By KHT Staff
KAOHSIUNG — A traffic dispute in Zuoying District (左營區) turned into an online language lesson Tuesday after one motorcyclist allegedly stopped another rider and shouted “asubala/asibala,” a Taiwanese slang insult with roots in the Japanese word for asparagus.
阿西巴辣 — the version reportedly shouted in the incident
阿斯巴拉 — another Taiwanese written form
アスパラ (アスパラガス) — Japanese for “asparagus,” the likely origin
Although the Japanese word itself has no insulting meaning, the phrase has developed with some in Taiwan into slang roughly meaning someone who is clueless, annoying, incompetent, or “not quite right.”
(Check out the Ministry of Education’s Taiwanese Taigi Dictionary appendix of foreign loanwords, which does not appear to include “asubala.”)
The Liberty Times reports that police arrived at the incident site shortly after 7 a.m., in Zuoying, at the intersection of Huaxia Road (華夏路) and Dongmen Road (東門路).
A 43-year-old man surnamed Chang (張) was riding south on Huaxia Road and preparing to turn right onto Dongmen Road when he noticed a 56-year-old rider surnamed Sung (宋) traveling slowly and unsteadily in the same direction, police said.
Chang honked his horn as a warning, prompting Sung to stop him and shout “阿西巴辣,” police said. The two men then got into an argument.
Officers arrived after receiving a report, but both men had calmed down and separated. Neither rider filed a complaint, police said.
A witness later posted about the incident online, saying Kaohsiung scooter riders seem very “fierce” and asking what “asibala” meant.
