For me, its about the age difference...whether or not to use oppa or not when i first meet them.

Agreed. Unfortunately that's like the ONLY way I ever hear it said.

[영원한 사랑]

One of my friends at school is a korean fob and i call him oppa. But, since I found out hes 4 years older than me, I feel so rude when I use his english name or whatnot, in the fear of offending him or making me look bad mannered. So I just decided to call him oppa and its more comfortable cuz at least i know i'm at least being respectful to him. But I treat him like a friend, I just won't use his name, only oppa. So in that case, I think using oppa is cool. You're being well mannered to an older friend while being like friends.

[truevibesgal2003]

i usually ask for permission before calling anybody oppa altho they are close friends or w/e

don't even attempt it with less close older male =/

[LoveJiyong]

Yes, I think that is SOOOO ANNOYING TOO.
i hear it from left to right now.
& its usually lil girls who are sprung w/ korean celebs
& even try to dress & act like them.
it's irritating.

i think someone should only use it if it's a close person to them; true.
like on the korean shows, where everyone calls e.other "oppa & unnie" all the comments i see frm ppl are written that way too.
And the majority of them are all "non-koreans".
ugh.!! i agree w/ you.!!!

[saqua]

i think "obba" "eunni" "nuna" hyung" "ajumma" etc. are just allowed to say by koreans. or perhaps non koreans who can speak korean and "feels" (i dont find the right word..^^) like a korean.

[tonka]

i don't call my own blood brother "oopa" let alone some loser i know. if some guy tells you to say it then tell them to go suck an egg and call you "noona".

[machiavelli_paganini]

its annoying as mini cooper when girls cry out:

OPPAAAAAAA~~~~~~~ OPPAAAAAAAAAAA!!! OPPAAAA!!!! >o<;;;;;

i want to punch them in the throat.

i call my brother oppa and thats it. if an elder korean wants to be called oppa and he is FROM KOREA and is significantly older than i am, then ill call him oppa.

[BoAFriend]

its annoying as mini cooper when girls cry out:

OPPAAAAAAA~~~~~~~ OPPAAAAAAAAAAA!!! OPPAAAA!!!! >o<;;;;;

i want to punch them in the throat.

OH GOD, I know exactly what you mean. It's like "STFU, you swear you're some cutesy whiny girl in a drama or something."

I went out to eat once near my school and I saw and heard this Korean girl whining super loud "OPPPA OOPPPAAA", making the fob pout face and everything. I was seconds away from socking her in the face, but I didn't want her caked on foundation to get on my fist.

[Rainbow-lotus]

LOL oppa is such a funny word, what a turn off
so is Baobei. LOLS

oppa loopa doopadee do...

[AzNsk8er4Lyfe]

it is annoying when girls go too far with the word "oppa"
I always see little 11 year old fan- girls saying ,"OMG sungmin oppa is mine!!! I can't believe that girl's hugging her! OPPA MINE FOREVER <33333333."

Lmao ^ i think i went a little too far but oh well.