I've been living in mainland China for about 5 years now, and I still haven't gotten used to this word. So does this word bother you? If so, what do you do when you hear it? If it doesn't bother you, how does it make you feel?

It makes me upset to hear it only because it seems to be used in an almost exclusively negative context. My personal "rules of engagement" are the following:

1. If I hear a stranger say it, and I am in no way involved in a conversation with them, I ignore them and pretend I didn't hear it.

2. If it's someone I just met, I will ask them politely to not use that word, as it makes me uncomfortable.

3. If it's someone I know well, I will be more direct and tell them to stop.

Everyone feels and reacts differently to and about this word, and I'm not here to argue if it's a "bad" or "racist" word or not, because the concept of racism is a very complicated subject within most Asian cultures and can be difficult to understand. My interest is solely in how different people react or respond upon hearing this word.

Let's keep it friendly!