Puzzle?? any body care to explain

[watscooking86]

Hi all..... I am puzzled by the word ONG in viet. I know ong xa means hubby. but if the wife would refer her husband to her sister or friends as Ong James ( James is the name of the hubby). Even the wife's friend refer him as ong james. I give you example...a message between the wife and her lady friend:

Friend: Ong James o dau?

Wife: Ong James di lam viec.

My question is how come never ask.... where is your husband? From the conversation it seems like James is more of a distant friend rather than a huuby or close friend. mayb i am wrong as i am usung english transaltion as example.

Any one care to enlighten me?

[unnamed]

Hi all..... I am puzzled by the word ONG in viet. I know ong xa means hubby. but if the wife would refer her husband to her sister or friends as Ong James ( James is the name of the hubby). Even the wife's friend refer him as ong james. I give you example...a message between the wife and her lady friend:

Friend: Ong James o dau?

Wife: Ong James di lam viec.

My question is how come never ask.... where is your husband? From the conversation it seems like James is more of a distant friend rather than a huuby or close friend. mayb i am wrong as i am usung english transaltion as example.

Any one care to enlighten me?

I am sure that this conversation was spoken some where outside Vietnam because James is not a Vietnamese name as far as I know. There is not much I can enlighten you here, it depends on the actual context: who was the guest, what was the purpose of this asking for Mr James ... If you have more specific questions I would be glad to answer.

[chickendog]

Hi Cooking,

Vietnamese people typically say it like this:

Friend: Ông James (or any Vietnamese names) ở đâu? (or Ông James đâu rồi = Where James has gone to)?

Wife: Ổng đi làm việc.

That way delivers the same friendly tone just as "Where is your hubby? or Ông xã chị đâu?"

The use of his name here just shows the two ladies know each other well or they are just being friendly.

"Where is your husband or Chồng chị đâu?" can sounds a bit formal or even rude. But everything still largely depends on the actual tone of the speaker after all.



For this case (Friend: Ông James (or any Vietnamese names) ở đâu? Wife: Ổng đi làm việc.)

If the Husband it not a native Vietnamese and the wife chooses to answer "Ông James đi làm việc," then she is just being a bit playful. Perhap they are just enjoying saying the non-Vietnamese name.

If her husband is a native Vietnamese, then perhap it is that she doesn't want to show the affection or the couple may be having a bad time.

Lets me know if i didn't explain something clearly.

[watscooking86]

Yes....the hubby is not a vietnamese but a chinese singaporean and the 2 ladies know each other well. However in the event of the wife talking to her sister, she also refer her hubby as ong james. Isit the normal way for vietnamese to converse in this way or as u mention the couple are having problem. Example

Wife: Ong james congratulates you for the birth of your baby bought a present for you new boy.

[chickendog]

However in the event of the wife talking to her sister, she also refer her hubby as ong james. Isit the normal way for vietnamese to converse?

Yes, it is not necessarily the typical way but it is common.

I can't relate your example to your question.

[watscooking86]

oh ic see...... maybe its the different culture. as a chinese in singapore, we always refer our wife or hubby by name of just wife or hubby. with the ong in front sounds very formal to me and is new. Just like you refer hubby as Mr. XX which sound very formal.