My Fulbright Year in Taiwan

One day last week, I was eating lunch with our project coordinator Kelly and a few other people, and the dessert course was what Chinese people call “pudding” 布丁, but what is actually flan. Kelly said that Chinese people like this particular food because it’s “dwi dwi.” This was a new word for me. The heavy nasal sound indicated that it’s a Taiwanese word. In order to pronounce it correctly, you have to make the vowel nasal. Sort of like “dweeng” without the ending “ng” but with all of the nasal sound.

After a bit of negotiation, I figured out that “dwi dwi” means something like “bouncy.” The flan was sort of like gelatin in that it’s jiggly. That settled, we all continued eating our flan. It’s really good, especially the syrup at the bottom of the container.

I finished mine first, and was ready to head back to the office. That’s when I put my foot in my mouth. Eager to show off my new Taiwanese word, I said something like: “We have to wait for Kelly and her dwi dwi.”

Dead silence in the room. No one moved.

Kelly’s face turned white. “Professor!” she exclaimed. “What are you talking about?!”

Apparently “dwi dwi” means one thing as an adjective, and something quite different as a noun. Since Kelly refused to explain, I assume that “dwi dwi” as a noun means something related to the “naughty bits,” to use a term from Monty Python.

Be warned. Use “dwi dwi” with extreme caution, and only as an adjective.