Gweilo

[5] In many Sinitic languages, "鬼" gwai and its local equivalents can be a derogatory term used as a curse or an insult.

[6] The term 鬼 gwai has also been used to describe other ethnic groups, for example, a 17th-century writer from Canton, Qu Dajun [zh; zh-yue], wrote that Africans "look like ghosts", and gwáinòuh (Chinese: 鬼奴; lit.

Cantonese people sometimes call each other sēui gwái (衰鬼), which means bad person, though more often than not it is applied affectionately, similar to "Hey, bitch!"

[12] In response to some complaints, the Canadian Broadcast Standards Council ruled that: While historically, "gwai lo" may have been used by Chinese people as a derogatory remark concerning foreigners, particularly European Westerners, the persons consulted by the Council indicate that it has since lost much of its derogatory overtone.

The Council finds that the expression has also lost most of its religious meaning, so that "foreign devil" no longer carries the theological significance it once did.

Therefore, some argue that gui (鬼) in Mandarin is just a neutral word that describes something unexpected or hard to predict.