They don't belong in any place

[muckefuck]

Reading the review for The Beautiful Country in the Onion, I was suprised to see the Vietnamese word bụi đời defined as "children of Vietnamese mothers and American soldiers". I first encountred the word ages ago on Usenet in the group soc.culture.vietnamese, where it was glossed for me as "teenage gangster". At the time, there was a rash of home invasions, robberies, and other petty crime among the Vietnamese communities of Southern California, which were attributed to teenage men of Vietnamese ancestry. The literal meaning, "dust (bụi) of life (đời)", is supposedly a reference to their rootlessness and lack of a sense of future.

I checked some dictionaries to see if, perhaps, my recollection was faulty or my informants erroneous. One of them glosses bụi đời "loose derelict; street-urchin". But if you Google "bui doi" (leaving in the diacritics gets you nothing but Vietnamese-language websites, natch), you'll find any number of webpages equating them with Amerasians. What gives?

Fortunately, rollick is one to quote her sources: "Anyone who's seen Miss Saigon should have a good idea of the significance of the words 'bui doi'[.]" I haven't, but it was easy enough to locate the lyrics:

They're called Bui-Doi
The Dust of life
Concieved [sic] in hell
And born is strife
They are the the living reminders
Of all the good we failed to do
We can't forget
Must not forget
That they are all
Our children too

This still doesn't answer the question where the authors of Miss Saigon got their definition of bụi đời, though. Could this be regional usage or slang? Or just a sad reflection of the diminished opportunities for mixed-race children of Vietnamese mothers?

Comments

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

As someone who has seen Miss Saigon, my guess would be that they pulled the meaning out of their asses.

[greenleigh.livejournal.com]

Hi, I just happened to stumble on your journal and thought I'd offer the (little) insight I know from being of Vietnamese descent. I grew up with my mother using this term to refer to street urchins and those children with limited opportunities due to social class or lack of education. I don't think it was originally used to specifically describe mixed race children. However, many children born to American fathers during and after the Vietnam war unfortunately fit into this category due to the diminish opportunities you referred to.

Hmm...perhaps I haven't offered any insight at all!

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

No, it's always good to have the testimony of native speakers on questions like this. Thanks for weighing in. One question: Where did you grow up? My other informants were Vietnamese-Americans and I'm wondering if there might be some differences in usage between the Vietnamese spoken in the USA and that spoken in Vietnam regarding this term.

[(Anonymous)]

I grew up in both southern California and Houston, TX. I was one of the boat people that came to the US. What's funny is all the Vietnamese I know is pretty traditional in the sense that I spoke only to my mother or people from her generation because she discouraged me from befriending Vietnamese people of my age. My parents had misconceptions on the best ways to assimilate into American culture.

[greenleigh.livejournal.com]

oops, that was me. i forgot to sign in. i haven't used LJ in a long time.

[vokzal.livejournal.com]

Huh. What year did you arrive? One of the first guys I went on a date with was one. Has anyone written a good autobiography about it?

[greenleigh.livejournal.com]

I came to the US in the Fall of 1979 after living for 6 months in a refugee camp in Kuala Lumpur.

I don't know of any good memoirs from boat people, but I know many have been written. Here's one (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0786418052/ref=pd_sxp_f/102-7259247-6244117?v=glance&s=books) I found on Amazon.

Oh, yeah, where around Houston did you grow up?

ha!

[vokzal.livejournal.com]

And you're in Houston? *amused*
(I grew up nearby.)

[muckefuck.livejournal.com]

caitalainn lives there now--poor thing!

[snowy-owlet.livejournal.com]

And I'm hating every minute of it!