"Sang-kyou"

Some members of a LINE chat group I am part of were sending stickers that had "3Q" as part of the picture. After about 10 different stickers with the same letters appeared, I began to wonder what "3Q" meant. It took me a while.

"3Q" = "thank you".

Huh?

In Mandarin, there is no "th" sound. A Chinese-speaking person will find it difficult to pronounce "thank" with the correct "th" sound at the beginning. Too often, it ends up being "sank" you. The Chinese word for the number three is 三 (pronounced "san"). Put together with the English "you", it becomes the slang version of "thank you" (more likely pronounced as "sang kyou"). Since LINE messages are fun and informal, this is a cute way of expressing our thanks and appreciation.

A Western person will probably never understand the logic, but it does not matter. Cross-cultural communication is always fun. Just don't focus too hard on perfection.

Let's keep the communication going!