May 11, 2006

Taike's analogue

After reading a blog entry on the meaning of "taike" (台客), I finally realized something about all the attention that this subject has been getting lately. In all the newspaper articles and discussion about taike, there is some interesting social analysis, but the reason people are interested in this topic is humor: Taike are Taiwan's version of rednecks, and describing them is Taiwan's version of the "You might be a redneck if..." joke. Conditions are ripe for a Jeff Foxworth-like comedian to make a whole career off the joke. It goes something like this: You might be a taike if... you have a picture of Vivian Chow on your scooter's mud flap. You might be a taike if... you find yourself playing pachinko at one in the morning.

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